In Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories, we see Nick grow from a young boy to a grown

man, and some of the trials and tribulations that come with growing up. Nick doesn’t live a

particularly “normal” life, as he is faced with grim situations at an early age, such as seeing the

dead husband in “Indian Camp.” As he gets older, Nick becomes a strong-willed, independent

young man. He is smart, skilled, and almost “cocky” in his demeanor at times. However, when

Nick and Marjorie break up, not only does Nick lose his relationship with his girlfriend, but also

his relationship with himself. I believe that losing his relationship with himself is the biggest

heartbreak Nick ever faces.

Nick first faced the heartbreak of losing himself when he tried to express his feelings to

Marjorie. Some make claims that Nick was being immature or over reacting when he broke up

with Marjorie, and believe that he only ended things because he was offended that Marjorie

“knew everything.” Others claim that Nick was cold and calculated in his decisions, and that he

had plotted to break up with Marjorie for a long time, citing the fact that Bill potentially urged

Nick to end things. While I’m not excusing Nick’s actions, I believe there is much more to the

iceberg of Nick’s decision than many perceive. When talking to Marjorie on the bank in “The

End of Something,” Nick states, “I feel as though everything was gone to hell inside of me. I

don’t know, Marge. I don’t know what to say,” (Hemingway 110). In this situation, Nick

expresses that he is facing some sort of internal battles. While I won’t go as far as to claim Nick

was “depressed,” I do believe that his mind was full of turmoil at this time, and he had no way to

explain it. When Nick tells Marjorie that she “knows everything,” I believe his haste is the result

of him finally not knowing something. In the past, Nick always found comfort in times of

heartbreak, death, or arguments, whether that comfort came from his father or from within
himself. Now, with Marjorie, Nick cannot explain his feelings, and he doesn’t have answers.

Everything he tries to say comes out all wrong, and it leads to losing Marjorie.

In “The Three-Day Blow,” Nick begins to truly realize that he’s lost his relationship with

himself, and the heartbreak is full-fledged. When Bill brings up the topic of Marjorie while

drinking with Nick, Nick tries to brush off the conversation and not give in to Bill. However, Bill

was intent on expressing the point that Nick would have been “absolutely bitched” had he

married Marjorie (Hemingway 122). Although Nick gives signs that he does indeed miss

Marjorie, I believe his disdain for the conversation at hand can be better attributed to his loss for

direction because of the breakup. Hemingway writes that Nick planned to stay in Charlevoix for

the winter to be with Marjorie, but now he doesn’t know what to do (123). Nick, like always,

seemingly had all the answers at one point. No longer did he depend on his father for direction

and comfort. He didn’t even depend on Marjorie. Nick simply depended on his own knowledge

and initiative, and believed that he had his entire life planned out. Now, as Hemingway writes,

“The liquor had all died out of him and left him alone. Bill wasn’t there. He wasn’t sitting in

front of the fire or going fishing tomorrow with Bill and his dad or anything. He wasn’t drunk. It

was all gone, finished.” (123). At this moment, Nick realized that he was not himself anymore,

and he simply did not know what to do.

In “The End of Something,” we learn that Horton’s Bay has lost the glamor it once held

as a lumbering town. We learn that the trout aren’t biting how they normally do, especially when

a skilled fisherman like Nick is on the water. In the next story, “The Three-Day Blow,” the

summertime is closing, and all of the leaves are being ripped from the trees by the undying wind.

I believe that all of these things are symbolic of Nick’s life as he knows it ending. No longer was

Nick the brave and confident boy from “Indian Camp” that believed he would never die. No
longer could Nick lie down after eating his huckleberry pie and forget to be sad by morning like

he did in “Ten Indians.” Now, Nick was left alone, with not even himself to depend on. The

heartbreak Nick faced when he lost himself continued to show its significance in the stories after

“The Three-Day Blow,” as Nick joined the war. He had no other direction in life, and threw

himself into a war that for many resulted in death. Nick Adams was never the same after losing

himself.
 Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway.

New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1966.