Comment under this post for Hemingway's story "Big Two-Hearted River"
Don't forget to use headings in your response: Title, Basic Passage; Correlation; Difficulties.
When correlating, be sure to relate the story to yourself--your response should not sound like something from the internet.
Themes we discussed in class include: Resistence, Stoicism, The paradox of strength coming from destruction and sterility, Movement = Happiness; non-movement = Sadness.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
25 comments:
"Big Two-Hearted River" - Hemingway
Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, which is a suburb outside of Chicago. He fell in love once in his life. Most of his works were negative and dealt with death.
"Nick's heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling again."
Based on what we read and discussed in class today, this passage seems to have a negative meaning. Obviously the two negative phrases to focus on in this line are "heart tightened" and "old feeling". Nick has gotten off this train to a place of sterility and everything is burnt. But this passage focuses on his feelings. It seems to be that if he stays busy he will not think about the "old feeling". I think you can say that theory goes for almost everyone. He does not tell us what the "old feeling" is, so the only way for the reader to relate to this is just by his actions. It says he began to walk and do other productive things and the feeling went away. Like I said earlier, if I keep myself busy I will forget about all my regrets and moments I try not to remember. I think everyone has experienced this at some point in their life.
"Big Two-Hearted River"-Hemingway
Earnest Hemingway was born in the suburbs of Chicago. At a young age his father was teaching him to be a very manly guy by taking him hunting and fishing. He also never dealt with relationships very well.
"His muscles ached and the day was hot, but Nick felt happy"
This to me is a great visual of keeping your spirits up no matter what happends. Not too long after hurrican Katrina i went with a group to help out the people of Gulfport. Altough it was a blistering hot day, although my muscles were killing me, I felt a since of happiness for the simple fact of knowing that I was doing my best to help them out.
The tragedy of the story is when he is sitting all by himself and thinking back on times with Hopkins knowing that it would never come again.
I think this could be turned into a comedy by just allowing his friend Hopkins to have taken the journey with him. I think it would have brightned his spirits.
The only joy that I really see in this is just the simple fact of him going fishing. I think that he brought him joy in what seemed to be a not so joyous life.
Title: "Big Two-Hearted River"
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, to a wealthy family. He worked for the Kansas City Star and the Toronto Star early on in his career, greatly influencing the writing style in his later works. After World War I he returned to Paris and became the spokesman for "a lost generation" according to Gertrude Stein. While many believe Hemingway's work to be a negative comentary on the world, it was simply the concise, impersonal form with dramatic tone and percise imagery he learned as a journalist.
Basic Passage: "The grasshopper was black...They were all black.They were not the big grasshoppers with yellow and black or red and black wings ...These were ordinary hoppers, but all sooty black in color."
The main idea found in this passage is that with all of their surroundings having been burned to nothing, the grasshoppers found a way to overcome this and adapt, allowing them to not only survive, but thrive. The ability to move past devestation is repeated when Nick moves from the burned to lush areas and finds happiness fishing in the meadow.
Correlation: Everyone, at some point in their life has had to adapt to a situation in order to survive, Whether it be death, destruction, or something far less substantial, everyone can somehow relate to this passage.
Tragedy: The tragedy in "Big Two-Hearted River" is the destruction and burned ruins of a once thriving town Nick finds when he gets off the train. This tragedy can be turned into comedy if you take the perspective that out of the devestation comes the chance for new life and regrowth.
Comedy: The comedy in the story is Nick finding joy just beyond the devastation when he goes fishing in the meadow.
"Big Two-Hearted River" - Hemingway
Hemingway was born in the suburbs of Chicago, a quintessential, almost stereotypical American city. His father tried to teach him how to be a man and to be self sufficient. He did not have good relations with his mother, though, which is probably why he never had any succesful relationships in his life. While living as a journalist, he learned how to write concisely, which I think is very apparent in this story. The reader does not have to read too much into the story to get at its meaning, like with most authors.
Since I don't have the story in my book, I don't remember the exact passage, but the section about the fish or the grasshopper would work well for my point.
