“The funicular car bucked once more and then stopped. It could go no further, the snow drifted solidly across the track. The gale scouring the exposed surface of the mountain swept the snow surface into a wind-board crust. Nick, waxing his skis in the baggage car, pushed his boots into the toe irons and shut the clamp tight. He jumped from the car sideways onto the hard wind-board, made a jump turn and crouching and trailing his sticks slipped in a rush down the slope.”
“On the white below George dipped and rose and dipped out of sight. The rush and sudden swoop as he dropped down a steep undulation in the mountain side plucked Nick’s mind out and left him only the wonderful flying, dropping sensation in his body. He rose to a slight up-run and then the snow seemed to drop out from under him as he went down, down, faster and faster in a rush down the last, long steep slope. Crouching so he was almost sitting back on his skis, trying to keep the center of gravity low, the snow driving like a sand-storm, he knew the pace was too much. But he held it. He would not let go and spill. Then a patch of soft snow, left in a hollow by the wind, spilled him and he went over and over in a clashing of skis, feeling like a shot rabbit, then stuck, his legs crossed, his skis sticking straight up and his nose and ears jammed full of snow.” (Hemingway. 139)
In this passage characters Nick and George spend the day skiing in Switzerland, enjoying each other’s company and the euphoric sensation that comes with alpine skiing. The two bond over the adrenalin rush they experience on the slopes in the mountain’s chalet over a bottle of wine. However, although the comrades agree that skiing serves as an intoxicating rush, they fail to push past this shared belief in terms of the depth of conversation. George even goes as far to say, “It’s too swell to talk about.” (143), suggesting that although the two are sharing a bonding experience, they mutually agree to remain closed off to each other, avoiding any betrayal of emotion. Even the diction of Hemingway in the passage seems to suggest a sense of isolation and being closed off with words such as “surface, hard, out of sight, stuck”.
In addition, this passage showcases a rash sense of self-safety in the character Nick. He throws himself down the mountain to attain a feeling of exhilaration with little regard for his own physical safety. This action can serve as a parallel to his mental, post-war state. It can be suggested that Nick remains so completely disconnected with his own self and personal feelings that the only way to achieve a true sense of living is through the pump of adrenalin. His inevitable wipe out at the end of the run can be used to symbolize a mental blow out as well. As his feelings remain closed off from himself and his friends, tension and internal strain will build and potentially cause Nick to experience a psychological blow out. It seems Nick’s distorted self-image can only be escaped through the numbing pursuit of thrill and adventure.
Questions:
1. What does this interaction between Nick and George say about their relationship? Similarly, what does it say about them as individuals?
2. For fellow adrenalin junkies, what is it that pulls us towards potentially dangerous activities such as alpine skiing? What draws Nick to the slopes?
I think other than for recreation, overly dangerous activities that become almost routine are done by people who have had some discord or tradgedy in their lives. An example, although being fictional, involves the movie The Hurt Locker, where the main character is an IED disposal specialist brought in after the previous officer dies. He routinely takes chances with his life and those of the soldiers around him but it doesn't phase him. At the end, his tour is over and instead of staying home with his wife and family he volunteers for more duty. Although this is not the same as skiing, there is a parallel, I think, in that these people have become desensitized to the world around them through some trauma, such as war, and the only way to feel alive again, like you mentioned, is to push the limits of normal behavior. I think Nick is experiencing this to a degree.
ReplyDeleteI think that through the activity of skiing, Nick is exemplifying the theme of trying to regain a sense of normalcy and control in his life. We know that Nick was a veteran because of the references to khaki and one can imagine that it was a traumatic experience for him. As Kyle stated above, reckless activities can be a way of coping with a tragic event that may have happened to someone. I think that for Nick, skiing is his way of feeling in control of his life again. While in the war, Nick most likely had very little control of his life. At any moment he could have died and or been seriously injured. He was surrounded by fear and chaos. Participating in a dangerous activity like skiing is a way of controlling his fear. He is trying to regain stability in his life by taking it into his own hands.
ReplyDeleteTo answer the first question, I think that the fact that Nick cannot allow himself to open up to even his closest friends shows that he is scared of what will come out. He is afraid to let his emotions run wild and throw his life back into chaos. He decides that it is better for him to cope with his past by doing things that he can control and cover up his emotions rather than get to the heart of his issues and let people help him.
I think the passage you chose is a nice contrast of what remains of Nick after his return from war. This passage doesn't show complex emotions, it just shows his immediate simplified reactions to what the slope is giving him. This is satisfying to Nick because it doesn't require the complications of life, it is simply him reacting to what the slope gets him. This simplified "muscle memory" is contrasted with Nick reluctance to open up to George. I think this passage was used to describe what Nick can still feel (an adrenaline rush: the rush he gets from simply reacting to his surrounds) and what he cannot (he lacks the proper mindset to believe in friendship or interpersonal relationships anymore).
