That line above—"He liked to open cans"—is my favorite line in all of Hemingway. It might be my favorite sentence in all of American literature. Scoff if you will. But it's the perfect encapsulation for me of the Iceberg Theory at work—and working. The story was first published in
In Our Time in 1926. It predates "Now I Lay Me" and "A Way You'll Never Be," though Phillip Young has it following them in the chronology of Nick's life. Which would mean that this is an after war story. And it is universally read as an after-war story; it is Nick back from Europe and the war and his attempt at healing from the war and his wounds. It is considered one of his great works. And students who read it almost always say, "What?
Nothing happens!"
Here is Hem fishing in the 1930s. And not in Michigan:
And here he is fishing for trout in Michigan:
Hem liked to fish.
1. Reaction to the story? And why?
2. I know some of you are thinking, "But nothing happens in this damn story!" Well, something happens: how is Nick different—perhaps better—at the end than he is at the beginning of the story? And what happened to make him better? Quote a couple times in your response.
3. How do we know Nick is struggling with something in the story? Speak specifically to how you know this.
4. "He liked to open cans." Why does opening cans maybe make Nick feel good?
I hope you all enjoyed your little vacation. Stay warm. See you—I think—tomorrow.
1. Honestly, I zoned out many times while reading the story and had to reread parts often because frankly, I don’t feel the same excitement Nick does when he fishes. However, at the same time, I also saw that fishing was a sort of escape for Nick, and I enjoyed that aspect of it because he seems to be healing.
ReplyDelete2. Nick is different because he loses himself in nature. At the beginning of the story, Hemingway describes the unsteadiness of the river: “...their noses into the current, many trout in deep, fast-moving water, slightly distorted…” (178), but by the end of the story, the river has calmed and “...became smooth and deep…” (198). In addition, it seems as though Nick forgets everything but the river and fish that are in front of him, forgoing his thoughts of the burnt country and his old memories. It is as the story opens, Nick “...had left everything behind, the need for thinking, the need to write, other needs. It was all back of him” (179).
3. The biggest giveaway that Nick is struggling in this story is how the story opens with Nick expecting to see houses, but all he sees are ruins. In addition, Hemingway describes how tired Nick is, and the descriptions imply something other than walking is wearing Nick out. In the same vein, Nick finds different tasks to do to distract himself and keep himself busy until the night: “He was in his home where he had made it. Now he was hungry” (184). I found that this line was what made it really clear to me that Nick was struggling because of the abrupt change in mood from settling and calm to Nick having to be occupied.
4. I really liked this particular line because the plot of the story was stripped down to the basics. Opening cans is not a difficult or strenuous task, and neither is walking or fishing. Opening cans makes Nick feel good because it is something that you just do, something that you don’t have to think about. In a way, opening cans to Nick is like urinating; you just do it because there isn’t anything attached to opening cans, and there’s some aspect of reassurance in that fact.
The first time I read this story I thought that it was boring and that not much happened, but after reading it a second time I picked up on some of the less obvious clues placed in this story.
ReplyDeleteI see that Nick has undergone a massive character change in these stories. In part one of this story, Nick seems scared and worried about how his life is going to be after coming back form the war. “He realized that the fire must have come the year before, but the grasshoppers were all black now. He wondered how long they would stay that way.” I believe that the grasshoppers are used as a symbol for Nick and how he is feeling in the beginning of the story. He is wondering how long he will feel this way. Near the end of the story though, Nick becomes really happy. He is just trying to enjoy himself by fishing and it seems as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. These two personalities contrast themselves.
I think that Nick is really struggling with coming back from the war. The town he is walking through is all burnt up and empty and I think this is how Nick is feeling now that he is home again. He is entering a completely different world that the war and he is feeling alone and that is scary to him I think.
I think that opening cans made Nick feel good because its something he’s done hundreds of times and he will continue to do probably all of his life. I would assume that when you get back from a war it is hard to make your mind not replay all the horrible things that have happened. I think because of this doing something easy like making dinner and opening cans would be a nice task to take your mind off of everything.
1.) I did not enjoy reading this story. It bored me because of its endless descriptions of mundane things. I understand that I am probably not understanding a lot of deeper meaning, so I am excited to review it in class and grow to appreciate it more.