This story talks alot about resistance and change. The fish were resisting the water currents, but they were stronger for their efforts. And the grasshoppers were changed by their environment, they changed from the fire. I think this relates to society because people can understand the ideas of struggle and change. For example, the loss of a loved one. The inital reaction is resistance (no, I won't let you die). Then there is the depression, the sadness, the encompassing isolation you feel, and you think you will forget your pain if you keep busy, but it's always there. Then, after the healing time has passed, you still have the memories of the person to comfort you. This story is alot like that. It also brings to mind the phrases "The survival of the fittest" and "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Some people may not believe in these adages, but I think they are applicable here.
The elemont of tragedy in this story is the deperssion, the feeling of loss experienced by the character that the reader can relate to in his/her own way. Everyone knows what that feels like, and they can understand the emotions, the quiet, and the emptiness felt by the character.
The tragedy could be turned into a comedy by expanding on the memories the character had about the town. If the reader could experience the happiness the charceter had, they could feel that same happiness, and they could also understand his particular sadness better (or at least more accurately).
The element of comedy in the story is the presence of life outside of the burn line. The rushing river, the thriving trees, and the animal life that still exists in the world. In the presence of sterility, there are still happy times. Not everything was destroyed. Just like people are not destroyed when they experience a loss, they are changed and made stronger.
Ernest Hemingway-"Big Two-Hearted River". Ernest Hemingway experienced fishing with his father in IL where he was born. He also lived in Paris where he was part of a great group of famous writers. To me, "Big Two-Hearted River" means the two sides/feelings the title character, Nick, has upon arriving. First we have his description of the burnt out houses, land and trees; no mention of any feelings, happiness, here. Then when he sees the trout moving in the river "He was happy.". "It was a long time since Nick had looked into a stream and seen trout. They were very satisfactory.". As a young teenager while on a family get together at the Gulf, I fished for the very first time, and the very last time. With no one around to see me, or give me any instructions, I threw out my fishing line. But instead of hearing just a whoosh in the wind and tiny plop in the river, I heard a hard tearing, ripping of the line off the reel and a splash of the whole line on the fishing rod. I had not known to do anything with the reel to let the line out, just throwing it as I had seen others do, 'breaking' it. Very embarrassed and chagrined, I looked around, no one was watching me, so I put the fishing rod away and walked away without, ever, telling the grown ups what I had done, and never fishing again. My experience was a comedy of expensive erorrs, the Hemingway story, while not a tragedy, does not seem like a comedy to me, as "comedies" go, but because of the overall good, relaxing feeling of this story, it must be a comedy.
Title: "Big Two-Hearted River"
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway was born in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. He was a reporter for the Kansas City Star. His style or writing was simple and right to the point. His works have been read as a negative influence.
"Two hundred yards down the hillside the fire line stopped. Then it was sweet fern, growing ankle high,to walk through, and clumps of jack pines; a long undulating country with frequent rises and descents, sandy underfoot and the country alive again." (pg.1518)
To me this passage means that he found life by finding the fern that was growing outside of everything that was burnt, which resembled death and sadness. It learned how to survive just the way everyone survives and moves on from their bad situations.
Tragedy: The tragedy is Nick getting off the train and seeing everything is burnt.
Comedy: The comedy is Nick finding life outside where everything was burnt.
"Big Two-Hearted River" Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway was raised in an Illinois suburb, but loved to escape the dirty, busy city life for the "great outdoors". When he came back to the states he was a newspaper journalist and the style of writing he used for that often shows through in his literature.
"He watched them holding themselves with their noses into the current, many trout in deep, fast moving water, slightly distorted as he watched far down through the glassy convex surface of the pool, its surface pushing and swelling smooth against the resistance of the log-driven piles of the bridge."
Both the fish and the bridge in the above passage were determined not to be moved by the current around them. Often in literature a river symbolizes life. If that is so, then a current would symbolize change that is bound to occur during a life. The fish wouldn't be changed, nor the bridge. Similarly, Nick escapes wherever he came from and hides away in a place burned over and desolate, deep in the woods where change would not find him.
Change is bound to occur, whether good or bad, and people can either embrace it, adjust to it, or rebel against it.
Tragedy: Nick is running from his memory, away from feelings and from change.
Comedy: Nick is finding the serenity and quiet that he is searching for.
