"He's hard to describe. He was a great hunter and fisherman and he had wonderful eyes." (267)
Clarence Hemingway:
Clarence and Ernest when Ernest was 18:
"Fathers and Sons" is from Winner Take Nothing (1933) when Hemingway was 34 and is the last story he wrote about Nick Adams. Clarence Hemingway committed suicide in 1928. And so we end the Nick Adams stories the way Hemingway began them: Nick and Henry Adams and Nick and his own son who pesters his father to see his grandfather's grave. Two fathers and two young sons.
Be sure to quote in one of the responses below.
1. Your reaction to the story—and why? What stuck out to you in it—a moment, a scene, a line?
2. How is Nick as a father? How does he compare with—or contrast with—Doctor Adams back in "Indian Camp"?
3. What's this story about? If you thought little happened in "Big Two Hearted River," less technically happens here as Nick drives with his sleeping son and reminisces about his father and his relationship with an Indian girl Trudy. Yet there is so much more action as Nick lets his memory roam—he clearly is better than he was back in "BTHR." So what's the point of this story? How do the memories connect into a whole—or do they?
4. What was your favorite story that you read in this short term class? And why?
That's it, folks. I had a lot of fun with you in this class. This was as intellectually rigorous as any of my long term classes—and that's saying something. Thank you for taking this class as seriously as you did.
I liked this story a lot because it seemed like a good ending to the characters we have gotten to know. I thought that it was interesting to see how he thought back about his father and how fondly he remembered him.
ReplyDeleteNick as a father is very similar to Doc Adams. In the end of the story Nicks son asks him many questions which is very similar to how nick pestered his father in INDIAN CAMP. Just like his father, Nick doesn’t have the best answers for his son, but he does seem to put some effort into his answers. Nick probably does not even realize this but he is very similar with his father.
I think that this story is about life. We see birth and death and life all in one story and that is exciting. We see birth through Nick’s son and death through Doc Adams. But nick shows us life because he has lived through both. We see nicks whole life story through all of these stories.
My favorite story we read was TEN INDIANS because I enjoyed nick as a teen. I think that I can relate to that story most because we are both about the same age. I also enjoyed this story because there was a mix of action and mystery and deceitfulness that I thought made this story very enjoyable.
1. I thought the story was quite enjoyable to read because of the character development of Nick. I have really liked getting to follow him throughout the past weeks as he tries to navigate life. One section that particularly stuck out to me was him reminiscing about Trudy, “Could you say she did first what no one has ever done better” (375). I found this interesting to me because rarely do we see a Nick think about a previous character and with Trudy we thought she was just a girl but here we find out she meant more to him that we were allowed to know,
ReplyDelete2. He seems to be a loving father that allows his son to talk and ask questions. Nick’s answers do not mirror his father vague responses but rather give his son concrete answers that don't leave him with more questions. Nick seems like a father that would not allow his son to see a woman giving birth but rather a protective one. His son seems to have a lot of questions so that is a sign that Nick encourages curiosity.
3. I think this story is a reflection of Nick’s childhood life and how his father shaped how he is. After his fathers death, he starts to think about the good and bad things about his father. His passion for hunting and fishing come from his father but he recalls an ill temperament with Trudy that may also reflect his father’s parenting. I think this is the first time Nick has thought about his father in a while.
4. I think this was my favorite story because as the story came to a close, I was oddly happy and almost proud of Nick. His relationship with his son seems to be healthy and he is healing from his childhood and time in the war. I was sad to finish the story.
1. I really liked this story because Hemingway doesn’t end his Nick Adams stories with a sweet ending or a completely tied up one; he doesn’t entertain the notion that life or reality is as easy as driving away and pretending that your father lives in a “...different part of the country” (268). What stuck out to me was how similar Nick was to Doc Adams over the whole underwear situation, but the other thing that stuck out to me was how Nick learned about “love” from the Indians who his father despised so much.
ReplyDelete2. Nick as a father is more open to his son than Doc Adams was; Nick responds in more than phrases, and he expounds on his answers. However, Doc Adams and Nick are similar in that they try to hide their weaknesses from their children, pretending as if everything would be easily resolved in the end.
