THE BIG LOSS OF THE MAJOR
(written by Hoang Ngoc Trang - DH02G-AV28)
Human beings are used to the word “WAR.” In fact, the history of any country is built up by fighting, revolutions, competitions, rebellions, etc. which are all different forms of the war. People may have their own definitions of war but I define “War is loss!” Whatever the purpose of a war is and however rightful the war appeared to be, it brings loss, little or huge, to both soldiers and people at the rear-base. The major in “In Another Country” suffered a very big loss. He returned from the war, gaining nothing but a dark life that he could not resign.
Those who used to have a wonderful job and a great fame understand the feeling of losing these things. The more we have, the more painful the feeling of loss is. It is the case of the major. He used to be a great fencer in Italy. I think that sport is part of life of most of the men, especially the European men. Playing sports is not just a passion, but it shows the strength and power of a real man. For that reason, to encourage the American, the doctor said that he could play football again better than ever. A singer is no longer able to sing. A doctor is no longer able to take care of the patients. That is a terrible shock in life. Alike, that a sportsman no longer plays sports is an unacceptable situation. A major's hand was damaged in the war. It was withered so that he could not hold things by that hand and could not play football anymore. One of my friends had his hand tendons being cut and he can no longer use that hand. Although he did not care much about using-hand sports (because he can still play football with his legs), I saw a severe spiritual collapse at him. He said he was a useless boy and he hated anyone who showed sympathy for him. He could not do heavy work like a man in his family. He didn't want to join in activities at school and in the church; for fear that his helpless hand was exposed to people's eyes and jokes. I think that even when sports was not a problem, my friend as well as the major still endured a difficult time, a loss of strength, a loss of confidence, and a loss of a man's dignity.
The loss that the major suffered was bigger after his wife's death. She was very young and she had waited for him during the time he joined the war. When the major was completely invalid out of the war, he returned, got married to that woman, and must have hoped for a happy family. Ironically, his wife died very quickly after that. A man who were wounded in the war and could not see any hope of recovery now lost the most important person in his life. The man was tormented by the sense of loss, the regret for his abandonment of his beloved, and the hatred of the war. “A man must not marry,” he cried out when hearing that the American intended to get married. “Don't get married because you will be very painful when you lose your spouse! Don't be like me!” are the words that I can hear from the major's broken heart. When talking about his wife's death, he wept, choked, bitted his lips, and cried, “I am utterly unable to resign myself.” What a big loss! He had happiness and then lost it very quickly, so it might be better if he hadn't have it “He should not place himself in a position to lose. He should find things he cannot lose.” Such bitter words showed how much despaired the major felt.
The major didn't believe in the machines but he kept going to hospital to exercise with them. He did things as a habit. He did things but did not know if it was effective or if he needed it or not. I can feel a sense of abandonment and paralysis at him. The pain was full in his soul so that there was no place for hope and consciousness. He didn't believe in the machines or he didn't dare to believe? A person losing too many things might not take risk to trust or desire anything more since he did not want to be “in the position to lose.” Even the doctor gave him evidences to convince him in his hand's recovery, he just looked out the windows “Don't let me hope because I'm afraid to be hopeless!” “There is no hope, there will not be hopelessness,” might be the lesson the poor man learned from such a big loss in life. Despite he might know the machines could cure his hand, he knew exactly that they could not bring his wife back for him. There is loss that we can compensate, but there is one that is beyond our ability.
The life sometimes takes too many things from us. Lots of people find that it is not fair because they have to suffer a lot and lose a lot. And then we often blame our miseries on the life and the fate. The major said that “If he is to lose everything …” He thought that he was born to lose everything; and he was admitting that he was leaded by the destiny. Therefore, he accepted to “have nothing lo lose” rather than to “have things that might be lost” Different from him, the American who used to attend the war, used to be wounded, and was being detached from his own country, from the Italian society, and from just his fellows; dared to look ahead for a better life. He knew exactly “the machines were new … and it was [him] to prove them.” He hoped to get married when he returned to the States. On the contrary, the major said to the doctor “No, [I have no confidence],” and kept talking “He'll lose it … He lose it … Don't argue with me.” I cannot see any hope or determination in this man. The loss made him so and it made him lose one more thing, his expectation.