ReplyDelete2.) At the beginning of the story, Nick seems to still want adventure, despite being back from the war. As he says: “He felt he had left everything behind, the need for thinking, the need to write, other needs” (179). This seems like a warlike mindset. However, at the end he seems more wise and ready to return to a life outside of trauma and war, as displayed when he decides not to fish in the swamp: “In the swamp fishing was a tragic adventure. Nick did not want it” (198). He returns to camp, therefore a life without the constant pressure to be brave and push oneself to the point of death.
3.) The narrator keeps mentioning how Nick feels awkward. Perhaps he is struggling with an injury and just now is starting to do regular actions again. He is struggling to do these actions with the same ease as he did before war and injury.
4.) Maybe he likes the feeling of having control over such a simple action. Maybe he feels he has lost control in other parts of his life through the war and lost his identity, but opening cans is such a day-to-day action that it comforts him.
1. I think it got a little boring, and I had to actively try to stay engaged. On the other hand, it was soothing to read and hear about fishing, which I know very little about. Overall, I like it because of the way the iceberg theory works here (as John mentioned above). In my opinion it depicts recuperating from war subtly and beautifully.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Hemingway often uses nature to affect a mood or maybe even mimic the emotions a character is feeling. As Nick arrives on the train he “looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town …” (Hemingway 177). The atmosphere is one of loss, destruction and change. When I was first reading this story, I was nervous about how Nick was going to react to the changed countryside of his youth, especially because he is “tired and very hot” (Hemingway 181). Yet, by the end of the story Nick is in a familiar natural environment, and I think more content because of it. He calmly looks forward to the “plenty of days coming when he could fish the swamp” (Hemingway 199). This tranquil self-assurance is a positive sign for a war veteran who likely still has remnants of PTSD.
3. I think the most obvious indicator for me, though there were more subtle hints before it, is when Nick has to take a break from fishing in order to cope with the disappointment of his line breaking. I interpreted this moment as Nick being aware that he needs to be easy on his nerves, which are fragile because of the war. I also thought that the story’s incredibly meticulous description reflects how Nick is actively trying to find pleasure in the serenity and consciously trying to keep himself in the moment (not his traumatic past)
4. I think that this mundane task soothes him because it is simple and reaps rewards with just the right amount of effort. This common, domestic task gives him comfort after the trauma of war. Also, I think it is possible that Nick is enjoying being self-sufficient and preparing his own meal, which makes sense because he has been hospitalized for awhile.
Hmm. I wasn't such a big fan of this story. The story seemed to revolve completely around Nick’s tangential thoughts; this in turn made the story quite tedious to read. With that said though, as much as I didn't necessarily want to read two pages about him eating spaghetti, it makes me happy to see him enjoying something as simple as a dish of pasta.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the story, Hemingways statements of “He was happy” (178) and “His muscles ached and the day was hot, but Nick felt happy” (179) are quite disconcerting. These two statements aren't the only time where Nick’s happiness is repeated; a variation of this statment is repeated every couple of pages or so. It seems as if the narrator is trying to convince both the audience and Nick himself that Nick is happy; I don't think this statement would be repeated so many times if this wasn't the case. After his night in the woods though, Nick seems to be somewhat at peace with both himself and his surroundings. When he “wet his hand before he touched the trout” (192), Nick is acting with compassion here. He wants to ensure the fish’s survival; he seems to have found a purpose.
Nick is just going through the motions. Although it appears that he has found some respite in fishing, he never truly seems to be fully present. He must build his tent so he is protected from the elements. If he wants to eat, he must fish. There doesn't seem to be any joy in his actions, only necessity.
Opening cans doesn't require much of a thought process; Nick can go through the motions here. When opening cans, he doesn't have to dwell on his injuries, his incapability to find secure love, or his broken home life.
1. I have no clue what happened in this story. Not much happens when just looking at it as words on paper, but Nick is clearly much better than he was in Now I Lay Me.
ReplyDelete2. Nick seems to have developed a quiet straightforwardness toward his life. He seems very at peace and doesn’t even think about the war. Nick even is able to sleep during the story, which is a ton of progress from Now I Lay Me. Nick appears much more mature than he was in all of the previous stories, even going so far as to say his voice sounded strange; “His voice sounded strange in the the darkening Woods. He did not speak again.” Nick has developed a sense of solitude that doesn’t seem to bother him at all.
