And when Nick talks about—confusingly—advancing the attack on page 160, the attack might look like this: a clip from the 1981 movie Gallipoli by Peter Weir about the New Zealand/Australian/British campaign in Turkey—then The Ottoman Empire—in 1915.
"A Way You'll Never Be" was first published in 1933 in the short story collection Men Without Women.
2. Today we were talking about Hemingway's writing style and writing choices. How does this story—stylistically—compare to the first stories we read? Do you like this new style more than the older style? Why?
3. When do you first become aware that Nick has gone "nutty" (160)? And when do you become aware of how badly wounded he has become—the moment or line that tells you he is truly psychologically sick? It could be the same answer as the first question—but probably not.
That's good. See you all tomorrow.
The moment that stayed with me was when nick said, “Oh, absolutely. Americans twice as large as myself, healthy, with clean hearts, sleep at night never been wounded, never been blown up, never had their heads caved in, never been scared, don’t drink, faithful to girls they left behind them , many of them never had crabs, wonderful chaps.” This shows us all of the crap that Nick has gone through and is going through.
ReplyDeleteThis story is very different than the other ones we read. In most stories we read there is no way we could know what is happening in Nick’s mind, and in some stories we read it is like we are in his mind. In this story though, we see more descriptions and how nick feels but its not first person. Compared to the first stories we read, this gives us much more information about how nick feels but compared to the story before this it gives us less. This story is like a middle ground between no descriptions and a ton of descriptions.
My moment I knew he was nutty is actually the same as the first one but for a different reason. When I picture Nick saying this I hear the desperation in his voice as if he finally realizes he is crazy. I hear him wounded and scared and thats when we first realize that he really is crazy.
1. The image of all the bloated bodies lying on the group dead with military papers flying above struck me because I was a beautifully described horrible scene. Hemingway writes, “The hot weather had swollen them all alike regardless of nationality,” and this stood out to me because it is basically saying that their is unity in death.
ReplyDelete2. It reads as if it is a totally different writer that the first stories we read. The writing is flooded with comma and semicolons that make sentences a paragraph long. The descriptions are much more detail and the scene is painted with adjectives. I am not sure I like it because it makes it more difficult to read. On the other hand, I appreciate the descriptions of the surrounding environment. I also think we get to see Nick in a more detailed light that gives us more information on his physical and emotional state which is definitely new.
3. I noticed when Paravicini and the adjutant where obviously worried about him and he was completely out of it and paying no mind to them. He seemed to be absolutely out of his head while Paravicini was focusing on getting him to rest. Him blabbering about nothing lead me to believe that something was off.
Within the first couple of pages, I was struck by a couple of Nick’s observations after seeing bodies in the street. When Hemingway writes,”that the hot weather had swollen them all alike regardless of nationality” (155) he seems to be exploring a couple of common themes in war stories and accounts: the idea that war removes the dignity from an individual and that regardless of which side officially wins or loses, the tragedy of war does not discriminate in picking its victims. Nick’s observation of the “ [...] lush and overgreen” (156)riverbank signifies that even though all humanity is lost, life still remains.
ReplyDeleteIt is almost as if Hemingway sentence structure, imagery, etc become more advanced as Nick grows older. In the original stories that we read such as “Indian Camp” and “Ten Indians”, the stories are centered more on the typical coming of age stories: life, death, pain, etc. Here, Nick experiences all of these within a condensed time frame; Hemingway seems to have used the first stories as precursors for Nick in dealing with the ultimate test: can he survive war? And if so, can he come out sane? I enjoyed reading this story; no longer does Nick seem to be so naive; his observations now are grounded in actual experience. This gives both substance to his stories.
There are many moments leading up to this, but Nick’s tangent about grasshoppers ultimately solidifies my opinion that he has become traumatized by war. Also, his disappointment when Paravicini realizes that he is no longer the person he used to be also demonstrates the extent of his trauma; not only is he frustrated with himself, but he is ashamed to. He seems to become physically aware of his condition when talking to the adjutant and says “You will pardon me if I break off our conversation” (163). Maybe I am reading too much into this statement, but this seems to be the first moment where Nick realized that he may be mentally incapable to carry on a significant conversation with another person.
1.) I think that the moment that stood out to me the most in this passage was Nick Adams’ conversation with the Italian adjutant and signallers. For seemingly no reason, with no prompting whatsoever to the topic, Nick just jumps straight in to an incredibly long tirade about how he “would rather talk about grasshoppers. What [Americans] call grasshoppers, that is, and what are, really, locusts” (p 164). He goes on for a couple hundred words pretty much only about grasshoppers, for literally no reason at all other than he would rather talk about that than his scars.
ReplyDelete2.) Stylistically, this story was very different in the level of detail, repetitive and seemingly superfluous details, and the length of the writing. In previous stories, the level of detail was minimal, leaving the reader to decipher the surroundings on their own. This story spends paragraph after paragraph on the same thing, especially the scene at the beginning with bodies, in which the men’s rifles and stick bombs twice in as many sentences. On the whole, it was a wildly different style, that I think is indicative of Nick’s mental state, and I liked it. Not as much as the more Hemingway-esque writing, though.
3.) I realized he had gone crazy on page 160 when he starts to talk about how to motivate his men into following him into battle. For nearly a whole page, the only things going through his mind are images and thoughts about beating the tar out of the men under his command, and wanting to shoot one or two or three of them so that the others would not fall behind. There were problems with cowardice in World War One, and the motivations back then for men to charge were harsh, but Nick is thinking about killing his allies for essentially no reason at all. He has obviously become, at this point, violently unhinged.