What the major lost was not just a hand, a lovely wife, but also a vital trust in the life. The life in his view was full of loss, suffering, and despairation. In spite of his tears, in spite of the doctor and his machines, his damaged soul could never be healed. The war had derived too much from him. It turned a great fencer, a happy man with his wife, a brave and enthusiastic soldier into a man living for nothing and believing in nothing, even in himself.
Those who used to have a wonderful job and a great fame understand the feeling of losing these things. The more we have, the more painful the feeling of loss is. It is the case of the major. He used to be a great fencer in Italy. I think that sport is part of life of most of the men, especially the European men. Playing sports is not just a passion, but it shows the strength and power of a real man. For that reason, to encourage the American, the doctor said that he could play football again better than ever. A singer is no longer able to sing. A doctor is no longer able to take care of the patients. That is a terrible shock in life. Alike, that a sportsman no longer plays sports is an unacceptable situation. A major's hand was damaged in the war. It was withered so that he could not hold things by that hand and could not play football anymore. One of my friends had his hand tendons being cut and he can no longer use that hand. Although he did not care much about using-hand sports (because he can still play football with his legs), I saw a severe spiritual collapse at him. He said he was a useless boy and he hated anyone who showed sympathy for him. He could not do heavy work like a man in his family. He didn't want to join in activities at school and in the church; for fear that his helpless hand was exposed to people's eyes and jokes. I think that even when sports was not a problem, my friend as well as the major still endured a difficult time, a loss of strength, a loss of confidence, and a loss of a man's dignity.
The loss that the major suffered was bigger after his wife's death. She was very young and she had waited for him during the time he joined the war. When the major was completely invalid out of the war, he returned, got married to that woman, and must have hoped for a happy family. Ironically, his wife died very quickly after that. A man who were wounded in the war and could not see any hope of recovery now lost the most important person in his life. The man was tormented by the sense of loss, the regret for his abandonment of his beloved, and the hatred of the war. “A man must not marry,” he cried out when hearing that the American intended to get married. “Don't get married because you will be very painful when you lose your spouse! Don't be like me!” are the words that I can hear from the major's broken heart. When talking about his wife's death, he wept, choked, bitted his lips, and cried, “I am utterly unable to resign myself.” What a big loss! He had happiness and then lost it very quickly, so it might be better if he hadn't have it “He should not place himself in a position to lose. He should find things he cannot lose.” Such bitter words showed how much despaired the major felt.
The major didn't believe in the machines but he kept going to hospital to exercise with them. He did things as a habit. He did things but did not know if it was effective or if he needed it or not. I can feel a sense of abandonment and paralysis at him. The pain was full in his soul so that there was no place for hope and consciousness. He didn't believe in the machines or he didn't dare to believe? A person losing too many things might not take risk to trust or desire anything more since he did not want to be “in the position to lose.” Even the doctor gave him evidences to convince him in his hand's recovery, he just looked out the windows “Don't let me hope because I'm afraid to be hopeless!” “There is no hope, there will not be hopelessness,” might be the lesson the poor man learned from such a big loss in life. Despite he might know the machines could cure his hand, he knew exactly that they could not bring his wife back for him. There is loss that we can compensate, but there is one that is beyond our ability.
The life sometimes takes too many things from us. Lots of people find that it is not fair because they have to suffer a lot and lose a lot. And then we often blame our miseries on the life and the fate. The major said that “If he is to lose everything …” He thought that he was born to lose everything; and he was admitting that he was leaded by the destiny. Therefore, he accepted to “have nothing lo lose” rather than to “have things that might be lost” Different from him, the American who used to attend the war, used to be wounded, and was being detached from his own country, from the Italian society, and from just his fellows; dared to look ahead for a better life. He knew exactly “the machines were new … and it was [him] to prove them.” He hoped to get married when he returned to the States. On the contrary, the major said to the doctor “No, [I have no confidence],” and kept talking “He'll lose it … He lose it … Don't argue with me.” I cannot see any hope or determination in this man. The loss made him so and it made him lose one more thing, his expectation.