3. The story is about how Doc Adams and Doc Adam’s lack of love shaped Nick and his relationships. For example, Hemingway writes about how Doc didn’t teach Nick anything about intercourse but to stay away from everybody, resulting in Nick distancing himself but also trying to explore on his own. In addition, because of Doc’s influence, Nick grew up having the same angry habits, but, for the same reason, Doc’s lack of proclamations of love made Nick hate Doc and distance himself from Doc’s image and character.
4. My favorite is probably this one or The Killers because I liked how this story ended and how much Nick has grown, but I also like The Killers for its ambiguity.
Within the first page of the story, I found Hemingway's reference to Nick as Nicholas Adams (256) interesting. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time where Nick is referred to as Nicholas instead of Nick. Of course, this must be intentional. But, why Nicholas? Is Hemingway showing Nick’s ultimate transition into adulthood? Now that Nick has become a parent is it no longer appropriate to refer to him as Nick? I was also struck by the maturity of Nick's son; although Hemingway does not state the boy's age, I get the sense that based on Hemingway's descriptions and the boy’s use of “papa” (266) that he is young--maybe 6 or 7? When he questions Nick as to why he hasn't seen his grandfather's grave and says “Don't you think we might all be buried at a convenient place? We could all be buried in France. That would be fine” (268) he displays both incredible maturity and curiosity. His genuine interest in why he does not have access to Doc Adams’ grave and his pragmatic approach when he says “Well then, we’ll have to get some convenient place in America. Couldn't we all be buried at the ranch?” (268) in response to Nick's statement that he doesn't want to be buried in France presents such a viable solution; it's quite impressive for a young child.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Nick seems to have his son’s best interests at heart, from the little we see of him in a parental role, he seems to approach parenting with an almost lackluster attitude. This is apparent when Hemingway writes, “He had not even noticed that the boy was awake. He looked at him sitting beside him on the seat [...]” (266). Maybe Nick is so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn't sense the entrance of his own son, but this conclusion seems a bit far fetched. Most people can sense the presence of another body in a room. Maybe I am being to critical of Nick here and am not letting him off the hook, but I don't think it is too much to expect him to have a better handle on his son’s whereabouts. As Avery mentions in her blog post, Nick's half answers to his son's questions concerning Doc Adams seem similar to the answers provided by Doc Adams in “Indian Camp”. I don't think that Nick, as a parent, is a carbon copy of his dad, but there are definitely some similarities between the two. It is obvious that both Nick and Doc Admas care/cared for their sons, but in both situations, their love seems to be a bit misdirected.
This story speaks to both the perceived freedom of childhood and the limitations of memories. This is the first time, since Nick has officially become an adult, that Doc Adams plays a huge role in one of Hemingway’s stories; I think Doc Adams’ presence is a result of Nick's position as as dad. It almost seems to be that Nick's memories of his father are guiding his own job as a father; they seemed to have been tucked away until Nick needed the guidance. Of course, the memories only take him so far, but I think they also ultimately help him heal.
I really enjoyed “Fathers and Sons.” From Hemingway’s descriptions of “ [...] the fallen logs crumbled into wood dust and long splintered pieces of wood hung like javelins in the trees” (260) to the “[...].set deep as though aa special protection had been devised for some very valuable instrument” (257), he delivers each statement in this story with such eloquence. Although I somewhat criticize Nick's parenthood in this story, I enjoyed seeing him come full circle; no longer is he the son who has so much to learn. Now it is his turn to impart his knowledge onto his son.
1.) I liked this story even though it was somewhat depressing. It resonated with me because it seemed realistic about the struggles that Nick and his father’s relationship went through and what a broken relationship it was. However, I appreciated the hopefulness at the end of the story, that Nick will finally come to a peace with his father after his death. The story was realistic because despite Nick’s resentment and hatred towards his father, he also appreciates how his father loved Nick through forms that were not exactly obvious, hunting and fishing, but Nick still “...was very grateful to his father for bringing him to know it” (258).
ReplyDelete2.) I think Nick is a better father than Doc Adams. However, he did seem to be brushing his son’s questions away, though not as obviously as Doctor Adams did to him in “Indian Camp”. Perhaps it is a gradual transition- while Nick is certainly an improvement of Doc Adams, he is not a perfect father either.
