Nick's stay in Summit, Illinois, in "The Killers" ends when he is forced to witness a former prizefighter calmly await certain death by two hired killers. When Nick was a boy, he vowed never to be afraid of death, never to be like the young American Indian husband who "couldn't stand" life's demands. Yet here, Nick leaves Summit. He can't stand to remain in a town where a man lacks the courage to do battle with death — even certain death.
"Big Two-Hearted River" follows Nick after he returns to Michigan from the Italian front during World War I. He takes a train to the upper peninsula and hikes to a stream where he will camp and fish and be alone, where he will slowly perform the rote motions of self-sustaining chores, peeling away the trauma and the scars from his ragged, wounded spirit and newly empowering himself with the healing powers of nature's rituals.