What the major lost was not just a hand, a lovely wife, but also a vital trust in the life. The life in his view was full of loss, suffering, and despairation. In spite of his tears, in spite of the doctor and his machines, his damaged soul could never be healed. The war had derived too much from him. It turned a great fencer, a happy man with his wife, a brave and enthusiastic soldier into a man living for nothing and believing in nothing, even in himself.
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Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
Ernest Hemmingway born in Oak Park, Illinois, started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City at the age of seventeen. After the United States entered the First World War, he joined a volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian army. Serving at the front, he was wounded, was decorated by the Italian Government, and spent considerable time in hospitals. After his return to the United States, he became a reporter for Canadian and American newspapers and was soon sent back to Europe to cover such events as the Greek Revolution.
During the twenties, Hemingway became a member of the group of expatriate Americans in Paris, which he described in his first important work, The Sun Also Rises (1926). Equally successful was A Farewell to Arms (1929), the study of an American ambulance officer's disillusionment in the war and his role as a deserter. Hemingway used his experiences as a reporter during the civil war in Spain as the background for his most ambitious novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Among his later works, the most outstanding is the short novel, The Old Man and the Sea (1952), the story of an old fisherman's journey, his long and lonely struggle with a fish and the sea, and his victory in defeat.
Hemingway - himself a great sportsman - liked to portray soldiers, hunters, bullfighters - tough, at times primitive people whose courage and honesty are set against the brutal ways of modern society, and who in this confrontation lose hope and faith. His straightforward prose, his spare dialogue, and his predilection for understatement are particularly effective in his short stories, some of which are collected in Men Without Women (1927) and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories (1938). Hemingway died in Idaho in 1961.
THE NARRATOR'S ISOLATION IN “IN ANOTHER COUNTRY”
(written by Dang Xuan Thai Ngan DH02G-AV28)
Whenever a war breaks out, it always causes soldier to suffer from severe physical and emotional tolls. But not every soldier considers his losses as meaningful and heroic sacrifices, instead, they may think of the losses as accident or bad luck. This is specially true to the American soldier in the story “In Another Country”. His different thinking and isolation from other soldier help the readers have a good insight into what is so – called a just war
The obvious reason for his isolation is the difference in nationality and language. Because he is an American, living in Milan only in a short time is not enough to help him feel welcomed by his Italian comrades as well as by Milan's local residents. Differences in nationality and language are always a major barrier preventing people from getting on with each other.
Another reason for his isolation is local residents' prejudice to soldier. Because soldier often cruelly commit crime such as plundering, raping or killing innocent people, people feel insecure whenever they see them. The bad image of a soldier increases local residents' hatred for the narrator – a foreign soldier
Besides these 2 obvious reasons above, his isolation stems from his indifferent attitude to the war. Before being transferred into hospital, he fights at the front. He is a soldier who directly participates in the war but during the time he is in Milan, he never pays attention to the situation of the battlefield: He is never bothered about finding out if his side gains victory or is defeated, how many soldier die or how much of the toll is. He is carefree to enjoy peace in the hospital feeling relieved that he does not have to risk his life outside the battlefield: “In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it anymore.” He cares for nothing but the fact that he is now safe from the war. Staying in hospital, he feels as if he is living “in another country” where there is no bullet, no gun and no danger. Of course, he is now geographically far from the war, but in his mind he intentionally places himself far from the place he should belong to – the battlefield. How irresponsible he is!
When a lot of his comrades are fighting fiercely against enemy, he spend time studying different ways leading to the hospital, watching the scenery in Milan, chatting with coffee girls and wandering around the street. His carefree attitude to the war indicates that his status is no more than the status of a soldier of fortune with no fighting will. As a foreign soldier fighting with no purpose and no political ideal, he finds no meaning in the war, which in turn makes him feel isolated from everyone in Milan.
