Btn ied chy Short Stori =) Emest Hemingway (1899-1961) [Emest Hemingway's fiction expressed the sentiments ‘of many members of the post-World War! generation He wrote about people's struggles to maintain a sense of dignity while living ina sometimes hostile world The Red Cross Hemingway, the son of a physician, was born and raised in Oak Park, Ilinois, a suburb of Chicago. In high school, he played football and wrote newspaper columns. Eager to serve in World War I, he tried to join the army but was repeatedly turned away due to an eye defect. He joined the Red Cross ambulance corps instead and, in 1918, was sent to the Italian front. Just before his nineteenth birthday, he was severely wounded and spent several months recovering in a hospital in Milan, Italy. His expe- riences during the war helped shape his view of the world and provide material for his writing, Expatriates After the war, Hemingway had a difficult time readjusting to life in the United States, To establish himself as a writer; he went to Paris as a foreign correspondent for the ‘Toronto Star. in Paris, he befriended Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and other American writers and artists living overseas. ‘The literary advice of these friends and his work sa journalist helped him develop his concise, concrete, and highly charged writing style. In 1925, Hemingway published his first major work, in Our Time, a series of loosely connected short stories. A year later he published The Swn Also Rises, anovel about a group of British and American expatriates trying to overcome the pain and disillusionment of life in the modern world. Hemingway became as famous for his lifestyle as he was for his writing. Constantly pursuing adventure, he hunted big game in Africa, 806 @ Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent (1914-1946) In Another Country * The Corn Planting * A Worn Path attended bullfights in Spain, held records for deep-sea fishing in the Caribbean, and partici- pated in amateur boxing, The full body of Hemingway's work—including A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), and The Old Man and the Sen (1952)— earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) Sherwood Anderson was cone of the most influential ‘American writers ofthe frst half ofthe twentieth century. ‘The third of seven children, Anderson was raised ina small town in Ohio. His father was a harness ‘maker and house painter who was not always able to eam enough money to support the family. At fourteen, Anderson dropped out of high school towork, taking a variety of unskilled jobs. He ‘eventually joined the army to serve in the Spanish- ‘American War, which ended just before he arrived in Cuba. At the age of twenty-three, ater a year of military service, Anderson retumed to his home- town and finished high school His Best-known Work After completing high school, Anderson moved to Chicago to pursue a writing career. He worked as an adver~ tising copywriter and met poets Carl Sandburg, and Edgar Lee Masters and novelist Theodore Dreiser. After witnessing the success of Masters's Spoon River Anthology, Anderson began his own fictional explorations of life in rural America Using his boyhood observations and experiences ‘as material, he created his best-known work, Winesburg, Ohio (1919), a unified collection of short stories In this work, Anderson presents small-town life in a strikingly different manner from earlier works of literature. He looks beneath the surface of the characters’ lives to construct psychological portraits, He also uses everydayspeech to capture the essene¢ of characters, a technique he borrowed from Mark Twain. Tn addition to writing, Anderson became a successful businessman heading the Anderson ‘Manufacturing Company, which made paint and roof-pitch. He did not enjoy business, and in his mid-thirties, he abandoned the company to devote himsolf to writing. Although Anderson's literary reputation rests mainly on Winesburg, Olio, he also published other successful books, including Windy McPherson's Son (1916), The ‘Triumph of the Egg (1921), Horses and Men (1923), and Death in the Woods ard Other Stories (1933). Eudora Welty (1909-2001) Budora Welty’ stories and novels captute life in the deop South, creating images of the landscape and convey ing the shared attitudes and ‘alues ofthe people She often confronts the hardships of life in poor rural areas. Despite her awareness of people's sufering, her writing remains optimistic ‘Willy was bor in Jackson, Mississippi, where she spent meso her life She tended Nisssipp State College for Women before transferring to the University of Wisconsin, from which she gtaduated in 1929. Hoping to pursue a carver in advertising, she moved to New York and enrolled at Columbia University School of Business. However, because of the worsening economic depression, she was unable to find steady ‘employment and returned to Jackson in 1931, Writing Fiction After accepting a job as a publicist for a government agency, Welty spent several years traveling throughout Mississippi, taking photographs and interviewing people. Her experiences and observations inspired her to write, and in 1936 her first short story, “Death of a Traveling Salesman,” was published. Inher fiction, Welty displays an acute sense of detail and a deep sense of compassion toward her characters. For example, in “A Worn Path,” she paints a sympathetic portrait of an old woman whose feelings of love and sense of duty motivate her to make a long, painful journey through the woods. One of the leading American writers of the twentieth century, Welty published numerous collections of short slories and novels. In 1973, her novel The Optimist’s Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize. Background World War T was the first truly global war, involving nations on every continent