3. While calm and collected, everything we see in this story is shallow. Nick doesn’t even regard his emotions as being present. Another indicator that Nick is struggling something is his reaction to losing a trout on the line. After losing it, Nick’s heart is down and he seems more defeated than he should be over a trout, why can’t he just go and catch another trout?
4. I think that Nick likes opening cans because it gives him a sense of completion. Nick obviously has some sense of loneliness, and opening cans is something that he obviously can’t do wrong that has a very satisfying end.
1.I was a bit out of it reading this piece. I was pretty dry and I didn't follow it totally. For me it was difficult for me because I have a wandering mind. As a kept reading some sense came to me about what the story was about but it took about 15 pages. I am definitely remembering the first couple stories and my fondness for those that I do not have for the Big Two-Hearted River Part 1 and 2. The writing in the first couple was a lot easier to understand and discuss because the action was very clear and the story was clear.
ReplyDelete2.His relationship with nature becomes much stronger. One thing that stuck out to me was his relationship with grassshoppers. They seem to make an impact on the story. “Go on, hopper…fly away somehwere” (165) Nick says during the first encounter with a grasshopper. They too are effected by the destruction. It is a very distant relationship but also Nick sees beauty and mystery in the grasshopper. Towards the end the grasshopper becomes I think I miniature version of nick. Something that has gone through a lot.
3. I think the story tells you as he is describing all the ruins from what used to be home. This signifies nick life I think. Also I think the loneliness of the story stuck me as a sign that is is struggling
4. I’m really not sure what to make of the opening of cans besides the fact that it’s satisfying. Perhaps it gives him a sense of calm and control.
1. I don’t really know what to make of this story. I was unable to tell what the theme or point of it was and I didn’t really even see much growth in Nick’s character.
ReplyDelete2. I think Nick is more relaxed and at peace with his surroundings at the end of the story than at the beginning. This quote is evidence of that: “He poured on some tomato catchup. He knew the beans and spaghetti were still too hot. He looked at the fire, then at the tent, he was not going to spoil it all by burning his tongue. For years he had never enjoyed fried bananas because he had never been able to wait for them to cool. His tongue was very sensitive. He was very hungry. Across the river in the swamp, in the almost dark, he saw a mist rising. He looked at the tent once more. All right. He took a full spoonful from the plate. "Chrise," Nick said, "Geezus Chrise," he said happily.”
3. I think we know that Nick is struggling with something because he is out in the middle of nowhere and he seems to be somewhat fed up society and maybe life in general.
4. I think opening cans feels good to Nick because there is some reassuring familiarity to that act. He has done it many times in the past and he will most likely do it many more times in the future.
1. After the first couple of pages, I was expecting the story to pick up SOMEHOW, because the normal structure for one of these stories is like, "okay, let's get through a couple pages of background fluff and then get to the real meat of the literature," but this story left me waiting for something more than a tiny touch of action while Nick was fishing. I didn't enjoy the story all that much because it didn't go anywhere interesting, it just reminded me of a few boring camping trips I've been on that drag out a day into what feels like three. However, there were a couple points that made me recall a past story to see how Nick has grown, so BTHR wasn't TOTALLY dry.
ReplyDelete2. From what I saw, I interpret the title's two hearts to represent how Nick feels in times of war/struggle and times of peace. Part 1, involving passing destroyed towns and setting up camp, represents wartime, and how Nick moves past it. Part 2 focuses more on solitude, recovery, and recollection of good memories he had. The story begins with Nick moving past "the rails and the burned-over country (177)," which is kind of an obvious symbol for the destroyed parts of Nick's life, and the awful places he went when in World War 1. After he leaves the town and sees what nature has in store for the trip, "Nick's heart tightened... He felt all the old feelings (178)," and "Nick felt happy (179)." Once Nick settles in, we see Hemingway use simple descriptions (as he commonly does), but use one word specifically: good. This simple, basic word shown multiple times, like when he sets up the tent, smells the food he cooks, and looks at his overall place of being, represents Nick's return to a state of basic happiness while alone in nature. When he talks on page 184, he immediately is uncomfortable with how his voice sounds, showing that his being alone in the rest of the story calms him down and helps him be happier and more comfortable. The rest of the story continues with Nick doing a simple activity that he enjoys: fishing. After a nice day of fishing, Nick heads back to camp and realizes he can do this again when he wants to, and that reassures him in his happiness; after all, "There were plenty of days coming where he could fish the swamp (199)."