The narrator isolation also comes from the complete difference between him and other 3 Milan officers in the hospital with whom he has nothing in common. Whereas medals are deserving rewards for the three Milan officer's hard and heroic fighting, the narrator medals are like decorating things rather than recognition. Staying in the same hospital does not develop camaraderie and solidarity between them because the 3 Milan officers fight for their own country and they conceptualize this war as a just war. They are so enthusiastic for the struggle that the narrator describes them as “hunting hawks”. In contrast, the narrator acts like a foreign visitor in Milan: He gives ironic remark about “patriotic coffee girls” and spend time studying Italian!
The narrator isolation is a result of his disconnection to the war. Although he is a soldier, his attitude and behavior tell us that he is a stranger, an outsider to the war. Like other soldiers, he has to experience physical damage (his leg is wounded) but he is not aware this wounded leg is the loss that the war brings to him, just an accident. It means that he is not affected by the war, either physically or emotionally. His isolation proves that he is not a real soldier because he does not understand the nature of the war he participates in, which is obviously revealed in the way he mention the war “In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it anymore.” His expression neither suggests emotion nor judgment.
In addition, the narrator optimism makes himself isolated from the rest. In the story, the major suffers from the big loss of his life when the war takes all his faith (he does not believe the machine and thinks that the war will never end) and preventing him from meeting his wife for the last time before she dies. In contrast, the narrator is very optimistic about his future ahead. He dreams of returning to his hometown and having a happy life. It is in the wartime but he can think about his private affairs. He is not different from a tourist who considers Milan as a temporary destination. Not living in his own country, he is not fully conscious of the tolls and losses that this war leaves behind for Italians
The techniques Hemingway uses in most of his works are understatement and “iceberg theory”. If we interpret this story following these 2 techniques, we can be sure that it condemns wars. Through the isolation, we can have a clear view about the negative side of a war: we should not attribute the word “just” for any war because what is so – called “just war”, by its very nature, is only a noun used to encourage soldiers. Many soldiers go to the front, but how many of them really want to fight? How many of them can fully understand the purpose of the war? how many of them can be aware that the politician are making use of them? After all, it is the vague way the narrator conceptualizes the war that leads to his isolation
In conclusion, Hemingway writes this story following the “iceberg theory” which takes the isolation of an American soldier as a factor to contribute to illustrating the meaningless aspects of wars.
The obvious reason for his isolation is the difference in nationality and language. Because he is an American, living in Milan only in a short time is not enough to help him feel welcomed by his Italian comrades as well as by Milan's local residents. Differences in nationality and language are always a major barrier preventing people from getting on with each other.
Another reason for his isolation is local residents' prejudice to soldier. Because soldier often cruelly commit crime such as plundering, raping or killing innocent people, people feel insecure whenever they see them. The bad image of a soldier increases local residents' hatred for the narrator – a foreign soldier
Besides these 2 obvious reasons above, his isolation stems from his indifferent attitude to the war. Before being transferred into hospital, he fights at the front. He is a soldier who directly participates in the war but during the time he is in Milan, he never pays attention to the situation of the battlefield: He is never bothered about finding out if his side gains victory or is defeated, how many soldier die or how much of the toll is. He is carefree to enjoy peace in the hospital feeling relieved that he does not have to risk his life outside the battlefield: “In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it anymore.” He cares for nothing but the fact that he is now safe from the war. Staying in hospital, he feels as if he is living “in another country” where there is no bullet, no gun and no danger. Of course, he is now geographically far from the war, but in his mind he intentionally places himself far from the place he should belong to – the battlefield. How irresponsible he is!
When a lot of his comrades are fighting fiercely against enemy, he spend time studying different ways leading to the hospital, watching the scenery in Milan, chatting with coffee girls and wandering around the street. His carefree attitude to the war indicates that his status is no more than the status of a soldier of fortune with no fighting will. As a foreign soldier fighting with no purpose and no political ideal, he finds no meaning in the war, which in turn makes him feel isolated from everyone in Milan.
