Ernest Hemingway: The Fifth Column and The first Forty-nine stories

There is no doubt that Ernest Hemingway is considered to be the most outstanding figure in American literature. My first book I read from Hemingway was A Farewell to Arms. After reading this book I knew I must read some other pieces too. Now I am really glad that I can read some of his amazing short stories. First I have to say that Hemingway is also the author of many incredible writings like:

Three Stories & Ten Poems - Tri poviedky a desať básní, Torrents of Spring - Jarné riavy, Death in the Afternoon - Smrť popoludní, Winner Take Nothing - Víťaz nič nezíska, Green Hills of Africa - Zelené pahorky Afriky, To Have and Have Not - Mať a nemať, Men Without Women - Muži bez žien, The Sun Also Rises - Slnko aj vychadza, The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories - Piata kolona a prvych 49 poviedok, For Whom the Bell Tolls - Komu zvonia do hrobu, The Old Man and the Sea - Starec a more, Across the River and Into the Trees - Cez rieku a pod stromy, A Moveable Feast - Pohyblivý sviatok, A Farewell to Arms.

I have read exactly seven stories. They were taken from the book The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories. Now I will analyze all seven stories one by one. They will be discussed in no particular order. The order is random.

Hills Like White Elephants
This story is about a man and a young woman having a conversation while waiting for a train at a train station in Spain. The almost entire story is told through dialogue. They are talking about a mysterious operation, but after reading it twice I deduced that they could be talking about an abortion. As the man says: [“Je to jediná vec, která nás trápi. Je to jediná vec, pro kterou nejsme šťastný” pg. 242], he feels that this is the whole problem to their misfortune. The woman is anxious about the whole thing. She is uncertain about the operation, but she would do it for the man and as she says: [“Pak si to dám udelat. Na sebe kašlu.” pg. 242], she doesn’t care about her self. The reader isn’t familiarized in depth with their strange relationship. The man and the woman refer to abortion only with the word operation, which points out their communication problem. The dialogue also reveals their different personalities.

The woman is characterized with, in my opinion, abnormal behaviour as spotted in this quotation: [ “.....Ano, ty víš, že je to docela jednoduché.....Mužeš si to tak ríkat, ale já to vážne vím....Mohl bys teď pro me neco udelat?....Co budeš chtít....Prosím prosím prosím prosím prosím prosím, mohl bys už prestat mluvit?” pg. 243] or this one: [“Ale ja nechci abys na to šla, rekl. Nezáleží mi na tom ani trochu. Začnu jecet , rekla dívka” pg. 243] At the end of the story it is still unclear what decision has or has not been made, or what will happen to these two characters, that means the reader is left with his own deduction of the ending of the story.
Old Man At The Bridge

This short story is about an old man, who sits near a bridge in Spain. When a man (I think he was a soldier) passes by, they start a conversation mainly about the old man’s animals which he has left in his home town. He is worried about his animals, two goats, one cat and a few pigeons. He had to leave because of gunnery located near his place. [“Všeho všudy to byly jenom tri zvírata, vysvetloval. Byly to dve kozy a jedna kočka a krome toho tam byly čtyři páry holubú....A vy jste je tam musel nechat?, otazal sem se....Ano. Kvuli těm dělum. Jejich kapitán mi poručil, abych kvuli těm dělum šel pryč.” pg. 71]. As they were talking there, the man was a bit concerned about the old guy. He knew it was dangerous to sit there very long. [“Jestli jste si už odpočinul, tak já bych na vašem míste šel, pobízel jdem ho. Vstaňte už a zkuste jít” pg. 72]. Then the old man walked a few meters onwards, but then he sat again and started talking about his animals. Well, throughout the story the old man was acting completely normal. His only matter were the animals which he loved, but at the end it was very clear that he was a madman. He was mentally ill. I suppose the cause was the unreasonable war which was going on at that time. In my opinion the war destroyed his life. The soldier figured out that nothing will save the old man, because of the advancing army. The only temporary fortune, the old man had, was the circumstance that the cat can take care of herself and that the bad weather was preventing the army’s planes to take off. [“Nedalo se s ním nic dělat. Byl šeďivý zachmuřeny den s nízkými mračny, a tak jejich letadla nevzletla. Tahle okolnost a dale to, že se kočky dovedou o sebe postarat, bylo veškeré štěstí, které toho strace ještě čekalo.” pg. 72]
Cat in the rain
This is a simply story of an American couple staying at an Italian hotel. It is a rainy day and the American woman sees a cat in the rain, she wants to protect it and take it with here. When she goes out of the hotel and wants to get the cat it is gone.

