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: : : I need some ways the fish in "Big Two-Hearted River" compare to Nick Adams?? : : No, no, no. Not the fish, the grhoppers. The blackened grhoppers have been : : affected by a fire, and Nick has been affected by (shell) fire in a war. : : I don't think anyone has ever compared the trout to Nick. It is his : : ritualistic fishing for the trout that is important. Almost as if the ritual : : of setting up camp and fishing has become the surogate for that other ritual : : that people use when they are hurt, either physically or psychologically - the : : ritual of the church or the m or the Eucharist. : : Are you sure you want to compare Nick and the fish? : : hth, a little : : Pjk : ABOUT this story Hemingway said " there were many Indians in the story, just as the war was in the story,and none of the Indians nor the war appeared". : I agree with the 'spiritual dimension' you give this the story. As you know ,I place great emphasis on the N-NW direction that Nick journeys to " hit the river as far upstream as he could" {see Ernest Hemingway Campfire}. : I see Nick on a healing - vision quest . The war has hurt him. He, as quickly as possible, wants to leave the burned over world behind him to make his camp where the waters are cool and clear,the air is pure and sweet,and the trees are old growth-maybe even timber. He seeks healing and life. : "The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places" writes Hemingway in A FAREWELL TO ARMS. I sense Nick has gained strength and life by his camping-fishing-ritual quest. Just as Frederick did in his way with writing A FAREWELL TO ARMS[not a popular stand around the Ernest Hemingway Campfire] Perhaps one needs to adjust one's altitude and see below the surface{Papa's 'iceberg' writing style]to agree with me. : The old Ojibway saying that Hemingway would have known comes to my mind: : " Any dead fish can float downstream : It takes a live fish to swim upstream." : To my mind the trout in their cold clear running water-face to the current- can be compared to Nick - hurt but 'still treading water'-alive-not ready yet to give up! : One last thought- after a fire that burns down a forest,the new growth comes back "strong at the broken places"...the ashes give nutrients etc. : Paul

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