3.) The point of this story is for Nick to reflect on his father's parenting and character and the effect that he had on Nick as an adolescent. From Nick’s reflection he will hopefully learn to be a better father to his son. However, through these reminiscences
Nick will also learn to appreciate his father and not wish that he had given Nick more (love, support, etc.) than he did, because he was doing the best he could.
4.) I liked “Ten Indians” because of all the questions it left me asking. I can never be sure if Nick's father actually saw Prudie in the woods, or why he found her in the first place, or if he was telling Nick for his own good, etc. It sadly captured his father's attempts to help his son while in reality he was failing him. Sad, but ultimately the story where I could, personally, see the most depth.
ReplyDelete1. I liked this story, especially because the flashbacks kept the story engaging. The line that stuck out to me the most was when Nick’s son said, “we’ll have to get some convenient place [to be buried] in America” (268). Nick’s son is naively practical, not old enough to have absorbed the stigmas that surround death. Yet, the fact that he has already acquired religious tendencies (praying) intrigues me. I wonder if this desire comes from his upbringing or or if he has already developed a spiritual conscience.
2. Nick’s answers to his son’s questions are slightly longer than his father’s were, but only slightly. He holds back the negative or inappropriate details just as his father did, which is arguably dishonest and harmful and to his son. The scene where Nick sits with “his shotgun loaded and cocked” (265) is strongly reminiscent of his father. This and the fact that Nick thinks of his son as “the boy” (266) do not seem promising in regards to Nick’s temper and approach to fatherhood.
3. I think this story is titled appropriately; everything in this story connects to the expectations of fatherhood. Fathers are expected to teach their sons how to be men, so naturally this story revolves are hunting outdoors and sex. Yet, the story does not end with these classic father-son topics. Instead the son asks about death, which is a less common but perhaps more valuable concept for a parent to talk about.
4. This story was my favorite. I wrote an essay about white fatherhood in Huckleberry Finn last year, and I enjoyed contemplating Hemingway’s take on this topic. Also, I think that this story balances subtle “Iceberg Theory” moments and action well.
I really enjoyed how we started with Indian Camp and then, finished with Father and Sons, making a complete round circle. We started with learning about the world, and then, within Father and Sons, revisiting that world for a little bit, and then also looking towards the future. I like how in this collection, Nick’s known life is a complete circle from when he first meet him to now as a father. There were multiple little moments that stuck out to me, but he one that stuck out the most was when Nick’s son starts asking about Doc Adams: “ ‘Was he greater than you?’ ‘He was a much better shot and his father was a great wing shot, too,’ “ (267). This stood out because I feel like Nick hasn’t really answered his son’s question because you can’t really base one’s entire greatness on how well you shoot. Like one of Shakespeare’s points in Henry 4 (Part 1 and 2), just because someone has a written declaration of honor doesn’t make them a great person.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Nick differs greatly from his father in how they are raising their sons. Nick keeps some information to himself while Doc Adams took Nick to the Indian Camp and saw a dead body and a screaming pregnant lady in a room that smelled really bad. Nick shields his son from the world while Doc Adams kind of embraced it and shoved it in his kid’s face without any protection. This might just be a result of their personalities (Doc Adams being an active person while Nick is a passive person) or they may just be a product of their different times (Nick did go through a world war and had to physically kill other people while Doc Adams used a gun to provide for his family and for fun). However, I do think that both Nick and Doc Adams just wants what’s best for their children, having the best intentions set, even though their methods differ just because of their past experiences. I also think that Nick is a bit more careful than Doc Adams was and is learning from his father’s mistakes in raising him (although both Doc Adams and Nick exposed their child to death at a presumably young age.)
3. To me, this story is about cycles, the connections we make as a person, and how each relationship is like a snowflake. In here, Nick is now a father and his method, compared to his father’s, is more closed off to the world. When he looks back on the memories of his father, it is obvious that Nick perceives Doc Adams differently than the audience perceived him. Nick’s son will perceive him in a different way, too. I also feel that there were a lot of connections to other past stories we have read, like the mention of the world bugger (The Battler) and the obvious connection to Indian Camp. This story kind of explains the concept of looking back on your life and just thinking about who you are as person (past, present, and future), finding yourself and coming to realizations about the world.