After returning to the hotel room, she starts talking to his husband George, who is reading all the time. She is telling him how much she wants to have a cat, own silver to eat with and other things. Her husband seems to be annoyed by that and is not interested at all. At the end of the story the maid brings the cat to the American woman. At the beginning a description about the temporary situation is made by the author, to create an atmosphere which is sad, depressive, cold and unfriendly. [“Pršelo. Z palem crčel déšť. Na cestičkách vysypaných štěrkem stály kaluže vody......Ve dveřích kavárničky na protější strane námestí stál cíšnik a hleděl ven do prázdneho náměstí” pg. 149] Later on I found out that the description was a forecast of the state of the couple's relationship. Their relationship got cold and unfriendly. In the story you can spot the childish, spoilt and arrogant behaviour of the American woman. [“A chtěla bych jíst u stolu vlastním střibrem a chtěla bych svíčky. A chtěla bych, aby bylo jaro, a chtěla bych si před zrcadlem vyčesávat kartáčem vlasy a chtěla bych ktě a chtěla bych nějaké nové šaty” pg. 151] She says that she wants the cat so much, but she doesn’t actually explain why she wants it. I can sense that she feels the need for something to care for, to be responsible for, that makes her grow up and maybe she wants a baby. George does not care anymore, because he already is grown up, which is shown by his serious behaviour and that he treats his wife like a child. [“Prosím tě, prěstaň a vem si něco na čtení”] I thing their marriage problems stem out of the different personalities and that they are mentally on different levels. He already is a man, she is still a girl. Generally I would say that the theme of the story is the problems that a relationship has, when one partner becomes dominant or repressive and the other is trying to change and improve the situation. Hemingway portrays this couple as having differences of priorities and also a difference in the amount of attention they give to one another.

The End of Something
This is another simple story. A young man, Nick, goes out with a young woman, Marjorie, at night. They are in a boat on a lake setting lines to catch fish. They draw up the boat on a beach and begin to talk. Nick is starting a quarrel with Marjorie [“Ja vím, rěkla Marjorie šťastne.....Ty víš všecko, rěkl Nick......Prosím tě, Nicku s tímhle prěstan. prosím tě, prosím tě, nebuď takový!” pg. 97], and eventually tells her that their relationship is not fun any more, and that the love is gone.


[“Ani láska už neni fajn?.....Ne, rěkl Nick. Odtlačím tě....Nemusíš, rěkla.” pg. 98] Marjorie leaves, and after a while Nick's friend, Bill, arrives. He asks about Marjorie, and I spotted that Nick already told Bill what he was going to do. Though I have to admit I did not quite get why Bill was inserted into the story. Maybe there was some kind of relationship between him and Nick which destroyed the former relationship between Nick and Marjorie. [“Cítil, jak se Bill blíži k ohni. Bill se ho nedotkl.....Odjela v pořádku_, rěkl Bill.....Ano, odpovědel Nick, vleže, s obličejem stále zabořeným do deky.” pg. 98] The story begins with a description of Hortons Bay a very busy town, which had a huge saw near the bay. But when there is no lumber left anymore, the saw is taken apart and the whole complex becomes deserted and goes to ruins. This description in my opinion is supposed to compare to the relationship between Nick and Marjorie which breaks near the former lumber compound. Well this story was about relationships between the opposite sex and if I am deducing right, also between the same sex. Indian camp