Big Two-Hearted River by Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway grew up in a suburb of Chicago. Growing up, Hemingway struggled to develop a relationship with woman, mainly his mother. Most of his stories were negative and dealt with war and death.
"Nick woke stuff and cramped. The sun was nearly down. His pack was heavy and the straps painful as he lifted it on." (Pg. 1519)
Based on our discussion in class, I thought the passage shows Nick tries to keep going on. He wakes up stiff and cramped, but yet packs up the pack and keeps moving. There have been times when softball practice has lasted for 3 hours and we have weights afterwards and I just want to go to sleep, but I can't. I have school work to do. I think Nick feels somewhat the same. He's cramped and tired and the pack is heavy, but yet he finds the inner strength to press on.
I would say the tragedy of the story is about depression. Nick finds himself in a burned, desolate town that was once a thriving town.
The comedy in the story is when Nick finds green grass and life just miles outside the blackened burnt town.
Title: Big Two-Hearted River
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Ernest was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899. His father instilled a love for hunting and fishing in him. He started as a reporter and later wrote stories. He killed himself in 1961.
Basic Passage: "He turned and looked down the stream. It stretched away,pebbly-bottomed with shallows and big boulders and a deep pool as it curved away around the foot of a bluff." (pg. 1517)
Correlate: In this passage, I think the river is a symbol for life. People are continuously looking back or to the future (I know I do) just as Nick looks down the stream. The stream continues around a bluff just as life goes on. We can't see what is around the bend. We have to keep following the stream (Life) or we won't ever know where it all ends. I know I often wonder what is around the bend. Like the title says: the river (life) is two-hearted. It can be happy or sad and you have to continue on to find more happiness.
1. The cause of human suffering in this story is most certainly the burned town.
2. The tragedy could be a comedy if instead of just describing the man's fishing trip, the story flashed back to when the town was thriving and ended there...in happy memories.
3. The cause of joy in this story is that the fire did not destroy everything...the river was still beautiful.
"Big Two-Hearted River"
by: Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois. In World War I Hemingway served as a Red Cross ambulance driver until he was severely wounded in action. His writing always demonstrated two principles—he stripped language to its most essential components by omitting words that were not necessary. And secondly, he stressed the importance of authentic experience in his work. He gained material for his works through his experiences big game hunter and deep-sea fisherman, like a typical American man.
Quotes that particularly stand out are:
“Nick looked at the burned-over stretch of hillside, where he had expected to find the scattered houses of the town and then walked down the railroad track to the bridge over the river. The river was there. It swirled against the log spires of the bridge.”
“They [the trout] were very satisfactory.”
“He was there in the good place.”
“He was in his home, where he had made it.”
The Big, Two-Hearted River symbolizes spiritual renewal. Like Hemingway the character, Nick, found an escape from his suffering in his frequent trips to the wilderness. Nick renews himself through nature particularly through the river. In the story Hemingway made several indirect references to creation. For example, after Nick finished building his tent, he assesses his situation, and calls it “good.” In this way and others, he mimics the Old Testament accounts of creation. His “good place” is almost a self-created heaven of sorts. The character Nick tried to control things for himself and its almost like he was trying to escape from reality. Which we all as humans find ourselves doing from time to time. No matter how bad the situation really is, we tend to make it look better on the outside.
This story could be defined as either comedy or tragedy. Nick Adams finds himself continually haunted with frightening flashbacks to his past suffering and grief, which could make it a tragedy. But it could then be turned right around to become a comedy when he displays survival of the fittest out in the wilderness alone. He managed to come up with food to eat and a safe place to sleep.
"Big Two-Hearted River" - Hemingway
Hemingway was born in Illinois, a suburb in Chicago. After graduation, he went to work as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. Later he served on the Italian Front in WWI.
Passage:
"It smelled pleasantly of canvas. Already there was something mysterious and homelike. Nick was happy as he crawled inside the tent."
It seems to me that this passage is showing that the character is finally home. Regardless of how everything seems to be burned and destroyed, he is finally back in his hometown. Sights and smells can bring memories back to us, and maybe his surroundings and the canvas is reminding him of "home." "Nick's heart tightened as the trout moved. He felt all the old feeling again." Maybe this sight is bringing back old memories of his past,from childhood or ect, and people sometimes feel sad because they miss that part in their life, its gone. Maybe thats why his heart tightened.