4. My favorite story this short term was probably “The End of Something” because although there were no major twists or anything really strong to grasp onto, I love the way that Hemingway uses nature and the surrounding world to represent Nick and his life. Whether the log mill disappearing be to represent love for the girl he’s with or how he is after the war, I still like the hope that he provides. By adding in how the second growth of timber is beginning to grow, that makes me feel as though that there is something better out there and you just have to hold on until it arrives. I feel throughout all these stories, He,I beat has more or less painted the audience multiple lessons, especially how healing nature is, the road of recovery, expect the unexpected, etc. All the most important ones to me really struck a chord in “The End of Something”,because I’m such a bitter and sad story, there is still hope.
1. I liked the story. It was a way to look back on the life that Nick has led by comparing him to one of the most prominent characters in the stories, Henry Adams. I thought the most about Nick’s thoughts concerning his father's eyes; “The big frame, the quick movements, the wide shoulders, the hooked, hawk nose, the beard that covered the weak chin, you never thought about- it was always the eyes.” This stuck out to me because most people would have trouble recalling the color of another person's eyes, but for Doc Adams, it’s the opposite, showing the doctors observance and brilliance, which are fundamental traits for the Henry Adams character.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Nick compares well to Doc Adams, not taking his kids into such a horrific environment. Nick is clearly more mature than he has ever been, having children giving him more responsibilities. As a father, Nick doesn’t clearly state that his father was wrong in some of the things he did, but he recognizes that a lot of being a father is relying on the children and allowing them to prove themselves, something that Doc Adams wasn’t always the best at.
3. I don’t think this story is meant to have a greater meaning other than connecting everything that we’ve encountered. The story allows us to reflect on all the aspects of Nick’s life that we’ve seen- his father, his family, the war and how it affected him, his marriage and his recovery from the war, and his life once he’s settled down.
4. This was my favorite story. It wrapped everything we’ve seen up into a nice package and allowed for reflection into what we’ve read. I liked the recap and the restarting of a cycle, fathers and sons.
1. I thought the “Father’s and Sons” was a nice conclusion to the Nick Adams story because it reflected the complicated relationship that Nick had with his father while also giving readers a taste of what the relationship between Nick and his son would be like. The narrator's description of Nick’s father stood out most to me: “Like all men with a faculty that surpasses human requirements, his father was very nervous. Then, too, he was sentimental, and, like most sentimental people, he was both cruel and abused.”
ReplyDelete2. I think that Nick seems like more of a caring father than Doc Adams, especially when we consider the doctor’s behavior in “Indian Camp.” Nick seemed reluctant to visit his father’s grave, but upon his son’s insistence, Nick agreed to go. I think that if Nick had asked Doc Adam’s if they could visit Nick’s grandfather’s grave and Doc Adams had had bad relationship with his father, he would not have let Nick go.
3.I think that this story is about Nick completing his recovery from the war and becoming a proper father.
4. My favorite story was “The Killers” because it cleverly mixed comedy with difficult truths about life.
1. I really liked this story. I liked how many other aspects from the other stories we read in class connected in this story. The line that stuck out to me the most after reading was, “On the other hand, his father had the finest pair of eyes he had ever seen.” This line stuck out to me because, although Nick described having a lot of conflict with his dad when he was younger, he was able to appreciate small things about his father, like this, at any age. The way that Nick and Doc Adam’s see the world at the beginning of this story seem so different. The differences between the way they viewed the world caused for a lot of disagreements and arguments when Nick was younger. But, as he got older, the ways that they both viewed the world seemed so similar. I think that in this, Nick is appreciating the way his father views life and what he taught him about it. At the beginning of the story, Hemingway even described a scene in which Doc Adams was looking at something, but Nick could not see it. By the end of this story, when Nick was looking back on his experiences with his father, he was able to understand the lessons that his father taught him, and he even began to appreciate him more.
ReplyDelete2. Nick, as a father, is very similar to Doc Adams in Indian Camp. In both cases, you can tell that both of them love their sons very much. In the ways that they each answer questions from their son, they are both very similar and very different. When Nick’s son began to ask questions, Nick had very short answers, similar to Doc Adams when Nick was asking questions. Both of the sons were asking questions whose answers were very complex. But, after Nick gave a short answer, he thought about the questions his son was asking and then proceeded to give more in-depth answers, which is something that Nick’s father did not do in Indian Camp.
