Nick is the only human among kingfishers, pine trees, trout, birch trees, and grasshoppers. Eager to see life instead of death, he notices every living creature surrounding him “It was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and seen a trout. They were very satisfactory” (163). When he cooks pork with beans and spaghetti for himself, he announces to no one in particular that he has the right to eat those things if he is willing to carry them. This mirrors the feeling of guilt that he carries on his person since the war took place. Nick has to reassure himself that he is now a free man that should have a free conscious. However, it is not easy for him to forget traumatizing past experiences. When he drinks coffee, he drinks it like