3. The biggest indicator I see is when the fishing line breaks on page 193. As I mentioned in the first part I wrote, the two hearts seem to represent how he feels in times of war and times of peace, one "heart" for each situation. Nick, while in nature and comfortable with what he is doing, has a heart of peace. However, when the line breaks on him, that irregularity and that feeling of failure sets in, and "his heart [was] down." I think that represents the peaceful feelings/heart getting closer to changing back to the more crazy/war-based side. This would then show his struggle to be keeping himself in peaceful states so his PTSD doesn't trigger, but that is a pretty big issue, as even losing one fish while fishing brings him close to bad memories of his wartime struggles.
4. I think opening cans is a simple act that gives him comfort in that he won't mess it up to trigger any negativity because he's done it so many times before.
1. Overall, I wasn’t the hugest fan of this short story just because there was nothing extremely exciting that happened and I just couldn’t really relate to it in a way that I have done with so of the past stories. To be honest, the story seemed a bit bland in some parts and the descriptions! I normally like Hemingway’s style of the growing descriptiveness, but in this story, it just seemed like overkill. He described what Nick was doing and explained why he was doing it in such a painstakingly way that this story was just long-winded. It just wasn’t endearing in the same way that his other stories have been.
ReplyDelete2. Compared to part one of the story, he seems calmer and almost satisfied. Instead of rushing to get tasks done like he did so in the first part (in some instances), he takes his time. In the first part, he just really wanted to set up camp and get the food ready. He kept describing how he was so hungry, and how he had to wait for the food to cool down. Apparently, this had been an recurring theme with Nick. “For years he had never enjoyed fried bananas because he had never been able to wait for them to cool. His tongue was very sensitive. He was very hungry,” (185). However, in contrast, Nick seems to calm down and actually be able to relax in the second part. He seems just a tad more level-headed and is able to think through stuff just a bit better. He doesn’t seem as impulsive (?) as he was before. “He had rolled the log back and knew he could get grasshoppers there every morning,” (188). In this little scene, he actually uses his head and makes a decision to improve his future by returning the log back to its original position rather than having to search in another spot. I think what makes him better might just be being out in nature for a continuous amount of time. He is setting up camp for a while, suggesting that he plans to stay in nature by himself for a while, which as Hemingway has suggested in other short stories, nature has a special healing quality.
Basically, Nick is somewhat relying on his basic instincts in part one, not wanting to wait for food and taking a nap whenever, while in part two, he actually thinks before he does, planning for the future.
3. There are a couple of signifiers that show Nick is struggling with something. He seems restless and then lazy, conflicting with each other. He remembers Hopkins, a guy we really don’t know a lot about, but he probably had an impact of some shape or form on Nick. For me, the most vibrant signifier is the forest and river that Nick decides to hike through. When he first started to walk through it, Hemingway noted that the forest had been burnt and that there had been a fire about a year earlier. This was the reason as to why the grasshoppers were black, and Nick wondered how long it would be until they changed back to their original color. I kind of took this scene as the grasshoppers adapted to this rough environment and were forced to change to survive or else, they would die. Eventually, the grasshopper population will revert to normal, but who knows how long that will take? Nick is the grasshoppers, reacting to something that forced him to change (perhaps the war) and is trying to return to his life before, but who knows how long it will take until he has reverted back to his natural self?
4. Opening cans might make Nick feel good because of how simple it is and how satisfying it is. For me, cans have always been hard to open (canopeners hate me) and when I can open them without a lot of trouble, there is something that is so satisfying. However, with the pop lid cans, those are extremely easy to open up while still remaining satisfying. To open a can, you don’t really have to think about it, and it’s just something you can do. That might be good for Nick because he doesn’t have to stress his brain to open them. It might be relaxing to just have to open a can, and to let one’s mind have a break and wander.
1. This is the first of the Nick Adams Stories that I didn't really enjoy. It was long and extremely detailed and, until the last few pages, had a core meaning very difficult to place. As someone who doesn't fish and doesn't have a particular interest in fishing, the story was slow and dragging with a lot of vernacular that I couldn't understand.