3. Nick’s father is clearly the most important aspect of this story. His significance is shown in many different ways. Mainly, and most importantly, he is shown as being a teacher to Nick as he moved through life. One aspect of this story that was very important was the distance between Nick and his father as they grew older. One image that very well depicted that distance was when Doc Adams was looking at something in the distance and Nick could not see it. That literally depicted them being on two different pages. Nick also described his father not knowing where he was or being very far away from him, both physically and mentally. But, by the end of the story, Nick found a greater appreciation for his father and all that he had taught Nick.
4. This was my favorite story that I have read in this short term. I really like how so many different aspects of other stories are tied into this one, Indian Camp especially. At the beginning of this class, I was curious whether Nick would end up being like Doc Adams. I find it very interesting that he did, but not in the ways that I had anticipated. I had originally pictured Doc Adams as an unpredictable, self conscious, and angry man, so I thought that Nick would for sure end up like that. But, after reading this story, his character, shifted into a man who loved his son. That aspect of Doc Adams’ character is definitely a part of Nick in the last story. The part of Doc Adam’s character that was unpredictable and angry, in “The Doctor and The Doctor’s Wife”, was also shown in Nick in the Big Two-Hearted River when he was recovering, but Nick was able to push through and cleanse himself. But, because “The Doctor and The Doctor’s Wife” was the last story that we read, before this one, with Doctor Adams, I wonder if he was not able to move through the feelings he was having.
1.I liked reading this story because it was interesting to see how Nick was as a father. I also like how Hemingway incorporated Nick’s memories so that we could get to see his perspective on his earlier experiences now that he’s older.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the relationship between Nick and his son is very similar to the relationship between Nick and his father. Nick’s son asks Nick a lot of questions just like Nick did with his father, and Buck answers the question in the same manner that his father did. He answers mostly in short clipped sentences and doesn’t offer very thorough responses. I do think that Nick is a better father than Doc Adams though, because of his answer at the very end of the story. “We’ll have to go..I can see now that we’ll have to go.” He seems to take genuine interest in his son’s feelings.
3. I think that, below the surface, this story is a lot like Indian Camp. They are both about the cycle of life and death, and about Nick’s journey to adulthood. The difference here is that he is looking back on his life, and passing knowledge to his son.
4. I like this story the best, because it was very satisfying to see everything wrapped neatly. It also made me nostalgic, even though I’ve only know the characters for a few weeks.
1. I enjoyed this story, specifically as a fitting conclusion to how we have seen Nick develop into a full character: a traumatized was veteran; a father figure shaped from what his family taught him; a man confused about marriage and commitment. I particularly liked how this story brings Nick full circle; a moment I liked that demonstrated this well was where Nick passed down stories to his son about his father, except Nick's fondness for his father is somewhat deceptive in that Nick tries to emulate certain qualities of his father's but overall seems more stable and kind than his father.
ReplyDelete2. Nick's admiration for his father shows up in how Nick acts with his child in a few ways, the most visible and consistent of which is how Nick answers his son's questions. Nick's answers are short and simple, with a little more wordiness than his father's answers. Also, Nick does not answer his son directly too often; for example, when Nick's son asks about his grandfather's greatness compared to his father, Nick doesn't compare him to his dad, and instead says, "He was a much better and his father was a great wing shot, too" (267). Nick's answers about taking his son to see Nick's father's grave (and later, his own) are also very general, with no detail in the answering, which doesn't help assure (let's just call him) Nick Jr.
3. This story mainly is about two things: how Nick acts as a father to his son, and how Doc Adams has shaped Nick (or, now because he's finally fully grown into a parent, Nicholas) as a person and father. The first section covers Nicholas' memories of his father, and the fond and not so fond feelings he has about them. We see his father reflected as an oddly sentimental, cruel, and lonely human being, whose lessons mainly taught Nick, in short, to keep his hands to himself- away from danger, and away from sexual encounters. Later, Nick talks with his son, and while having a similar style of talking to him and hiding some information which he believes will harm him (about sexual encounters and the true nature of Doc Adams), Nick seems more relaxed and open as a parent.