but Antarctica. The Great War, as it was also called, began in Europe in 1914, sparked by nationalist pride and systems of alliances among nations, The Central Powers (Germany, Austria, Turkey) fought the Allies (England, France, Russia) with other nations joining one side or the other. Ialy, where Hemingway's “In Another Country” takes place, was not strategically important, but it helped the Allies by drawing Central Power troops away from other battle areas. ‘The war lasted four brutal years. Throughout most of the conflict, a stalemate existed. Both sides were dug into trenches, and took tums rushing one another. Each rush was greeted by a barrage of machine-gun fire, with thousands falling dead. Other soldiers fell to new weapons of killing — inventions such as airplanes, long-range artillery, and poison ges—that many people had hoped would eter aggressors and prevent war. Many of the wounded were saved, however, by advances in medical treatment, such as sirgical disinfectants and rehabilitative techniques to strengthen injured limbs, In Anotier Country / The Corn Planting / A Warn Path w 81eur a ens Preview Connecting to the Literature Ineach of these stories, characters undertake journeys that dramatically affect their lives, As you read, notice the ways in which their journeys ‘compare to ones that you have made. Literary Analysis Point of View ‘The point of view of a story is the perspective from which itis told, Story. ‘* In stories told from the first-person point of view, the person telling the story participates in the action, uses the pronoun [, and shares his J" or her own thoughts and feelings. In stories told from the limited third-person point of view, the _>| narrator stands outside the action and does not use the pronoun I ‘However, this narrator sees the world through one character's eyes | NI and reveals only what that character is thinking and feeling. As you read, use a chart like the one shown to analyze the type of narration each story demonstrates, eo Comparing Literary Works Each of these stories is told from a different point of view. Ineach case, _————————— the narrator, or person telling the story, controls information and directly influences the reader’s perceptions. Examine the effects of different points of view by comparing the information each narrator shares. Notice the biases each displays and the level of sympathy or interest each generates. Finally, determine the reasons you think each author chose the narrative point of view he or she did, and how that choice gives a specific shape to the story. pa Reading Strategy Identifying With Characters ‘Even if your journeys differ from the ones taken by these characters, ‘you might feel as though you know them, When you identify with ‘Characters, you relate to their thoughts and feelings and connect them with ‘your own experiences. As you read, identify with characters by comparing Your life experiences with theirs Vocabulary Builder invalided (iv vo ic ia) v. released —_—_limber (lit ben) adj. flexible (p. 821) because of illness or disability (p. 814) obstinate (ab’ ste net) aaj. stubborn grave (gr58) adj. serious; solemn (p.827) (p. 821) 808m. Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent (1914-1946)MINGWAY It was cold in the fall in Milan? and the dark came very eatly. Thezs the electric lights came on, and it was pleasant along the streets looking in the windows. 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 emply, and small birds blew in the wind and the wind turned their feathers. It was a cold fall and the wind came down from the mountains. = I 1n the fall the war! was always there, but we did not go to It any more. . the war Works Wer (1914-1976). 2 Milan (ke) acy in northern tay A Critical Viewing What mood is conveyed inthis image of a hospital serving soldiers during World War I? Which details contribute to the mood? [interpret] : In Another Country @ 809‘We were all at the hospital every afternoon, and there were different Literary Analysis ways of walking across the town through the dusk to the hospital. Two Point of View How can of the ways were alongside canals, but they were long. Always, though, You tel right from the start ou eronsed a bridge across a canal to enter the hospital There was a thatthe stor tel rom poi of three bridges. On one of them a woran sold roasted chest- | eyrPerrenPs huts. Itwas warm, standing in front of her charcoal fire, and the chestnuts were warm afterward in your pocket, The hospital was very old and very beautiful, and you entered through a gate and walked across a courtyard and out a gate on the other side. There were usually funerals starting from the courtyard, Beyond the old hospital were the new brick pavilions, and there we met every afternoon and were all very polite and interested in what was the matter, and sat in the machines that were to make so much difference. “The doctor came up to the machine where I was sitting and sat “What did you like best to do before the war? Did you practice a sport?" I said: “Yes, football.” “Good,” he said. "You will be abie to play football again better than ‘My kance did not bend and the leg dropped straight from the knee to the ankle without a calf, and the machine was to bend the knee and make it move as in riding a trieycle, But it did not bend yet, and instead the machine lurched when it came to the bending part, The doctor said: “That will all pass. You are a fortunate young man, You will play football again like a champion.” Im the next machine was a major who had a little hand like a baby’s. He winked at me when the doctor examined his hand, which ‘was between two leather straps that bounced up and down and flapped the stiff fingers, and said: “And will I too play football, captain-dactor?” He had been a very great fencer, and before the war the greatest fencer in Italy ‘The doctor went to his office in a back room and brought a photo- graph which showed a hand that had been withered almost as small as the major’s, before it had taken a machine course, and after was a litle larger. The major held the photograph with his good hand and looked at it very carefully. “A wound?” he asked. “An industrial accident,” the doctor sat “Very interesting, very interesting,” the major said, and handed it back to the doctor. You have confidence?” No,” said the major. ‘There were three boys who came each day who were about the same age I was. They were all three from Milan, and one of them was to be a lawyer, and one was to be a painter, and one hadl intended to be a soldier, and after we were finished with the machines, sometimes ‘we walked back together to the Café Cova, which was next door to the Scala. We walked the short way through the communist quarter {the Scala (eet la) an opera House in len 810 w Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent (1914-1946)because we were four together. The people hated us because we MITTEN MCRAE Nt Coa) were officers, and from a wine-shop someone called out, “A t basso gli ufficiali!™ as we passed. Another boy who walked with us sometimes and made us five wore a black silk handkerchief History Connection across his face because he had no nose then and his face was “The War to End All Wars” to be rebuilt. He had gone out to the front from the military In this story, the characters academy and been wounded within an hour after he had gone ee eee {nto the front Line for the first time. They rebuilt his face, bute {etolagy, Werk! Wer Iresokes . a | came from a very old family and they could never get the nose in astonishing destruction and | exactly right. He went to South America and worked in a bank. massive death as a result of new But this was a long time ago, and then we did not any of us technologies such as airplanes, i ;know how it was going to be afterward. We only knew then that Polson gas, and long-range ere Iv on fing artillery. Many who enlisted did there was always the war, but that we were not going to it any paipcllct Nieto os i more. the war lasted four gruting We all had the same medals, except the boy with the black years: Up to ten milion soldire | sillc bandage aeross his face, and he had not been at the front died, as wel ax many civilians. | Jong enough to get any medals, The tall boy with a very pale face ‘Some people beloved that this who was to be a lawyer had been a lieutenant of Arciti® and had Widespread destruction and loss of fe would make World War | three medals of the sort we each had only one of. He had lived a S16 would make Werld War | very long time with death and was a litle detached. We were alla they wore proved wrong, little detached, and there was nothing that held us together ; i except that we met every afternoon at the hospital. Although, as EARATETETIETI : \we walked to the Cova through the tough part of town, walking Do you thik the narrator inthis ' sm the dark, with light and singing coming out of the wine-shops, __St0"Y has any expectation of and sometimes having to walk into the street when the men and “fighting again? Explain women would crowd together on the sidewalls so that we would have had to jostle them to get by. wwe felt held together by there being something that had happened that they, the people who disliked us, did not understand. ‘We ourselves all understood the Cova, where it was rich and warm and not too brightly lighted, and noisy and smoky at certain hours, and there were always girls at the tables and th papers on a rack on the wall. The girls at the Cova were very patriotic, and I found that the most patriotic people in Italy were the café girls—and 1 believe they are still patriotic. The boys at first were very polite about my medals and asked me what I had done to get them, | showed them the papers, which were written in very beautiful Tanguage and full of fratellanza and abnegazione,® but which really said, with the adjectives removed, that I had been given the medals Reading Check 4 “Abbasso ai ufciai™ aba co iyo oo fo chat) "Down wih ofc (aan) 5 Ard fro 1) select group of solders chosen spect or dangerous campaigns. What do the narrator and : 6: rational ta) and bnegacione ana gh Pa) "otorheoe” aod the "three boye” have in ; “alert aly). common? In Another Country $11because I was an American. After that their manner changed a little toward me, although I was their friend against outsiders. was a friend, but I was never really one of them after they had read the cita- tions, because it had been different with them and they had done very different things to get their medals. I had been wounded, it was true: but we all knew that being wounded, after all, was really an accident. Iwas never ashamed of the ribbons, though, and sometimes, after the cocktail hour, I would imagine myself having done all the things they had done to get their medals; but walking home at night through the empty streets with the cold wind and all the shops closed, trying to keep near the street lights, I knew that f would never have done such things, and I was very much afraid to die, and often lay in bed at night by myself, afraid to die and wondering how [ would be when I went back to the front again, The three with the medals were like hunting-hawks; and I was not a hawk, although I might seem a hawk to those who had never hunted: they, the three, knew better and so we drifted apart. But I stayed good friends with the boy who had been wounded his first day at the front, because he would never know now how he would have turned out; 50 he could never be aecepted elther, and I liked him because I thought perhaps he would not have turned out to be a hawk either. ‘The major, who had been the great fencer, did not believe in bravery, and spent much time while