Emma McBride

HUMN 2010

Professor Diehl

02/9/2024

What Broke Nick Adam’s Heart

Earnest Hemingway uses the character Nick Adams to paint a picture of life’s most

violent battles and the way they shape and disturb someone’s life. Hemingway illustrates a man

who goes through tough times and heartbreak to show us the experiences that shape him. “ The

End of something” and “ A Way You’ll Never Be” are the two best-fitting stories that show us

what really broke Nick Adam’s heart.

“The End of Something” brings the readers along to show why Nick and Marjorie’s

relationship came to a close. Although this breakup may just seem like a typical young adult

relationship coming to an end, it is much deeper than that. It’s a bigger story that Nick has to

come to terms with. This moment is a turning point for Nick, showing him that not all good

things always last and that life really can be tough.

“A Way You’ll Never Be” shows us a heartbreak that is not romantic. “A Way You’ll

Never Be” shows how Adam was affected after the horrors of World War 1. The heartbreak we

see in this story is less emotional and more physical and physcological, which stems from the

scars of war. Hemingway does not just reveal to us Nick’s external woulds, but his darkest most

internal pains that he took with him after the war. Nick is now trying to find his way in a world

that he no longer understands. This story is one of the most powerful ones because it shows how

much our experiences, like war, can affect and overall change our perspective on life.
 Both of these stories show best who Nick Adams is and what struggles and heartbreaks

he went through. “The End of Something” shows the personal heartbreak Adam’s went through

and the harsh life lessons of growing up. This story is about learning that not everything goes as

we had hoped and that we have to let go of some things that we do not want to. “A Way You’ll

Never Be” shows us a much more internal heartbreak. It shows that the experiences faced in life,

can shape us in ways that are good and bad and how these experiences can even make us feel lost

and disconnected from the world.

“The End of Something” is a very straightforward kind of heartbreak that symbolizes the

end of a kind of innocence in Nick and Majorie’s life. They are sadly introduced to the real

world’s more complex understanding of life. This story is one that is easy to grasp because of its

relatability. Many people face the same kind of heartbreak that both of these characters went

through. In this story, Nick has to figure out how he wants to go about his life further while

picking up his shattered pieces.

Then there’s “A Way You’ll Never Be” which shows us a much more complicated kind

of heartbreak. It shows us the psychological impact that our experiences have on us and shows

how Nick is battling with traumas from the life he has lived and the things he has gone through,

such as war. We see a glimpse of how hard it is to go back to normal after going through a type

of event that changes how you view the world. It’s about seeing the internal battle Nick is

fighting while just trying to go back to normal with a mindset that is so flipped.

Both of these stories illustrate heartbreak but in their different forms. “The End of

Something” and “A Way You’ll Never Be” tell and show that heartbreak is not just about losing

a loved one but also about the exposure to situations that can also potentially make us lose

ourselves.