Becky's In Our Time Post

p. 63 "Nick sat against the wall of the church where they had dragged him to be clear of machine-gun fire in the street. Both legs stuck out awkwardly. He had been hit in the spine. His face was sweaty and dirty. The sun shone on his face. The day was very hot. Rinaldi, big backed, his equipment sprawling, lay face downward against the wall. Nick looked straight ahead brilliantly. The pink wall of the house opposite had fallen out from the roof, and an iron bedstead hung twisted toward the street. Two Austrian dead lay in the rubble in the shade of the house. Up the street were other dead. Things were getting forward in the town. It was going well. Stretcher bearers would be along any time now. Nick turned his head carfully and looked at Rinaldi. 'Senta Rinaldi. Senta. You and me we've made a separate peace.' Rinaldi lay still in the sun breathing with difficulty. 'Not patriots.' Nick turned his head carefully away smiling sweatily. Rinaldi was a disappointing audience."

Despite the situation being described in this passage Hemingway uses direct, emotionless prose and very few vivid descriptions to create this scene. Instead of dark or shadowy language one would expect to detail the scene of two injured soldies there is a motif of sunlight rather than darkness. Hemingway discusses the sun shining on Nick's face yet chooses to note that Rinaldi's face was "downward against the wall." This shows how Nick seems to be indifferent to the pain and trauma he has just been through. Intead of being slumped against the wall like Rinaldi he is upright, facing the street with the sun shining on his face. His description of his injuries is equally as detached as he merely states, "He had been hit in the spine." There is no discussion of pain or trauma, just the simple fact of his injury.

Hemingway also includes that "Nick looked straight ahead brilliantly," showing that he doesn't feel the need to hide his face from the death or destruction around him. In this situation of destruction, pain, and loss Nick looks straight ahead brilliantly. He seems to take in what he sees without actually processing what it means. He only seems focused on the fact that the stretcher bearers would be coming by soon.

The observance that, "It was going well," is juxtaposed with the previous sentence's discussion of the loss of human life Nick is observing. He describes the dead Austrian's around him as being "in the shade of the house" that has been destroyed by the battle. The house is the only object that is described in detail showing that it has significance to this scene. The house could perhaps represent a war torn Europe with dead soldiers lying in the shade of it's destruction. The image of this house could also represent a fellow soldier. By describing the "pink" insides of the house Hemingway could be connecting this symbol to one of death. The inside of the house is twisted and parts of it have fallen out. The house is the reader's only physical description of the surroundings, besides the fact that Nick is leaning up against the wall of a church which has not been destroyed. This could also relate to the idea of a church's significance to the mindset of a warrior. In a time of stress he is propped up against a church for stability.

Nick does not focus on the events that lead to his injuries but only seems concerned with the next step, his life had become fragmented into clips that exclude the actual cause of the violence that has disturbed him and left him broken. He seems oddly optimistic about his situation and tries to engage Renaldi in a conversation about how they have now made their peace. "Senta" could be referring to a city in Serbia where they were fighting in the war (yes, I did Google it). The war effort has reached this city and is moving forward through it. Despite the effects of this Nick still proclaims that things were going well. This strange optimism despite the death that surrounded him reminded me of a passage in an earlier chapter titled 'Indian Camp' in which Nick went along with his father as he performed a C-section on an Indian woman who was having trouble with her child birth. At the end of this gruesome story Nick asserts that, "...he felt quite sure that he would never die." (p 19) Nick seems to have an irrational view of his own mortality and therefore can't access feelings of fear, pain, or loss in his life.

The fact that Nick doesn't relate emotions to what he visually sees anymore would gives an explanation as to why he can remain sitting upright with his face in the sun. He is disconnected from what occurs around him. He becomes measured and calculated in his movements and only moves his head "carefully" which is the only way he shows caution or prudence in the whole seen. He doesn't even fear for Rinaldi or his injuries, but instead he remarks how they no longer have to be patriots. His duty is paid in his mind, releasing him from the horror he finds himself in.

This passage details a scene of war that is atypical. No fear or remorse is present in the description. This shows the affect of the trauma and the loss of continuity of thoughts and emotions brought about by war.

Question #1:
What do you think the church or house signify in this passage?

Question #2:
What does Nick's onesided conversation with Rinaldi signify? Why is this dialogue included?

Question #3:
The passage after this paragraph is titled "A Very Short Story" and discusses a romance between a nurse and a patient that was very short lived. Why do you think this paragraph preceeds that story?