Zachary Taylors Presidential Rundown Essay, Research Paper

The remarkable thing about the book was its liberal use of

dialogue and how Hemingway used it to carry the reader

through the book. There was no plot in the book in the sense

that there was no twists, intrigue, or goals for any of the

characters and the dialogue was the only thing that moved

the reader through the book. Hemingway used so much dialogue

that it was difficult at times to follow who was saying

what, but I believe this didn’t matter because any of the

characters, except for maybe Jake, could have been carrying

on those conversations.

I say anyone except Jake because he was different than all

the other characters in more ways than just being the

narrator. He obviously had received a wound from W.W.I that

caused him to be sexually scarred and thus set him apart

from anyone else. Jake seemed to be an observer who was

watching the lives of his friends unfold and happen around

him, but without his participation. I read that Hemingway

had purposely re-written the book in first person and this

was probably to spell out that Jake was an observer and was

thus aware of what was written on the pages. There is a

scene towards the end of the book where Jake finds all of

his friends eating at a restaurant and thinks to himself

that he is too far behind to catch up. Jake always seems

behind, or at least only a marginal player put so in his

position because of his injury. He must have had relations

with Brett before the injury and was a “player” before it,

so this leads to the assumption that Jake purposely

removed himself from being a participant.

As I was reading I was trying to make connections and read

into the story to try and understand if there was more there

than what was just on the page. It was hard, for me, to see

more than just the story, but perhaps Hemingway just wanted

the reader to experience other people’s lives. I say

this because many of the experiences that occurred to the

characters also took place in Hemingway’s life and maybe he

just wanted to share with us what it was like.