Introduction
Ernest Hemingway is a well-known American writer of famous poems and short stories. He is the first son and second born child of Dr. Ed and Grace Hemingway. He began writing pieces of art at the age of seventeen as a newspaper writer and became an ambulance volunteer under the Italian army. Eventually, he returns to the United States to continue his career and became a war correspondent. He was sent back to Europe for an assignment to cover the Greek Revolution. He then won the 1954 Noble Prize in literature. Ernest's mother, who has a talent in music, wished his son would also be interested in music. His mother also hoped for a career in an opera, but it never happened because she had to give up performing because the lights affected her eyes during her first recital in Carnegie Hall. Ernest tried to pursue that dream by playing Cello in high school and proved right away that he is no musician. Before he became a writer, he was passionate with outdoor sports like fishing and hunting. Many people love reading his work of art. People are being fascinated on how a person can write such a wonderful piece.
Ernest Hemingway's short story, "The End of Something" is primarily about the end of romance between two young people, Nick Adams, who is now a young man, and a girl named Marjorie. The story also tells how Horton’s Bay was, ten years ago, which was a huge logging and mill town. The story tells how people in Horton Bay abused the trees, which made their town a financially stable one. In this story, Hemingway tells how Nick ended his relationship with Marjorie, who was a waitress in a resort town. Marjorie worked there temporarily for a summer job, and, when her job ended, Nick's feelings for her faded as well.
It was very easy for him to break up with Marjorie and date someone else. He planned how it is going to happen and even told Bill, a good friend of Nick. The reason was very unacceptable for Marjorie. Nick said it had to end because it is no longer fun. The break up was hard for Marjorie. She took the relationship seriously that she even dreamt that they would end up exchanging vows. Nick felt sorry for the friendship that ended along with her short affair with Marjorie. But he is definitely sure he doesn’t need a partner. He doesn’t need a companion. As an adventurous person, he wants to make sure that he would freely follow his dreams and explore the world for adventure. This work of art was created out of Hemingway’s brilliant mind, which might have influenced by his time’s social norms. Ernest Hemingway wrote “The End of Something” when he came back from Italy. He missed Italy and the company of his friends. He felt terribly sad especially when the bad news reached him through a letter. It was from the nurse whom he had fallen in love with. She had fallen in love with a lieutenant in Italy. With this emotional condition, his feet brought him back to the north woods and made it a place to heal.
Nick Adams, the main character on most of his stories, portrays Ernest Hemingway himself in his younger years. "The End of Something" actually tells his story and experience when he went back to the north woods and, had a short romance with Marjorie. He didn't come to the north woods to find true love, but to have fun, to be able to recover from his emotional feelings about hearing the bad news. He fears getting married because he thinks it might stop him from pursuing his dreams. "The End of Something" is also about how the Michigan north woods, the place where Ernest Hemingway used to go back to every year until his adolescence change from a lively place into nothing. Hemingway wrote this story so that people would know what the Michigan north woods used to be, before everything it had was taken for granted.
He witnessed those changes every time he returns to that place all those years until his adolescence. He felt sorry because when he first came to the Michigan north woods, he can't help, but go back again and again because he was fascinated with the idea of him having a lot of fun and adventure by going back to that place. Now, there was nothing left for him to do, but move on, and write a story about it to preserve its memories. Michigan north words will never be as it was before.
Works Cited
Godfrey, Laura Gruber. "Hemingway and Cultural Geography: The Landscape of Logging in "The End of Something."." Hemingway Review;Fall2006 26.1 (2006): 47. Print.
Moore, Andrew. "The End of Something AQA Anthology for GCSE." Ernest Hemingway: The End of Something - study guide. universalteacher.org.uk, 2002. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