The narrator isolation also comes from the complete difference between him and other 3 Milan officers in the hospital with whom he has nothing in common. Whereas medals are deserving rewards for the three Milan officer's hard and heroic fighting, the narrator medals are like decorating things rather than recognition. Staying in the same hospital does not develop camaraderie and solidarity between them because the 3 Milan officers fight for their own country and they conceptualize this war as a just war. They are so enthusiastic for the struggle that the narrator describes them as “hunting hawks”. In contrast, the narrator acts like a foreign visitor in Milan: He gives ironic remark about “patriotic coffee girls” and spend time studying Italian!
The narrator isolation is a result of his disconnection to the war. Although he is a soldier, his attitude and behavior tell us that he is a stranger, an outsider to the war. Like other soldiers, he has to experience physical damage (his leg is wounded) but he is not aware this wounded leg is the loss that the war brings to him, just an accident. It means that he is not affected by the war, either physically or emotionally. His isolation proves that he is not a real soldier because he does not understand the nature of the war he participates in, which is obviously revealed in the way he mention the war “In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it anymore.” His expression neither suggests emotion nor judgment.
In addition, the narrator optimism makes himself isolated from the rest. In the story, the major suffers from the big loss of his life when the war takes all his faith (he does not believe the machine and thinks that the war will never end) and preventing him from meeting his wife for the last time before she dies. In contrast, the narrator is very optimistic about his future ahead. He dreams of returning to his hometown and having a happy life. It is in the wartime but he can think about his private affairs. He is not different from a tourist who considers Milan as a temporary destination. Not living in his own country, he is not fully conscious of the tolls and losses that this war leaves behind for Italians
The techniques Hemingway uses in most of his works are understatement and “iceberg theory”. If we interpret this story following these 2 techniques, we can be sure that it condemns wars. Through the isolation, we can have a clear view about the negative side of a war: we should not attribute the word “just” for any war because what is so – called “just war”, by its very nature, is only a noun used to encourage soldiers. Many soldiers go to the front, but how many of them really want to fight? How many of them can fully understand the purpose of the war? how many of them can be aware that the politician are making use of them? After all, it is the vague way the narrator conceptualizes the war that leads to his isolation
In conclusion, Hemingway writes this story following the “iceberg theory” which takes the isolation of an American soldier as a factor to contribute to illustrating the meaningless aspects of wars.
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Discuss the lost of the major from World War I
(written by Tran Thi Kim Chau - DH02G-AV28)
"In another Country” took place as a sad story which is permeated by loss, failure, and ruin. Many of the characters grappled with a loss of function, a loss of purpose, and a loss of faith. Among them, the Italian major was the one who suffers the most from the war. His loss is greater than anyone else: a loss of function, a loss of purpose, and a loss of faith.
The first thing to be mentioned is the major's loss of function. He received treatment for a shriveled hand from a doctor. Although the doctor kept encouraging his patient, his prognosis is dubious. From this point, readers can understand that the possibility for recovery is very low. The loss of function of his hand is likely pervasive. More painfully, before the war, the major was once a renowned fencer. Yet then, he felt nothing but angry and bitter. If we know that one of the most important things in playing football is the ability of running and the two hands play a crucial role in keeping balance when running, we can understand how hurt the major is with his shriveled hand. Profoundly judging, this loss of function can be considered as a physical loss.
The second thing I would like to discuss is the major's loss of purpose and of faith. About physical condition, his shriveled hand turned him to be definitely invalided out of the war. About mental condition, the death of his young wife seems to drown him in an indefinite pain. This is proved through the way he spoke very angrily and bitterly to the American soldier: “He cannot marry. He cannot marry. If he is to lose everything, he should not place himself in a position to lose that. He should not place himself in a position to lose. He should find things he cannot lose”. Readers can feel sympathy for the major when realizing that he was speaking out these words in pain. His pain was so great that in a certain moment he could not control himself. Consequently, he lost his faith upon life. With his shriveled hand and his dead wife, his life became meaningless. He likes football, yet he could not play anymore. He loves his country, but now he could no longer fight for it. He is much in love with his wife, but she has gone away. In my opinion, all these terrible things are too much for a person to endure. To this point, the major's loss of purpose and of faith has been clear. This is more a mental loss.