Tragedy:
The emptiness that Nick feels. The longing to have his good times back with Hopkins. How people can feel sadness when they think about being young again( childhood or being a teenager) The memories are good but you can never have those times back or relive them.
Comedy:
The story can be turned into a comedy by reuniting with his old friend.
Title: Big Two-Hearted River
Author: Ernest Hemington
Ernest Hemington was born in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He was rejected for army service in World War I because of poor vision, he volunteered to serve as a driver for an American ambulance unit in France. He didn't like his mom, because she was controlling. This effected his relationship with women. He used to be a reporter. He was very good at his job. His style is like a reporter; right to the point. His works have sometimes been read as an essentially negative commentary on a modern world filled with sterility, failure, and death.
Basic Passage: "...Nick felt happy. He felt he had left everything behind, the need for thiking, the need to write, other needs. It was all back of him."
Correlate: This to be means that no matter how bad your life gets, when you decide to put it behind you, you will feel a lot better. This resembles my friend's life in the way that her and her exboyfriend just broke up. She took it hard at first, but then she realized that they wasn't meant to be. So she decided to put it behind her. Now she is happy with her life and she has a wonderful boyfriend that treats her good.
Tragedy: It was a tragedy, because after he left the train station, he realized that the town was burnt to the ground.
Comedy: It was a Comedy, because he found joy when he finally let go of his past.
"Big Two-Hearted River"- Ernest Hemingway
Author's Life: "Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He began his writing career for a newspaper in Kansas when he was seventeen years old. He often portrayed people who were "tough" in his works.
Basic Passage:
"The grasshopper was black.As he has walked along the road, climbing,he had started many grasshoppers from the dust. They were all black. They were not the big grasshoppers with yellow and black or red and black wings whirring out from their black wing sheathing as they fly up. These were just ordinary hoppers, but all a sooty black in color."
Correlate:
This passage is an example of struggle and how to work through it. In this passage, Hemingway repeats the word "black" which usually symbolizes the negative such as depression or even death, which the people of this story may have endured after the fire. Also he says the hoppers are ordinary which may be expressing that bad events may occur to ordinary people and that they should try to find a way to adapt as did the grasshoppers by turning black after the fire.
I have been in a similar situation when having to move to new places when I was younger due to my father's job. I had to adapt to the new places that I went to in order to survive the perils and cruelty of children who made fun of me because I was new and different.
Tragedy/Cause of Human Suffering: The town that was once lively is now in ruins.
Comedy: He finds greenery past the ruins.
It could also be a comedy if the people tried to revive the town.
"Big Two-Hearted River" -Hemingway
Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park Illinois to Clerance and Grace Hemingway. His "unstable" mother dressed him as a girl so she could pass he and his sister off as twins, while throughout his adolesnts his father would instill in him a love for the outdoors. This interest in masculine activites sticks with him thoroughout his life as well as the hatred that grew from his mothers mistreatment. These contidicting lifestyles as a young man were probably the root of his problem with relationships, as he was married four times and was also a notorious playboy. Heminway at eighteen was denied entrance to the army due to poor eyesight and instead volunteered for an ambulace service in France were later in his literary career he would come to be assossiated with the Lost Generation. Hemingway died at the age of 61 from a self inflicted gunshot to the face.
This story begins with a toally different feel than what it ends with. The differences in the two parts area as though nick is running away from something or that he is returning to something that has changed from what it was. He has those "old feelings" which are never explained but the context of the words surrounding this emotion tells us that the feelings are negative. In the beginning of the story, movement is a source of happiness. it seems to be cathardic as Nick continues to move farther into the country he lets go of those old feelings. In the second half of the story nick wakes up with a new outlook it seems. He is excited about going fishing and the story now takes on a more positive feel. He is happy about fishing and can be seen as a metaphor for life.
Basic Passage: "Nick did not want to go in thr now. He felt a reaction against deep wading with water deeping up under his armpits, to hook big trout in a place impossible to land them."
"There would be planty of days coming when he could fish in the swamp."
