Hemingway Guide Questions

Big Two-Hearted River

1. Does Big Two-Hearted River give the impression of having in it a preponderance of

submerged feeling, or meaning, or both? If so, how does Hemingway create that impression?

2. Discuss the apparent simplicity of Hemingways style. Is it as simple as it at first appears?

How does Hemingway convey subtle and complex feelings? What role does imagery play in
multiplying implications?

3. Compare Hemingways use of a seemingly naive style (to express more than it seems to say)
with Faulkners use of the childrens point of view in That Evening Sun (to tell the reader more
about Nancys situation than the children themselves know).

4. Does the use of the and that in Big Two-Hearted River support Walter Ongs argument
(quoted above) that these are crucial elements in Hemingways writing? Is a similar effect
created by the use of you in such passages as Ahead the river narrowed.... Nick thought?

5. How useful is critic Philip Youngs interpretation of Nick as a sick man? Does it help to
explain Nicks thoughts and actions?

6. Is the judgment that Big Two-Hearted River is a story in which nothing happens justified?

7. Discuss Hemingways use of the landscape in Big Two-Hearted River.

8. The first two paragraphs of Big Two-Hearted River contrast the burned-over ground and the
river. What is the effect of the first two paragraphs?

9. What is suggested by the fact that Nick watches the trout keeping themselves steady in the
current for a long time? Does he identify them with his own efforts to keep himself steady?

10. When the landscape is described as alive again at the end of the story, what does this
change imply about Nicks recent experiences and his present state of mind?

11. What is the purpose or function of Nicks ritualistic behavior? Is it Nicks attempt to establish
a stability, a comforting regularity and pattern that relieve him from the need to think or
contemplate, relieve him from the workings of his mind? Does it help him to choke it when his
mind is starting to work?

12. Is there anything in the story itself to support the conclusion that its about coming back
from the war?

13. In the final seven paragraphs of Big Two-Hearted River Nick decides not to fish in the
swamp, where the river became smooth and deep and the trees grew so close together that
You could not crash through the branches. Why does Nick think that fishing in the swamp
would be tragic? Why does he stop fishing, return to camp, and justify his actions with the
thought (the last sentence of the story) that There were plenty of days coming when he could
fish the swamp?

Soldiers Home

1. From the information in the story, what can you determine about the setting of Krebs home?

2. What does the photograph of Krebs, the corporal, and the German girls reveal? What
significance can be found in the contrast between this photograph and the one of Krebs and his
fraternity brothers?

3. Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel, and the Argonne were the sites of fierce
and bloody fighting during World War I. What effects have these battles had on Krebs? Why do
you think he wont talk about them to then people at home?

4. Why does Krebs avoid complications and consequences? How has the war changed his
attitudes toward work and women? How is his home town different from Germany and France?
What is the conflict in the story?

5. Why do you think Hemingway refers to the protagonist as Krebs rather than Harold? What is
the significance of his sister calling him Hare?

6. How does Krebs mother embody the communitys values? What does Krebs think of those
values?

7. Why cant Krebs pray with his mother?

8. What is the resolution to Krebs conflict?

9. Comment on the appropriateness of the storys title.

10. Explain how Krebs war experiences are present throughout the story even though we gert no
details about them.

11. What connections can you find between both of these stories and the events of Hemingways
life?