In conclusion, talking about the loss of the major in World War I, I can feel it as a loss of function, a loss of purpose, and a loss of faith. It seems to me that all the worst things have happened to the major to such an extremely extend that nothing can discourage him more. Also, I feel sorry for him. He is a good person but life is so harsh to him.
The first thing to be mentioned is the major's loss of function. He received treatment for a shriveled hand from a doctor. Although the doctor kept encouraging his patient, his prognosis is dubious. From this point, readers can understand that the possibility for recovery is very low. The loss of function of his hand is likely pervasive. More painfully, before the war, the major was once a renowned fencer. Yet then, he felt nothing but angry and bitter. If we know that one of the most important things in playing football is the ability of running and the two hands play a crucial role in keeping balance when running, we can understand how hurt the major is with his shriveled hand. Profoundly judging, this loss of function can be considered as a physical loss.
The second thing I would like to discuss is the major's loss of purpose and of faith. About physical condition, his shriveled hand turned him to be definitely invalided out of the war. About mental condition, the death of his young wife seems to drown him in an indefinite pain. This is proved through the way he spoke very angrily and bitterly to the American soldier: “He cannot marry. He cannot marry. If he is to lose everything, he should not place himself in a position to lose that. He should not place himself in a position to lose. He should find things he cannot lose”. Readers can feel sympathy for the major when realizing that he was speaking out these words in pain. His pain was so great that in a certain moment he could not control himself. Consequently, he lost his faith upon life. With his shriveled hand and his dead wife, his life became meaningless. He likes football, yet he could not play anymore. He loves his country, but now he could no longer fight for it. He is much in love with his wife, but she has gone away. In my opinion, all these terrible things are too much for a person to endure. To this point, the major's loss of purpose and of faith has been clear. This is more a mental loss.
In conclusion, talking about the loss of the major in World War I, I can feel it as a loss of function, a loss of purpose, and a loss of faith. It seems to me that all the worst things have happened to the major to such an extremely extend that nothing can discourage him more. Also, I feel sorry for him. He is a good person but life is so harsh to him.
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Discuss about the isolation of the narrator in “ In Another Country”
(written by Vu Yen - DH02G-AV28)
Ernest Miller Hemingway was born at 8 o'clock in the morning on July 21st 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. In nearly 62 years of his lifetime, his literary reputation was unsurpassed. The Characters that he created were not only captive the literary critics but also the average men as well. It can be said that Ernest Hemingway was a greatest American Writer in the twentieth century. His experience as a soldier in Italy during World War 1 inspired him to write many of his later masterpieces. One of which is the story “In Another Country” in the book “Men Without Women”. “In Another Country” is a short story about wounded soldiers who are recuperating after being injured on the front line. The main theme of the story is about the isolation feeling that the American soldier, or the narrator, has to confront.
The first thing I would like to mention is the isolation of the narrator in his emotion. The setting of the story is in a military hospital in Milan, Italy during World War 1. As an American soldier, the narrator always feels homesick at a certain when being out of his homeland. Moreover, at the first glance, the title of the story, In Another Country”, Ernest Hemingway implies that the narrator himself is just a tourist in a foreign country rather than a real soldier who really fights for justice. This is the reason why he feels that he is undeserved for the medals. By describing his visiting to The Cova Café, the narrator lets the reader capture his tourist characterization. Furthermore, his perspective toward the Italian is “Italian is such an easy language…that I could not take a great interest”. The fact shows that the narrator has a light-hearted attitude toward the Italian culture, and he has no relationship to this country and the war as well. That is the reason why he feels isolated from what he is pursuing.
