A Game or a War?
“‘There is always more to it than we know about,’ Nick said.
“‘Of course. But we’ve got pretty good dope for being so far away.’” (41)
These two significant lines are from an important dialogue between Nick and his friend Bill on page 41 of “The Three Days Blow,” in which it seems that their conversation about the World Series is a foreshadowing and a metaphor for World War I. These two particular lines are especially important since they capture the theme of ignorance about the war that pervades the book, and although Nick is temporarily “unignorant of his ignorance,” his friend soon squelches this wisdom. Additionally Hemmingway was comparing the attitude of the departing soldiers toward the war to the attitude one would hold toward a game.
9 comments:
I feel that the dialogue does parallel with how people at home felt about the war; however, I'm sure the situation during the war was far beyond what they could know. Nick's line was is an excellent example of this.
The following sarcastic line by nick "Like how much better you can pick them if you don't see the horses," along with Nick's talk about various books he has read shows he has a liking for those things all practical. Possibly something to say about Hemingways lack of "lolly-gagging" and to the point tonage?
That's true, look at the propaganda that took the form of shorts, posters, and music. The methods of this propaganda are strikingly similar to regular advertising. "Would you like to make friends and represent your country at war." is a statment trying to be the same as "would you like to make friends and represent your state in a baseball game."
This quotation can also be applied to Nick's family life as well. In "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife" Nick was not around to see his father's imperfections. He was not around to see his father's overexageration to the "stealing" accusations and the harsh words he said towards his wife. This fed his ignorance and he continued to believe his father was the perfect role model, yet he said it himself, there is always more to it than we know about.
The idea of distance is especially important to pointing out a stereotype about young people in this section of "The Three Day Blow". The whole idea behind the discussion about baseball is how even though they're far away, they still think they understand what's going on, when in truth, they have only a sliver of understanding. This parallels the war in the sense that Nick and Bill think they understand the war, when in reality they only think they do. Hemingway essentially points out that young people think they know more than they actually do.
Is distance the foreshadowing link between WWI and baseball? They both seem to be taking place so far from Nick that it's surreal, and leave themselves open for romantic interpretation. I guess Nick has expectations for the baseball and the war, both of which are probably disappointed as he sees them in a truer light.
I feel that in life we need a pair of rose colored glasses.If we can't dream for the fairy tale life, then there would be no hope and reason to strive for success. Even though reality seems to be dark and grim and always causes a shock to our contrasted views, without hope there are no dreams and without dreams there is no you.
I understand the parallel between the war and the world series, but i also think Nick's character as a whole is meant to represent the naivity of the youth concerning world affairs. Nick is a poster child for a world in which problems and conflicts are to be taken to new levels.
In this passage, Nick expresses a willingness to accept the limits of his knowledge and, as a result, to divorce himself from the worries of the nation as a whole. However, by pointing out that the information they are getting is actually quite good, Bill is undoing this mental barrier in Nick's mind, effectively forcing him to confront the world.
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