1. The image that stays with me the most is also the one that is haunting Nick: “There was a low house painted yellow with willows all around it” (Hemingway 161). It’s a very colorful, out-of-place image in this grim war story, and I think this contrast draws attention to the loss of normalcy, family, and comfort in war. Returning to a place and not recognizing it is a common experience, but Nick’s paranoid reaction shows how much he is stuck in the war that he fought.
ReplyDelete2. Obviously the segments of Nick’s crazed thinking are very different from previous concise descriptions because they are illogical, lengthy, and do not create a clear picture or even a clear thought. But, even in the beginning when Nick isn’t experiencing an episode, Hemingway uses long lists and his sentences are generally longer and more detailed. I don’t prefer one style over the other. I think that each style makes sense in context: short and concise for the clarity a child or innocent young adult experiences and lengthy for a stage in Nick’s life where he is contemplating a lot.
3. I did not become aware until his rambling, nonsensical description of the bombardment with the “platoon of the class of 1899” (Hemingway 160). The slurred manner it is written demonstrates how mixed-up and traumatized he is about the war. It makes some sense that he speaks about his chaotic memories in a jumbled manner, so the extreme degree of his psychological trauma became apparent to me when he begins to talk about locusts and grasshoppers mid-sentence (Hemingway 163). He is desperately straining to find comfort by returning to his rural American childhood, and I think that this chaotic, irrelevant tangent indicates a state of deep, frightened sickness.
The part when Nick is speaking to the adjutant stuck out to me. “Americans are twice as large as myself, healthy, with clean hearts, sleep at night, ever been wounded, never been blown up, never had their heads caved in, never been scared, don't drink, faithful to the girls they left behind them, many of them never had crabs, wonderful chaps.” Hemingway decided for Nick to hold nothing back when speaking to him, and it definitely makes Nick seem crazy.
ReplyDelete2. This style was more confusing for me. Maybe it was that Nick was going crazy, but the story seemed a little wacky to me. I was often confused about what was being talked about. I like the style of writing of the older stories, as I was able to understand and enjoy them more.
3. The same as the first quote I mentioned: “Americans are twice as large as myself, healthy, with clean hearts, sleep at night, ever been wounded, never been blown up, never had their heads caved in, never been scared, don't drink, faithful to the girls they left behind them, many of them never had crabs, wonderful chaps.” The way Nick says this and holds nothing back reflects his damaged mental state, but it also shows everything he is struggling with. This includes the war, regrets about himself, and his fears.
1. The quote that stayed with me from this story was on page 165 Nick said, “Gentlemen, either you must govern or you must be governed.” I liked this line because it seemed like such an accurate representation of life, which is a very common theme so far in this book. When I look back on other stories we have read, it seems like Nick is not doing much because he chooses to or wants to but because someone told him that he should. I think this just shows a new place that Nick is at in his life.
ReplyDelete2. In this story, in comparison to other stories we have read, Hemingway changes the perspective of the writing spiritually throughout the story. Also, in this story, he uses many more adverbs than he has in other stories. Like John said today in class, he does not use them commonly, so the few times that he did use them in this story stuck out to me. I do not like the new style as much as I do the old style. I liked the simplicity of Hemingway’s writing; it sounded almost poetic.
3. I first became aware that Nick had gone “nutty” on page 160 when the narrator described what Nick was thinking. It was very hard for me to follow, and his ideas kept jumping around. It did not seem normal. One of the lines that stuck out to me as well was on page 162. “Then where did he go each night and what was the peril, and why would he wake, soaking wet, more frightened than he has ever been in a bombardment, because of a house and a long stable and a canal.”
1. What sticks out to me is how much of an alcoholic Nick has become because of the effect his life has had on him: "You know I never knew you were drunk until you started talking coming back in the Camians.' 'I was stinking in every attack,' Nick said."
ReplyDelete2. Hemingway's writing style is all over the place, most likely representing Nick's state of mind. It's much less organized conversation and more jumbled thoughts of Nick's mixed in with him talking at people. Yes, I do like this new style of writing equally to that of his previous style of writing. There is such a parallel to his mind and I, as the reader, feel much more in tough with Nick's line of thinking, I feel there's much more personality to it.
3. I first realized when Nick has gone "nutty" when he says: "It's a hell of a nuisance once they've had you certified as nutty,' Nick said. 'No one has any confidence in you again."' Because it was certified by a doctor but he continues to not believe he is truly crazy like Ad told him that crazy people never know they are crazy. I realized he was "psychologically sick" when it said: "If he can't stop crying, break his nose to give him something else to think about. I'd shoot one but it's too late now. They'd all be worse. Break his nose." Because never before in the reading had it showed his thinking this scattered and truly "crazy," it caused a lot of confusion for me at first reading this paragraph of Nick's thoughts.
1) The image of Nick speaking to the adjutant really sticks with me. Nick sounds crazy talking about grasshoppers and cicadas in America, "I will tell you about the American locust. We always preferred one that we called the medium-brown" (Hemingway 164). That sad image of Nick talking frantically and barely making sense stuck with me.
ReplyDelete2) In the other stories that we read, Hemingway writes short, simple, and vague sentences, but in "A Way You'll Never Be", there are extremely long sentences, phrases, and descriptions. The style here is completely different, but I think I like it better than the writing style in previous stories we've read.
3) I realized that Nick had become "nutty" after he tried to sleep for the first time in the batallion headquarters. The narrator lets us into Nick's thoughts in an incredibly long and strange paragraph that doesn't seem to have one central focus. It's clear that Nick has gone crazy when, in that paragraph, it says "That was why he noticed everything in such detail to keep it all straight so he would know just where he was" (Hemingway 161). I feel that this is also the moment I realized Nick was "truly psychologically sick".