Another point is his isolation from companionship that is the discrimination the narrators has to face after being injured from an accident. Although all of them, the Italian and the American soldiers, are rewarded medals for their heroic action, the Italian soldiers feel disdain toward the American soldier who is considered to be not worth deserving the medals. Ernest Hemingway explores the back-side of the reward in the war. The writer reveals that the medals are just for decoration rather than the recognition.
The final point to demonstrate for the narrator's isolation is his separation from the damage of the war in Italy. Almost the characters in the story are injured or casualties. The death, ruin, loss and failure are pervasive everywhere in Italy. The damage of the war is so terrible, and it seems to destroy the culture and civilization of a country. The symbolization for the damage of the war is obviously seen everywhere in Italy as “There was much game hanging outside the shops, and the snow powdered in the fur of the foxes and the wind blew their tails. The deer hung stiff and heavy and empty, and small birds blew in the wind and the wind turned their feathers”. As mentioned above, the narrator ironically describes himself as a tourist rather than a real soldier. After the war, he will come back to his homeland where he will be separated completely from the ruin of the war. Ernest Hemingway insists on that the bravery action is not just only fighting the enemy on the front line but also confronting with the damage of the war. Because of his thinking like that, the writer feels undeserving for the medals for heroic action in the war, and he separates himself from the war and the Italian people.
In brief, the main theme of “In Another country” is the feeling of isolation of a young American soldier in Italy during World War 1. Throughout the story, Ernest Hemingway also explores an unknown fact about war. In some extents, war represents for the loss of function, loss of purpose and failure. Furthermore, war also brings detachment to human's emotional feeling.
The first thing I would like to mention is the isolation of the narrator in his emotion. The setting of the story is in a military hospital in Milan, Italy during World War 1. As an American soldier, the narrator always feels homesick at a certain when being out of his homeland. Moreover, at the first glance, the title of the story, In Another Country”, Ernest Hemingway implies that the narrator himself is just a tourist in a foreign country rather than a real soldier who really fights for justice. This is the reason why he feels that he is undeserved for the medals. By describing his visiting to The Cova Café, the narrator lets the reader capture his tourist characterization. Furthermore, his perspective toward the Italian is “Italian is such an easy language…that I could not take a great interest”. The fact shows that the narrator has a light-hearted attitude toward the Italian culture, and he has no relationship to this country and the war as well. That is the reason why he feels isolated from what he is pursuing.
Another point is his isolation from companionship that is the discrimination the narrators has to face after being injured from an accident. Although all of them, the Italian and the American soldiers, are rewarded medals for their heroic action, the Italian soldiers feel disdain toward the American soldier who is considered to be not worth deserving the medals. Ernest Hemingway explores the back-side of the reward in the war. The writer reveals that the medals are just for decoration rather than the recognition.
The final point to demonstrate for the narrator's isolation is his separation from the damage of the war in Italy. Almost the characters in the story are injured or casualties. The death, ruin, loss and failure are pervasive everywhere in Italy. The damage of the war is so terrible, and it seems to destroy the culture and civilization of a country. The symbolization for the damage of the war is obviously seen everywhere in Italy as “There was much game hanging outside the shops, and the snow powdered in the fur of the foxes and the wind blew their tails. The deer hung stiff and heavy and empty, and small birds blew in the wind and the wind turned their feathers”. As mentioned above, the narrator ironically describes himself as a tourist rather than a real soldier. After the war, he will come back to his homeland where he will be separated completely from the ruin of the war. Ernest Hemingway insists on that the bravery action is not just only fighting the enemy on the front line but also confronting with the damage of the war. Because of his thinking like that, the writer feels undeserving for the medals for heroic action in the war, and he separates himself from the war and the Italian people.
In brief, the main theme of “In Another country” is the feeling of isolation of a young American soldier in Italy during World War 1. Throughout the story, Ernest Hemingway also explores an unknown fact about war. In some extents, war represents for the loss of function, loss of purpose and failure. Furthermore, war also brings detachment to human's emotional feeling.
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