ReplyDelete2. At the beginning of the story, Nick is in the process of getting something done, whether that is finding a spot to fish or setting up a tent and food. He hasn’t accomplished anything and is simply going through the motions. Then, to make matters worse, he has to face the disappointment of losing a fish. He's frustrated and angry and having arguments with the fish; the fish were arguing back too, one of which “was fighting the hook in the clear flowing current”. As the story progresses, he becomes calmer. Nick ends up setting up his campsite properly and happily catching two fish. He has something to feel accomplished about “climbing the bank and cut up into the woods, toward the high ground.” While starting out tense, Nick finds a way to relax and transition himself, somewhat, into a calmer and fulfilling mood.
3. When Nick is hiking up the steep terrain, he sees the nature he knows and loves burnt to a crisp. The tree stumps are blacked and brittle and the grasshoppers are coated in a sturdy crust of soot. A fire had destroyed his home, putting him on edge and making him tense.
4. Opening cans means getting something done. Nick is opening up a new project, a new adventure to embark on. He's an active man as we've been seen in previous stories and likes to do things. Opening a can is opening a new possibility.
I did not like this story as much as I liked the other stories we have read. I understand its significance in Nick’s healing processes, but because of its length and language, the story was hard for me to follow and to say engaged with.
ReplyDeleteIn this story, Nick is in the process of healing, both mentally and physically from the war. Something that helped Nick do that is fishing. In class, we have talked about escapes. It is very obvious that natural is Nick’s escape. Not only is it an escape for him, but seems to be a form of expression. Through fishing, Nick is able to cleanse himself, in a way, from the traumatic experiences of the war. Something that may have made him better was the large fish he caught. “Slowly the feeling of disappointment left him. It went very slowly, the feeling of disappointment that came sharply after the thrill that made his shoulders ache. It was all right now.” “Nick had one good trout. He did not care about getting many trout.” These two lines shows what made Nick better, catching a fish. Although this seems to simple to impact Nick in the way it did, but after experiencing everything that Nick did while in the war, such as loosing a friend, the sense of achievement that comes along with catching this large fish did in fact have a strong impact on Nick.
The most obvious reason that I know Nick is struggling in this story when he talks about his friend, Hopkins. It seems like, from the way it was described in the reading, that Nick did not fully appreciate Hopkins as a friend until he was gone. He said that he would always argue with him.
Opening cans seems to be representative of expression. After coming back from war, Nick is obviously struggling with his experiences there, and as he is alone in nature, he is attempting to cope with his emotions. So, opening cans might make Nick feel good because it allows him to express his emotions.
1. This story is definitely all about the iceberg theory. I am not the kind of person who loves to read seemingly boring stories that have extremely deeper meanings behind them, so I did not enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed the other ones we have read.
ReplyDelete2. Nick has gained control, and that makes him better. At the beginning, Nick's has much to do, but when he makes it to the edge of the river he was heading for and sets up camp, he has completed all of this. “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.”
3. It doesn't seem like Nick is struggling at first glance. Mostly because we are reminded many times that Nick is happy. “His muscles ached and the day was hot, but Nick felt happy.” The best indicator of Nick struggling was his attitude when fishing. Fishing is included in many of the Nick Adams stories, and Hemingway loved it. Because of this, I know that Nick Adams loved to fish and was good at it. It did not seem like this was the case in this story. He was very distraught when the fishing line breaks, but I feel like an experienced fisher would react differently.
4. This could be symbolism for a new beginning, or starting something new and fresh.
1. Although I agree, the story was a bit dry, I did quite enjoy it. I could see Nick chasing in the slightest ways and it was a good contrast from the hopelessness and craziness of his war stories.
ReplyDelete2. The calmness, the aloneness, the fish, and the idea of fishing: "Down about two hundred yards were three logs all the way across the stream. They made the water smooth and deep above them. As Nick watched, a mink crossed the river on the log and went into the swam. Nick was excited." Nick is seemingly more awake and confident. Readers can see this newfound strength within him as a contrast to his earlier tiredness and worn out rituals that seemed like he was merely surviving. The ritual and equipment, their empowering abilities: "Nick felt awkward and professionally happy with all his equipment hanging from him."
3. We know he's struggling with something because of his need to do everything as a ritual and there's no real mention of him really, truly thinking. In addition he is very self aware even when alone and he talked three times to himself very consciously, almost embarrassed.
4. Opening cans makes him feel good because he feels control over something so simple, that childish feeling of satisfaction over something so simple and yet it entertains him with a reward at the end of the ritual.
