Two big hearted river :: essays research papers

Of the stories on the syllabus the one that I most closely related to was â€Å"The Big Two-Hearted River† by Earnest Hemmingway. During my first reading of this story it was the setting and the action of the main character Nick Adams that I connected with. Reading the opening sentences, grand visions of my childhood danced through my head. The story took me back to happy times of summers spent alone with my grandfather in the mountains of West Virginia. Like Nick, the camping and fishing trips were a welcomed relief from the city life and school for me. Although we were in a different area of the country the wilderness seems to be the same. Like Nick I remembered being dropped off near the edge of the wilderness to hike in and go camping near the river. â€Å"The river just showed through the trees† (Hemingway 480). As with the main character the river always intrigued me as a child. It was many things such as the smell, the sound, and the being apart of nature that I liked. Most of all I really loved having the one on one time spent with my grandfather. Just as Hemmingway describes, we to would tromp through the mountains for what seemed like forever. We make the trek all in order to find that perfect spot to set up camp. I oft en felt as Nick did â€Å"His muscles ached and the day was hot but†¦felt happy† (Hemingway 468). When we came across that spot, a quote from the story says it best â€Å"He was there, in the good place† (Hemingway 471), and â€Å"The river was there† (Hemingway 467). A sense of happiness filled my body because I knew what was soon to come. We would set up the camp and get something to eat. I could feel Nick’s pain of being â€Å"very hungry† (Hemingway 470); this was one of the down sides of the trip. My grandfather would not stop just to eat we would have to find are site then we would take a break for a quick snack before setting up camp. First we would survey the site and plan the best placement for our things. Hemingway wrote â€Å"He pegged the sides out taut and drove the pegs deep† (470), this passage brought flash backs of my grandfather telling me how important it was to get the lines tight and drive the tent pegs deep into th e ground.