4. I have a few favorites, so I have to divide them up a bit. Based on the themes that influence the characters, "The Battler" was the winner for me. This is based on the fact that this story touches on almost everything: the craziness relates to Nicholas as a war vet, the concepts of loneliness and estrangement from society relate to how Nick feels about his family (that his family functions unnaturally), and the pieces about being naive that extend through Nick's character in many of the other stories. Based on what happens to the characters and how we see character arcs opening and/or closing, "Fathers and Sons" was my favorite.
1. I liked this story and thought it was interesting the way that it tied together. He talked about Doc Adams in the beginning, himself, then Nick talked with his son about his father. This was a good story to end on, and I feel like it rapped it up well.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Nick is trying to be a different father than Doc Adams. I think this because of when Nick said to his son when he was asking about going to his tomb “We live in a different part of the country. It's a long way from here.” This whole conversation, and other parts of this story, showed me Nick’s feelings toward his father when he is looking back at his childhood.
3. I think this story is much more interesting than Big Two Hearted River, because the events that happen are actually significant, much more than only opening cans. The memories tied up well, and I think this is about the circle of life and how Nick’s life has come full circle. This is not about a man who has gone to war, but a son and a father.
4. What was your favorite story that you read in this short term class? And why?
I think that the battler was my favorite story I read, because the ‘tip of the iceberg’ that Hemingway gave us was an interesting story alone, but there was still much to think about.
1.) I think that this actually may have been one of my favorite stories that we’ve read. It feels like the last story, for sure, and the way that the collection closes with a story that seems to pull together and relate many of the other characters in a future setting is really wonderful. One line that just really stuck out to me was the way at the end where Nick’s son is asking about his father, and Nick leaves out all of the bad and talks about the good. Not just about wonderful eyes, but in one line conveys both his difficulties and adulation of his father. “He shot very quickly and beautifully. I’d rather see him shoot than any man I ever knew. He was always very disappointed in the way I shot.” That line perfectly conveys the sense of childhood awe that never really left Nick, but also does not leave out that his father was an incredibly difficult man to be around who was very hard on his son.
ReplyDelete2.) As a father, Nick is much more talkative with his son. For one, he does not shy away from giving more than one sentence answers, and seems to be somewhat more in touch with his feelings, given that he does not omit some details of his father’s difficulties. On the whole, Nick seems like he is different than his father in that he is more loving and connected to his son, but is also somewhat emotionally detached not from himself, but from the boy. Nick seems to be in his own head almost as much as Henry was, though perhaps he will be different as his son gets older.
3.) The point of this story is not so much to tie it all together, but to relay the mortality of the characters. This story does not bring any sort of real closure, in fact it raises more questions for me about Henry Adams than were answered in the stories we read, but one thing it does give is a sense of finality, and continuity. I see another Nick Adams and an entire series of stories in his son, and for me that is the point of this story, to relay the closing of one cycle and the beginning of another. Nick is to his son what Henry Adams was to Nick in “Indian Camp”, and so another life and stories begins.
4.) My favorite story was “Big Two-Hearted River” because of the lengthy details. I felt like I could just see the world through Nick’s eyes, feel and hear the river, and the silent sounds of a forest. I can’t really describe it, but BTHR was the story that I could best follow so intensely that it felt like I was right there, and I didn’t get it to that degree with the other stories.
1. I liked this story but was very confused by the plot of it and it was a little hard to understand what was happening at some points. What stuck out to me was how Nick says he loves his father but also his son says, “we never go to pray at the tomb of my grandfather”. This shows how Nick has tried to distance himself and his family from his father. I am not quite sure why Nick’s father was buried in France though.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Nick is a good father. He actually communicates with his son and seems to listen to his request to go to his grandfather's tomb. He does though answer in the same short and abrupt sentences that Doc Adams used. Nick also follows his father’s strategy of teaching his son to hunt by giving them a gun and three shots a day when they turn twelve.
3. I think that the significance of this story is it shows that Nick is finally able to adjust to society and have a family. It also shows how much of his father Nick has became without even realizing it. There also is significance that the story of Nick and Trudy is included in this story despite it seeming out of place. I think that it was included to show that despite Nick defying his father as a kid he still turned into an image of him.