1. I like stories about fishing and wilderness but I found this story infuriatingly boring. Not only is the story boring but it is also very long and drawn out. I feel as though nothing happened in the story. Also I'm very confused as to why Hemingway felt the urge to teach the reader how to set up a tent. One does not read a great writer like Hemmingway to get a tutorial on making a tent.
ReplyDelete2. The only thing that I saw happen in the story is that Nick is very calm and slow. This belief is caused by the slow pace of the story that shows Nick slowly recovering. The story does make sense to be slow and boring because that is what recovery is like but I still think Hemingway made it to slow and uneventful. I think what happened to make Nick better is that he got time to himself where he could focus on simple tasks that let him forget about his past. An example of Nick enjoying simple mindless work is the line, “He like to open cans”. The average person doesn’t enjoy opening can, which makes me very confused as to why this is even a line.
3. I think that we know Nick is struggling with something by the lack of what we know. The whole story is written matter of factly and like a guide. It leaves out all emotions of what Nick is feeling and thinking.
4. I think that opening cans makes Nick feel good because it is a simple task. Also he cannot fail to open the can and Nick obvious has an issue with dealing with failure. This is seen when he has to sit down to deal with the disappointment of losing a fish.
1.) Personally, I really liked “Big Two-Hearted River.” To begin with, the descriptions of nature, and the incredibly detailed and masterful writing about Nick simply being on his own in the woods and in the stream is absolutely incredible: maybe the best I’ve ever read. I think the story needs to be read twice, so that you can look past the surface of inaction that is actually—in the style of Hemingway—far more meaningful than can be deciphered at the first glance.
ReplyDelete2.) Nick seems to be relearning how to function at a normal level, and not be on the state of war-awareness. Nick’s improvement is evidenced in the different ways that he reacts to catching fish in the beginning and end of the story. The first time the trout gets away, Nick gets really worked up, he has to go sit on a log so that “slowly the feeling of disappointment left him.” However, at the end Nick is able to calmly and cleanly kill his trout by striking them against the log. And then after cutting them open, “all the insides and the gills and tongue came out in one piece,” a quick, clean and mechanical procedure, unlike the struggle that he has been used to. During that night in the woods, and the subsequent time out in nature, he is able to recalibrate himself.
3.) I think the most obvious way that we see that Nick is struggling with something is in how he comes to the place he had been to before expecting houses and all that waited for him was ashes and ruins. On top of that, he seems to be physically struggling a little bit as well, when it talks about him trying to just go one more mile, but seeming to take all day and all of his energy to get just one mile to the river.
4.) For Nick in this story, opening cans is a simple little action that gives him a bit of control, but in the context of this story it is more about what is inside the cans. During the war, he didn’t get to eat anything good, and now the cans he opens bring him the joy of foods that he loves like the pasta, pork and beans, and the apricots. The cans represent a wealth in peacetime that he has not had in a very long time.
1) I thought that this story was very sad. Sure, there are beautiful descriptions of nature, but Nick is clearly lonely (and missing his friend, Hopper) and dealing with a lot of issues. I also think the whole idea of going on a fishing trip by yourself is a little sad. Does he not have any friends that could join him?
ReplyDelete2) It's pretty clear that Nick likes to control things (perhaps he feels that most of his life has been out of his control). His fishing trip is all about control, and that seems to make him happy. Nick also likes all of the defined and specific steps that come along with fishing, and that he doesn't have much idle time. When he thinks he's set up his whole camp and crawls into bed, Nick thinks to himself "Now things are done" (Hemingway 184), and then promptly decides to leave his tent and hang his backpack on a nail. Nick doesn't want idle time to acknowledge his thoughts, he's afraid of them.
3) I realized that Nick was struggling with something when he described the grasshoppers in Seney. The narrator says "[Nick] realized that [the grasshoppers] had all turned black from living in the burned-over land. He realized that the fire must have come the year before, but the grasshoppers were all black now. He wondered how long they would stay that way" (Hemingway 180). This is clearly a metaphor for Nick's mental state after returning home from war.
4) I think it's Nick's affinity for control that makes him enjoy the opening of cans. It's a very straight-forward activity with a predictable end. It seems to be the complete opposite of the rest of Nick's life, like his friendship with Hopper for example. While friendships seem straight-forward and predictable, Nick couldn't possibly have predicted that Hopper would have to go away and that Nick would never see him again. Nick likes to have control over the can because he doesn't have any real control over his life.