A local doctor is called to an Indian village to assist a woman in labor. His young son and uncle George are with him. When he comes to the Indian woman he determines that the only option is the cesarean section. The operation is successful. He celebrates his success but discovers that the woman’s husband has silently slit his own throat. His son Nick was a witness of all this, he was not horrified, but very interested and curious about death. Nick’s father characterizes death as no problem, and that it is quite easy to die. [“Je to těžké umírat, tati?....Ne, myslím, že to je docela lehké, Nicku. To je ruzne.” pg. 86]. I think these thoughts rise from the thing that he is a doctor, he sees lot of people dying, he is used to it, he knows the fundamentals of death and therefore he acts as if he is not scared at all. [“Je to těžké umírat, tati?....Ne, myslím, že to je docela lehké, Nicku. To je ruzne.” pg. 86] Nick’s father was in my opinion a strange personality because on the one hand he was very loving, helpful, and a huge support for Nick, but on the other hand the doctor was a bit arrogant [“Tati, prosimtě, nemužeš ji dát něco, aby prěstala křičet?, zeptal se Nick....Ne. Nemám žádna anestetika, řekl otec. Ale ty výkřiky, na tom nezáleží.
Já je neslyším, protože na nich nezáleží” 84], he was treating his patient as she was an animal; his only priority was his son and therefore didn’t pay that much attention to other things. The father loved his son. Their relationship was very close. [“Indiáni veslovali rychlými, prudkými zaběřy. Nick ležel na zádech , otec ho objímal paží” pg. 83]

The Snow of Kilimanjaro
This is a sad story about a writer in Africa at the end of his life. He was bitten by an unidentified animal in the leg, he gets an infection and at the end he eventually dies. As he is slowly dying he sees his life flash before his eyes. Harry, the protagonist visits all the places in his head and regrets many of the choices he has made in his life. His optimistic wife is sitting next to him and is calming him down, but Harry’s arrogant behavior [“Nechce se mi odtud, řekl muž. To už nemá žádny smysl, chtít odtud, leda aby to bylo snesitelnějsí pro tebe....To je zbabelé....Nemužeš nechat chlapa umřít pokud možno v klidu a nenadáva mu? Co to má za význam být na mne sprosta?” pg. 49] is humiliating her. [“Kdepak jsi to čtela? Jsi taková zatracená husa” pg. 49] At the end there is a very nice ironic comparison of the woman's heart beating loudly and the stillness of Harry's lifeless body. [“Neozvala sa žádna odpověď a nezaslechla jeho dech. Venku za stanem vydala hyena týž podivný zvuk, jaký ji probudil. Ale pro tlukot svého srdce nic neslyšela” pg. 69] The death is symbolically presented as the creeping, filthy hyena sneaking around his tent. The Soldier’s Home

The protagonist, Harold Krebs, returned back from World War I to his mother's house in a small, Oklahoma town. He has problems acclimatizing in his home town. He simply changed due to exposure to the horrors of the war. There is a big gap between him and the people living in the town. He is disoriented from the war, he sees that nothing changed here compared to the dynamic and horrified events taking place in Europe. His parents love him but they don’t understand his feelings and are telling him he should settle back into small-town life and find a job, get a girl so he can be a positive part of the community here. [“A tvému otci to také dělá starosti, pokračovala matka. Myslí, žes ztratil svou ctižádosť, že nemáš žádny určitý životný cíl. Charley Simmons, a ten je zrovna ve tvém věku, má už pěkné místo a bude se ženit. Všichni chlapci se už pomaly usazuji; všichni jsou rozhodnuti to někam dotáhnout; však to mužeš sám vidět, že takoví chlapci, jako je ten Charley Simmons, jsou na nejlepší cestě být skutěčně ozdobou společnosti” pg.

He his lacking the emotional balance and also because of the traumatic experiences in the war he heartlessly answers her mother’s question, if he likes her, that he doesn’t, making her cry. [“Copak nemáš rád svou matku, hochu muj nejdražší?....Ne, řekl Krebs” pg. 135] She doesn’t understand his problems because she cannot identify with his experiences. The point of this story is how an absurd war destroys human values, takes away illusions and totally transforms people’s thoughts. Conclusion

I must say I had a great time reading all of these stories and I knew Hemingway would not disappoint me. These short stories are an expression of the cruel world out there. Some show the futility of the war and some show the human being’s struggle in this world. My favorite story was the Old Man at The Bridge. This one got me thinking really hard. The least favorite, I am not saying it was bad, was the The Snow of Kilimanjaro.