ReplyDeleteI think it says that Nick and George are very uncomfortable with their emotions and perhaps do not know how to express them. As is seen with Nick earlier in the book he has trouble finding enjoyment in anything after the war so he may have trouble putting that into words. I believe the reason Nick loves skiing so much is that it is one of the few things that is still capable of giving him a rush. He certainly feels something when he is skiing and in other aspects of his life he seems to have lost the ability to feel.
ReplyDeleteI think the closed-off relationship that Nick and George have has a direct correlation with them not being able to fully process and admit emotions that they have hidden beneath the surface as a result of the war. They are afraid to be open to each other because then it would have to mean that they would have to look inside themselves and be honest about what they saw. I think that through this shared experience of war trauma, they have an unbreakable bond, and can understand each other better than anyone else can.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if this passage is actually meant to show that the two are uncomfortable expressing their emotions with each other, at least not in the "post-war" confusion sense. I think, on maybe a more superficial but equally important plane, it's about the pain of losing a good friend and wondering if you might never get to see that friend again. I think that becomes especially prominent near the end of this short story - what starts out as a simple recreational skiing adventure turns into a pretty important turning point in their lives. They start to wonder if this might be one of the last times they can go skiing like this and enjoy each other's companies and, even though neither of them want to make it explicit, it pains them.
ReplyDeleteI thought the last line in the short story, the "now they would have the run home together" line was extremely bittersweet. It's sort that moment in which two people try to enjoy things as normal with the full knowledge that it's, inevitably, a moment of closure.
The interaction between Nick and George is another example of Hemingway reflecting on the lives of veterans. Just as Nick tries to revert back to normal life and “learn how to live again” as Professor Steele says, Nick and George’s conversation shows that neither of the two characters feel the need to talk about events from the war because they don’t want to ruin a good moment. This is interesting and reflects on both characters as individuals because it shows the similarity in veterans’ views on what should and shouldn’t be said post-war. For instance, the quote, “It’s too swell to talk about” shows that while there is acknowledgement of the traumas of war, it’s being purposefully disregarded in order to for the two men to enjoy the feeling they get from skiing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the second question, some people are drawn to potentially dangerous activities because of the rush received from the uncertainty and from the unfamiliarity. For instance, skydiving – there’s a potential for death, but the desire to free-fall is captivating. Nick is attracted to alpine skiing because his sense of security and danger has already been breached. Nick has already faced so many life and death situations that alpine skiing doesn’t appear to be as risky to him as others, only fun.
The description of their skiing seems to embody a very skilled action, as beginner skiers do not often engage in such fast runs. Nick finds himself confident and unaware of his apparent lack of skill. Once approached with a situation requiring skill, he finds himself unable to successfully execute and falls.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this is a statement about the false security that military service provides. Low-ranking soldiers expect the prestige that society seems to give soldiers, but once out of service they have few skills that can be applied to the rest of the world. Aside from the shellshock that Nick faces, he has not spent years achieving skills which he can apply to become a successful worker. While other young men had been learning a trade or advancing in a business, he had only learned things which aid him as a military man, which to one who did not advance in ranks, will never help him again. He has effectively placed himself 2 years behind in his career and social life.
I feel that this passage really exemplifies how numb Nick feels post war. I think his interest in the adrenaline of Alpine skiing has a lot to do with how he has become insensitive to his everyday emotions.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I believe his interest in risky behavior relates to his experiences in the war. After putting himself in the line of danger, skiing does not seem as risky as it should seem.I don't think Nick necessarily exemplifies confidence, rather apathy.
I think that it's important to recognize that this is a short story in a collection, and not necessarily related to the other narratives. Hemingway makes no reference to the war or that these two had been in combat together, so I don't think that we can assume this to be the case. While war and violence are significant themes throughout the collection, the theme at the root of all of them is coping with an emotionally difficult reality.
ReplyDeleteAlong these lines, I think that Vincent has touched on an important point, that this scene marks a turning point in the relationship between these two characters. The statement that their last shared experience is "too swell to talk about" is an indication of the difficulty that both characters have in confronting the difficulty of their situation. George attempts on p. 111 (Scribner edition) to initiate a dialogue about the changes about to occur in Nick's life, momentous ones such as the birth of his child and his leaving the country, and Nick answers his friend's questions in less than a handful of words. He uses indecisive language, often answering "I guess so" or "I don't know," revealing that he has distanced himself from the impending shift in his life.
So the theme of trauma is in this case embodied in a separation, rather than war, with the same sense of an inability to cope with the emotions that come with such an experience.