TSAR ch. 13

"As we started along the road he turned and walked back toward the inn." (pg. 135)

Harris does what no one else in the book seems able to do. He keeps from going into town with Bill and Jake. This is probably because he has never met Brett so he doesn't feel compelled to always be around her. She seems to be the reason why most of the characters in the book are unhappy. She causes men to do things that they wouldn't do under normal circumstances. I suppose that all of the alcohol in this book is like Brett. The men kind of like her, but once they are under her effects, they can't get out.


"The steer who had been gored...did not attempt to join the herd." (pg. 145)

The steer could be a symbol of Jake and his life. He has been injured because of the war, and because of that, he can't be truely close with women. And, it also makes him different from most men. He is completely separated from the herd, but in his case, there's nothing that he can do about it.

TSAR ch. 12

"Fake European standards have ruined you...You spend all of your time talking, not working." (pg. 120)

Bill is accusing Jake of doing all of these things that he says are the European standard, but Jake is probably the only one in the book so far who doesn't do any of these things. He does drink a lot, but he's not an alcoholic. He's not obsessed with sex because he can't be, and he knows it. And, he is probably the only one in the book who we actually see going to work and getting things done.


"The trees were big, and the foliage was thick but it was not gloomy." (pg. 122)


Up in the mountains, when he is away from Brett, Jake isn't as depressed as he is when she is around. She is not right in front of him flaunting her affairs at him and because of that he can have way more fun than he usually would. Being in the mountains and away from everyone else, except Bill, Jake relaxes and does things that make him happy, like going fishing.

The Big Two-Hearted River

1. To me it seemed like the trout in the story would represent the soldiers who were being fought. Nick takes plenty of time getting ready to go fishing which would symbolize all of the waiting that was done in the trenches between the fighting. Then, when Nick is actually catching a big fish, he feels excitement, representing the adrenaline rush that would come with battle. Hemingway also talks about the burnt landscape before Nick gets to the stream which would be old battlefields where everyone is already dead or gone. I think the brown grasshoppers are a representation of the people who haven't seen much of the war, so they aren't very affected by it. The black grasshoppers are the people who are very affected by the war, but they have found a way to adapt it into their way of life. To me it seemed like Nick was trying to start over somehow. He started out traveling and seeing how far he could go, then when he found a suitable spot, he seemed to settle down and was content just to set up camp and go fishing.

2. This short story would be a good introduction to "The Sun Also Rises" because both are about WW1 without directly seeming like they have anything to do with them. In both stories, you can tell what the author is trying to say about WW1 by what the characters do.