Big Two-Hearted River
Encyclopedia
"Big Two-Hearted River" is a two-part short story written by American author Ernest Hemingway
published in 1925 in his first collection of stories, In Our Time
. The story is generally viewed as an account of a healing process for Hemingway's autobiographical character Nick Adams
, recently returned from WWI. In the story, Nick returns to his boyhood activities of camping and fishing. Hemingway's use of the theory of omission
allows him to present Nick's camping trip while the crux of the story is that Nick's return to nature allows him heal from his war experiences—although never explicitly stated.
, and seeing the "burned-over stretch of hillside", that he himself has changed just as much as the land has. Once Nick finds a suitable campsite, he distracts himself by meticulously pitching his tent and cooking dinner. Before he goes to bed, Nick thinks about a friend, and the way that he used to make coffee. He goes to bed happy, anticipating a day of fishing. The second part of the story begins as Nick wakes up in the morning, anxious to begin fishing. He makes flapjacks for breakfast and goes to find grasshoppers for bait. Nick catches a small fish, and releases it, knowing that larger fish are to be had. Soon, he strikes a big fish: "There was a long tug. Nick struck and the rod came alive and dangerous, bent double, the line tightening, coming out of the water, tightening, all in a heavy, dangerous, steady pull. Nick felt the moment when the leader would break if the strain increased and let the line go." After the big fish gets away, Nick catches two medium-sized fish and is satisfied with them. He begins to lose interest in fishing and wishes instead that he had a book to read. Eventually, he notices a swamp upstream and thinks about the complications of fishing in it. Nick resolves not to try to fish in the swamp.
is situated in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and empties into Lake Superior
. Hemingway fans, fishermen, and canoers occasionally rent canoes, during the summer, for a trip downstream to the lake. However, the geography in the story indicates that the river in the story was actually the Fox River
, which flows through Seney and into Lake Michigan
. Hemingway admitted to changing the name used in the story because Two Hearted was more poetic.
The biggest local hazards are the black flies
, which inflict painful bites. During the winter, the area tends to become impassable except by snowmobile. By the mid 1960s, the forest, which had been logged-over before Hemingway's last visit, was beginning to recover. An occasional large tree, left behind to repopulate the forest, could be found, along with a larger number of smaller trees with a two to four inch trunk diameter.
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
published in 1925 in his first collection of stories, In Our Time
In Our Time (book)
In Our Time is the first collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway published by Boni & Liveright in New York in 1925, after a smaller edition of the book, titled in our time, had been published in Paris in 1924...
. The story is generally viewed as an account of a healing process for Hemingway's autobiographical character Nick Adams
Nick Adams (character)
Nick Adams is a fictional character, the protagonist of two dozen short stories by American author Ernest Hemingway, written in the 1920s and 30s...
, recently returned from WWI. In the story, Nick returns to his boyhood activities of camping and fishing. Hemingway's use of the theory of omission
Iceberg Theory
The Iceberg Theory is a term used to describe the writing style of American writer Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway is best known for works such as The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and the Sea...
allows him to present Nick's camping trip while the crux of the story is that Nick's return to nature allows him heal from his war experiences—although never explicitly stated.
Plot summary
As Nick hikes through a burned-out forest he notices grasshoppers that have turned black from the effects of the fire which burned down the town, as well as the passivity of the trout in the river, resting in the current rather than fighting upstream. Nick also realizes, upon stepping off the train in SeneySeney, Michigan
Seney is an unincorporated community in Schoolcraft County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. The town is built on the outskirts of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was featured in the Ernest Hemingway short story "Big...
, and seeing the "burned-over stretch of hillside", that he himself has changed just as much as the land has. Once Nick finds a suitable campsite, he distracts himself by meticulously pitching his tent and cooking dinner. Before he goes to bed, Nick thinks about a friend, and the way that he used to make coffee. He goes to bed happy, anticipating a day of fishing. The second part of the story begins as Nick wakes up in the morning, anxious to begin fishing. He makes flapjacks for breakfast and goes to find grasshoppers for bait. Nick catches a small fish, and releases it, knowing that larger fish are to be had. Soon, he strikes a big fish: "There was a long tug. Nick struck and the rod came alive and dangerous, bent double, the line tightening, coming out of the water, tightening, all in a heavy, dangerous, steady pull. Nick felt the moment when the leader would break if the strain increased and let the line go." After the big fish gets away, Nick catches two medium-sized fish and is satisfied with them. He begins to lose interest in fishing and wishes instead that he had a book to read. Eventually, he notices a swamp upstream and thinks about the complications of fishing in it. Nick resolves not to try to fish in the swamp.
The River
The Two Hearted RiverTwo Hearted River
The Two Hearted River is a short river, approximately 25 mi long in northern Michigan in the United States. It drains a forested wilderness area of the eastern Upper Peninsula into Lake Superior. It rises in several short branches in northeastern Luce County approximately 15 mi southeast of Grand...
is situated in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and empties into Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
. Hemingway fans, fishermen, and canoers occasionally rent canoes, during the summer, for a trip downstream to the lake. However, the geography in the story indicates that the river in the story was actually the Fox River
Fox River (Michigan)
The Fox River is a river in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1919 Ernest Hemingway spent time fishing the Fox after his return from Europe, where he had been hospitalized after injury in World War I. That fishing expedition formed the basis of his early short-story "Big Two-Hearted...
, which flows through Seney and into Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. Hemingway admitted to changing the name used in the story because Two Hearted was more poetic.
The biggest local hazards are the black flies
Stable fly
Stomoxys calcitrans is commonly called the stable fly, barn fly, biting house fly, dog fly, or power mower fly. Unusually for a member of the family Muscidae, but like other members of the genus, Stomoxys calcitrans sucks blood from mammals.-External links:* * * hosted by the...
, which inflict painful bites. During the winter, the area tends to become impassable except by snowmobile. By the mid 1960s, the forest, which had been logged-over before Hemingway's last visit, was beginning to recover. An occasional large tree, left behind to repopulate the forest, could be found, along with a larger number of smaller trees with a two to four inch trunk diameter.
External links
- Hemingway Archives, John F. Kennedy LibraryJohn F. Kennedy LibraryThe John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, next to the Boston campus of the University of...