The negative feelings Nick has cast off from the first to the second part of the story bubble to the surface here. He is happy fishing and the swamp is a depressing sight that reminds him of that sadness he felt in the beginning of the story. This character has come to terms with these feelings and though he is happy now he know that he must enjoy the happyness because there are plenty of days of sadness in his future as well.
The source of comedy is the joy Nick gets from fishing.
The source of tragedy is the sadness Nick fells as he exits the train and finds himself in a burnt, baren, sterile landscape.
In all I think to story is a comedy because it ends well.
"Big Two-Hearted River"- Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway was an Illinois native we grew up just like anyone else. He played sports, was in band, hunted and even fished. He became a journalist for a while and even served in WWI. These two events greatly influenced his writing style.
"He came down a hillside covered with stumps into a meadow. At the edge of the meadow was the river. Nick was glad to get to the river."
He was happy because he had walked all day and even went out of his way to get to this point up stream. This is like his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow so to speak. Nick wanted to be at this specific spot and he wasn't stopping anywhere else. He saw so much devastation in the town and forest that were burnt and it would have been easy to just give up or move on. Yet he persevered to make it to the meadow and the best fishing spots.
Through this we see that even though life gives you hard times or offers a lot of resistance, its important to stick it out and make the best of what you have.
The tragedy is the burnt and useless town.
The comedy is that even though Nick sees all this, he still finds happiness. And that there is this place outside of the destruction that is thriving.
Big Two-Hearted River
Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway was born in Oak Park, IL a suburb of Chicago. He was born into a well to do family and his father instilled in him a love for the outdoors. Hemingway believed in the stoicism of the Romans which is reflected in his writing as lack of feeling and lack of weakness. He worked as a reporter earlier in life and wrote simple and straight to the point stories like a reporter should.
Basic Passage:
Near the end of "Big Two-Hearted River," as Nick Adams anxiously anticipates fishing in the swamp, we find this passage: "He wished he had brought something to read. He felt like reading. He did not feel like going on into the swamp"
Correlate:
Nick is nearing the swamp to fish and seems to be some what excited about finally reaching his destination when this passage arises. Throughout the story we get this feeling that Nick does not like being still and likes to keep his mind focused on something rather than the thoughts inside his head. But there is also the idea that he came to this place to be alone and be still and sort through his thoughts. As the title suggests he wants two things at the same time- to be quiet and think and to stay busy enough not to think. The passage suggests that he knows what he really needs to do (he is on his way to the swamp to fish, be still, and think), yet now he wishes he brought a book to keep his mind active so that he can avoid the matter entirely rather than sitting and waiting while he fishes. In my own life I expierience this "two-heartedness" or this double-mindedness. On a surface level- say I know absolutely that I need to study for my management test but man that is work, that is hard- I need to, I even want to but maybe I will just use my time to read stuff on the internet or watch T.V. Therefore I avoid what needs to be done. Or say I know I should read the Word, enjoy fellowship with the Lord, be still in his presence and instead I go and play NCAA at a friends house- I avoid the important matter. There is a time and a place for everthing but like Nick I too sometimes avoid the option that is of true and lasting value and opt for the one that is pleasing for a moment and has much less value.
The cause of human suffering is that Nick is a workaholic and must constantly be moving, constantly doing something, to keep his mind off whatever it is that is weighing him down.
This story would be a comedy if Nick goes to the swamp and fishes with no book and can chill out enough to think about whatever is bothering him and get on with his life.
Diff-
Well does Nick Adams make it to the swamp does he sort out his life? I suppose we are left to ponder this our selves.
A. Title: Big, Two-Hearted River
Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899. He worked for a while as a reporter. He then spent some time in WW1 with the Red Cross. He returned to finish his life as a novelist, writing mostly of sadness.
Basic Passage: He looked back. The river just showed through the trees. There were plenty of days coming when he could fish the swamp.
This story as a whole is full of sadness and negativity. In my opinion, this correlates to someone taking a metaphorical journey back to a place to try to heal some wound. It could apply to anyone, because we've all had hurt in one manner or another. Most recently for me, my grandmother passed away and I felt the need to revisit old, good memories of her. However, memories that once were only happiness (like the man's river before he left), now have some sadness mixed in with them and there are some things in the healing process that one cannot visit immediately (like the swamp). But for healing to occur, these things must be confronted. I think this is an excellent passage for anyone to read who has gone through a disappointment, death, or failure. Perhaps psychologists or someone dealing with people who are depressed could read this to better understand the healing process.
