E. Hemingway (1898-1961)

“In another country”

First reading.
Read these sentences and say whether they are true or false:
1. This story takes place in Milan, Italy.
2. The narrator is an American.
3. The Cova is the name of the hospital.
4. The Scala is a popular cafe.
5. Before the war the major had been a great skier.
6. When asked if he feels confident that his hand will heal, the major says that he is.
7. The doctor shows the solders a photograph of a hand.
8. The narrator is the only solder without a medal.
9. The major tells the narrator that he should not marry.
10. The sad news, which the major relates at the end of the story is that he is going to die.

Second reading.
1. A critic has pointed out that the opening paragraph offers a number of symbolic details which stand for the “other countries” which the lonely characters portrayed in the story sense but do not enter. These countries are: “the country of battle from which (the characters) wounds have removed them; that of peace which glimpse though lighted windows from darkened streets; the country of nature symbolized by the game; and the country, finally, of death-connoted by the cold, the dark, and by the wind which blows from the mountains.” How is the exclusion of the solders from these “countries” important in this story?
2. Not only are the solders, as a group, shut off from other groups; as individuals, they are separated from one another. How do they happen to be separated? Have their war experiences had anything to do with their loneliness? Explain.
3. Judging from your knowledge of the characters in Hemingway’s stories, to what extent is the narrator typical of the characters Hemingway admires? Are the other characters typical?
4. How does the major differ from the other invalids? Why does his wife’s illness cause him to quarrel with the narrator?