4. I enjoyed “The Killers” the most because I was able to understand what was actually happening. Not just that there was also a lot of action in the story. Despite it being able to be understood easily it still had a deeper context and focus.
1. I really liked how this story tied all the past ones together; you can really tell that this was the last Nick Adams story written. It wraps everything up together with memories from Nick’s past and his plans for the future with his son. Though he is a little cold like his father, he has good intentions with his son. The scene where Nick and his father are talking about the word ‘bugger’ sticks out the most to me mainly because it's one of the few blatantly comedic moments in these stories. “He thought of various animals but none seems attractive,”.
ReplyDelete2. Nick has the same cold edge to him as his father. He isn't particularly warm and fuzzy in any way and I think that's just because of how he was raised and what he'd learned growing up; being a strong man didn't involve reaching out. However, he still cares for his son and answers his questions truthfully and with love at the center.
3. This story is about acceptance of the past and the remembrance of memories. Nick reminisces about moments with his dad doing activities they both enjoy and times where his character built and progressed, like his memory with Trudy. Not a lot happens in this story, but Nick’s wide variety of memories and lessons learned makes the story seem packed.
4. “Indian Camp” was my favorite. As well as the excitement from starting a new class, the story was interesting, to the point, shocking, and an overall good way to begin a class. This story was also the first where I was able to think about it in a very literal way and then be introduced to a whole different perception of deeper thinking, which wasn't at all how I originally read the story.
1. I liked this story a lot, it was one of the most interesting to me out of all the stories we've read. Through all of these stories I have been looking for comparisons between Nick and his father and through this story not only does it give comparison of the way they are as fathers but how they lived their lives differently to each other and their different mindsets. Readers are even explained to fully just what Nick feels he has gotten out of the relationship with his father and we see how he is still healing from his death and his life. The quote that stayed with me is: "'What is he like?' 'He's hard to describe. He was a great hunter and fisherman and he had wonderful eyes."' It was easier to get more out of this story than the rest, this is both good and bad.
ReplyDelete2. Doc. Adams somehow did well raising or not raising Nick the way he did. Somehow it allowed Nick to see all of the ways he himself could go wrong as a father and made a conscious choice to break away from the tree. Although there are similarities in their character, they are very different as father figures. Nick is more protective of his son, he sees not to expose him too early to elements that may hurt him physically or mentally and you can see the way he feels the connection to his son.
3. This story, to me at least, is about ties being finished, readers are able to see how many of the problems in the other stories are resolved and one very big one that they never got a chance to really see, Nick's emotional pain connected with his father's life and death, he tells readers that he will one day have the power to resolve his raw feelings concerning that but it is too soon at this point. It is about readers getting a chance to see how Nick is within his father's shoes.
1) I enjoyed this story but it was very sad. Nick never really got to resolve things with his father or resolve the tough things about his childhood. There wasn't one specific line or phrase that stuck with me, but the image of Nick driving with his sleeping son and being unable to stop thinking about the past was really striking to me. I guess I thought that all Nick's feelings about his past would be resolved by now, but maybe that isn't very realistic.
ReplyDelete2) I think Nick is very similar to his father. Like his own father, Nick tries to explain things and answer questions but sometimes it's incredibly difficult to convey your knowledge about the world to a little kid. Partly, I think both Nick and his father tried to spare their sons from hearing about the harsh realities of life. Maybe that's why Nick and his father are reluctant to answer certain questions.
3) I think that this story is about reflecting on childhood. Nick thinks about the many memories he made while he was a little boy, and the tough relationship he had with his father. The story is very realistic in that Nick doesn't love or loathe his childhood, his childhood just is. Some parts of it were horrible, like the poverty and the smell of his family, but other parts of it were good, like hunting with his friends and losing his virginity.
4) This story was my favorite story. It really brings a lifetime of memories together and provides closure. I'm not 38 yet, but maybe how Nick feels is how everyone feels at that age. By this I mean thinking of and dealing with your own childhood when your children ask you personal questions and questions about life. Maybe that's how Nick's father felt when Nick used to ask him questions.