Skip to main content

In "In Another Country," how is the narrator isolated and different from the young Italian officers, the civilians of Milan, and the major at the...

The narrator in Hemingway's short story "In Another Country" is recuperating in the Italian city of Milan after being wounded during World War I. The story may be somewhat autobiographical as Hemingway was wounded on the Italian front in 1918 while driving an ambulance for the Red Cross. Hemingway received his wounds while handing out chocolates to Italian soldiers at the front. While he considers the young Italian officers his friends, the narrator says,


I was never really one of them after they had read the citations, because it had been different with them and they had done very different things to get their medals.



The suggestion is that the Italians won their medals through bravery and combat while the narrator received his because he was an American. He readily admits that he may never have been able to do the things which the Italians did to get their medals:



I knew that I would have never done such things, and I was very much afraid to die and wondering how I would be when I went back to the front again.



The narrator is isolated from the Italian civilians because the area of Milan which the men walk through is the "communist quarter." The narrator reports that the people hated them and would yell, "A basso gli ufficiali!" James R. Mellow, in his biography, Hemingway: A Life Without Consequences, translates this as "Down with Officers" and notes that it was a popular antiwar taunt. The working class citizens were very much against the war (Russia pulled out of the war in 1917 after the communist revolution).


While also friendly with the major, the narrator's circumstances differ when he tells him that he hopes to be married soon. The major launches into a rant, which he will apologize for later, about how a man should not marry:



"The more of a fool you are," he said. "A man must not marry."



A little later the narrator discovers the major's wife has just died from pneumonia at a very young age. It is ironic because the major made it through the war with only a wound while his wife is taken from him seemingly before her time.

Popular posts from this blog

In chapter one of The Great Gatsby, what advice does Nick's father give him? How does this make him a good person to tell this story?

Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches... Nick says that his father advised him that, before "criticizing anyone," he "remember that all the people in this world haven't had the same advantages" as Nick.  As a result, Nick claims that he is "inclined to reserve all judgments," presenting himself to the reader as a fair and dispassionate arbiter of character, and thus, a reliable narrator.   The problem is that Nick immediately reveals himself as anything but reliable, as he then launches into a discussion of how pe...

How did the United States become an imperial power?

"Imperial power" is a bit of a vague label. It tends to mean several things at once, so let's unpack it. In the sense of "this country was built on conquest by force," the "imperial power" part of America actually predates the United States proper. The territories that would become the United States were imperial colonies, established by the great European empires of the 17th and 18th centuries. Much of the US Constitution and American governance generally goes back to England, history's largest and most successful imperial power, but vital aspects of American culture come from other imperial powers, such as France and Spain. Much of American culture comes from sources other than the old empires, but they were key influences on what the United States became. In the sense of "this country treats conquest by force as a fundamental component of its culture, economy and politics," the United States has always been an imperial power. Even earl...

How and why does James Gatz become Jay Gatsby? Describe the young Gatsby/Gatz.

James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune,... James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy of probable Jewish lineage, becomes Jay Gatsby, a presumed WASP and wealthy socialite, when he moves to New York City and acquires his fortune. It is wealth that has allowed Gatz to transform himself into Gatsby. However, those who know his background (e.g., Daisy and Tom Buchanan) never allow him to forget that he is nouveau riche -- that is, an upstart who has just recently made his fortune, whereas they arose from well-to-do families. Gatz became Gatsby through determination and discipline. At the end of the novel, the narr...