1) The cause of suffering is the swamp that the man can't face yet.
2) It could be a comedy if the man would venture into the swamp and be 'happy' there.
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinios and after graduating worked for the Kansas City Star. After being rejected from the army for bad eye sight. He then volunteered to drive an ambulance for the Red Cross on the Italian front and was wounded in action. He was rewarded for valor that he didn't feel like he deserved. The two principles he demonstrates in his writing are a very stripped and simple language and a stressed importance in his work. He aquired the knowledge and experience for his work as a hunter and fisherman.
"Nick woke stuff and cramped. The sun was nearly down. His pack was heavy and the straps painful as he lifted it on." (Pg. 1519)
The story symbolizes a renewal and a kind of spiritual awakening. Hemingway can relate to the character in finding a happy place alone in the wilderness. The river is a place of renewal throughout the story and Nick continually wants to make it to the river as a resting place. There is also a sense of unresistance to the changes of the world. The trout seem to float in the water and with a slight movement seem to hold unresisting in the water. The the current can symbolize the troubles we face in life and can show that if we can only force ourselves to pick up the backpack and keep moving even though we are sore. Nick atteptes to try things in a way that is not his own and make coffee Hop's way and seems to try to find a way to do things for himself. In life we all try to do things someone elses way in order to better understand and find our way of doing things.
The story seems like it could be a comedy or tragedy in the way that Nick finds pleasure in the simple things in life and a tragedy in the way that he is haunted by flashbacks and grief. He could have made it more comedic if he was to come out of the wilderness with a new view of the world and a tragedy if he was continually wrecked with grief and left to live a life alone in the woods.
We talked about the possible reasons why he was alone or why he was so sad in class. As we were talking about war or other reasons, I couldn't help thinking if he was disfigured from a war injury, or maybe if he had a life-threatening illness. Maybe he did something to become ostricized from society or the people he loves.
I also think that being alone will not solve all his problems. If you think about it, everything is dependant on something. However resistant the fish are, they are dependant on the river for survival, as are the trees. He needs to be reliant on something to help him through a difficult time and I don't think nature will satisfy his needs. People need interaction. No matter how alone someone wants to be, they need others. I don't see how a fish or a tree will be able to comfort him the way another person could.
RachaelNicholson said "Nick is running from his memory, away from feelings and from change". I believe he is not running from his memory, but to somewhere he feels comfortable and safe to deal with his feelings when he's ready.
To respond to Magally's comment "surroundings having been burned to nothing, the grasshoppers found a way to overcome this and adapt, allowing them to not only survive, but thrive." It is so importantfor us not to alow negative circumstances to press us down or defeat us. the comment and the passage it pertains to remind me of a saying that goes something like, "Negative situations are like furnaces- they will melt you. But the good news is you get to pick the mold that you are going to be poured into. For example a war. A person can come out of the war mentally unstable or he can come out srong resilient confident etc. As the saying goes you can become bitter or better its your choice.
I just spent a considerable amount of time typing a comment and it was rejected for some reason (my PC? the WiFi here? The website?). I'm not interested in writting it all again.
Hemmingway was from Chicago, served in the war as an ambulance driver, was a journalist and sportsman.
This guy comes back from "away" and finds what appears to be his home town leveled by fire. He seems to be some sort of adventurer/sportsman/soldier (combination?)
Human beings are social creatures, this sort of isolation and loss is always tragic.
some seriously see a comical element here. unless this guy is a hardcore hobbit or his backpack is full of K-B Nuggz (I know some of you know what that is...), isolation on that scale and that perpetuous is always tragic.
Just to expand a little bit on Rachael Nicholson's point: Metaphorically, as the river is meaning life, and the current is symbolizing situations in life, then it seems as if Nick thinks that by walking upstream as he fishes that he can fight against his circumstances and almost go back in time to the place before his situation happened. This upstream movement can symbolize something else entirely, but i think it has to do with the healing process and that by doing it, Nick may eventually feel that he can get over it.
Post a Comment