we sat in the machines correcting my grammar. He had complimented me on how I spoke Italan, and we talked together very easily. One day I had said that Italian seemed such an easy language to me that I could not take a great interest in it; every- thing was so easy to say. “Ah yes,” the major said. "Why, then, do you not take up the use of grammar?" So we took up the use of grammar, and soon Italian was such a difficult language that I was afraid to talk to him until [ had the grammar straight in my mind. ‘The major came very regularly to the hospital. I do not think he ever missed a day, although I am sure he dic not believe in the machines. There was a time when none of us believed in the machines, and one day the ‘major said it was all nonsense. The machines were new then and ft was we who were to prove them, It was an idiotic idea, he said, “a theory, like another.” I had not learned my grammar, and he said Iwas a stupid impossible disgrace, 812. m Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent (1914-1946) Reading Strategy Identifying with Characters: Have you ever ‘been ina situation ike the narrator's where you did not feel fully accepted or part of a group? How did itmake you feel? V Critical Viewing How might you have roacted to this World War | operating room if you had been @ wounded soldier? Explain. [Relate]and he was a fool to have bothered with me. He was a small man and he sat straight up in his chair with his right hand thrust into the machine and looked straight ahead at the wall while the straps thumped up and down with his fingers in them. “What will you do when the war is over if it Is over?” he asked me. “Speak grammatically!" “Lwill go to the States.” “Are you married?” “No, but I hope to be." “The more of a fool you are,” he said. He seemed very angry. “A man must not marry.” “why, Signor Maggiore?" “Don't call me ‘Signor Maggiore.” “Why must not a man marry?" “He cannot marry. He cannot marry,” he said angrily. “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." He spoke very angrily and bitterly, and looked straight ahead while he talked. “But why should he necessarily lose it?” “Hell lose it,” the major said, He was looking at the wall. Then he looked down at the machine and jerked his little hand out from between the straps and slapped it hard against his thigh. “He'll lose it,” he almost shouted. “Don't argue with me!” Then he called to the attendant who ran the machines, “Come and turn this damned thing off.” He went back into the other room for the light treatment and the massage. Then I heard him ask the doctor if he might use his telephone and he shut the door. When he came back into the room, I was sitting in another machine, He was wearing his cape and had his cap on, and he came directly toward my machine and put his arm on my shoulder. “Tam so sorry,” he said, and patted me on the shoulder with his good hand. “I would not be rude. My wife has just died. You must forgive me.” “Oh—" I said, feeling sick for him. “I am so sorry.” He stood there biting his lower lip. “It is very difficult,” he said, “I cannot resign myself.” 7. Signor Maggiore (sin yar majo r8} “Mr Majoe” ater); a espectul way of addressing an officer A Critical Viewing Does this World War T military hospital compare with the hospital Hemingway describes? Explain. [Compare ‘and Contrast] A reading check Why does the major believe “a man must not marty"? In Another Country m 813He looked straight past me and out through the window, Then he began to cry. “Iam utterly unable to resign myself.” he said and choked. And then crying, his head up looking at nothing, carrying himself straight and soldierly, with tears on both his cheeks and biting his lips, he walked past the machines and out the door, ‘The doctor told me that the major’s wife, who was very young and whom he had not married until he was definitely invalided out of the ‘war, had died of pneumonia, She had been sick only a few days. No one expected her to die. The major did not come to the hospital for three days, Then he came at the usual hour, wearing a black band on the sleeve of his uniform. When he came back, there were large framed photographs around the wall of all sorts of wounds before and after they had been cured by the machines. In front of the machine the major used were three photographs of hands like his that were completely restored. 1 do not know where the dgctor got them. f always understood we were the first to use the machines. The photographs did not make much difference to the major because he only looked out of the window. CS eee VCS Col haleg oS 1. Respond: What emotion did this story arouse most strongly in you? Explain. 2. (a) Recall: Why does the narrator go to the hospital every day? (b) Infer: What type of attitudes would you say he encounters from other patients at the hospital in the same situation? Explain. 3. (@) Recall: What does the narrator say about the machines at the hospital? (b) Interpret: Why do you think he has developed this attitude toward the machines? 4. (a) Recall: How do the people in the communist quarter of the city react, to the officers? (b) Relate: How do you think these reactions make the officers feel? 5. (a) Recall: What happens to the major’s wife? (b) Recall: How does the ‘major react? (c) Analyze: Do you find what happened ironic or surprising? Explain. 6. Interpret: Given the setting of the story, a hospital during wartime, What might be the significance of the major’s interest in grammar? 7. Apply: Do you think this story reflects the sense of disillusionment that arose among writers and artists during World War I? Explain, 814 w Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent (1914-1946) Vocabulary Builder invalided tw v8) v teleased because of ilies or cisabilty Go @nline \—author Link. Far: More about Erest Hemingway PHSchool.com