"Nick was happy as he crawled inside the tent. He had not been unhappy all day. This was different though. Now things were done. There had been this to do. Now it was done. It had been a hard trip. He was very tired. That was done. He had made his camp. He was settled. Nothing could touch him." (Hemingway, p. 984)
There was plenty of symbolism present in the story, an example of this would be Nick's heavy pack which could definitely be seen as a representation of the emotional baggage he is carrying with him. Considering this symbol, I found it interesting that since much of what Nick is carrying in his pack is food, the longer he stays on his trip the less his pack will weigh. Nature is truly the
perfect escape and this is because while surrounded by it, it simply makes
sense, there are cycles that can clearly be seen everywhere. I think that a
major focus of Hemingway's with this story is that this simplicity of nature
can alleviate the burdens that weigh down the soul.
Nice job focusing on the symbolic nature of the pack! It's a complex, dynamic symbol; those are what Hemingway is known for.
ReplyDeleteYou mention that Nick seems to be trying to forget something or somehow lessen its hold on him. Does the story give you any ideas as to what this might be?