In Another Country Hemingway Analysis

Fighting in the war is arguably the most physical and emotional abuse someone can go through. Sometimes the abuse is created not only during the war, but after. In the short story “In Another Country” written by Ernest Hemingway, he shows the reader the burdens put on soldiers created by the war. The story takes place during World War I in a small town in Italy. It starts with the narrator explaining that he and a small group of of ex-soldiers are getting treatment at a local hospital for wounds that discharged them from the war. At the hospital the narrator meets an Italian major who is seeking treatment for a wounded hand. Throughout the story the two have conversations, and the major tells the narrator all of the things he has lost because of the war. Although the opposing side would say that according to the Hemingway code the major has not yet been defeated. The Hemingway code measures a man on how he reacts to the struggles that life throws at him. The major in the story in fact has been defeated, by his loss of soldier like qualities, and his loss of purpose or meaning in life. When …show more content…
We learned that before the war he was the greatest fencer in all of Italy. Unfortunately since the incident of his hand he will be no longer be able to fence. Fencing brought partial meaning to his life, but now it has no purpose. Later in the story the narrator is talking to the major about their plans about after the war. The narrator explains how he would like to move to the states, and get married. The major than becomes angry and says “He should not place himself in a position to lose”. This foreshadows that he once was in a position where he has been defeated or has suffered from a loss. We then find out the next day that his wife had passed away because of the disease pneumonia. His wife brought meaning to his life, and without it his life has no