Using Italy as the setting for “A Way You’ll Never Be” and “In Another Country,” Hemingway explores the experience and the effect of war as seen through the eyes of the central character, Nick Adams.
“A Way You’ll Never Be” concentrates on Nick’s head wound and the effects of heat, concussion, and psychological trauma while near the Austro-Italian border shortly after the war. It is an account of how Nick copes with shell shock, or what is known today as post-traumatic stress syndrome, and the visual reminders and residue of death, destruction, and loss. Seeing the bodies of the Italians and Austrians piled up and rotting in the heat in Italy becomes an inescapable image for Nick.
One notable characteristic about this short literary sketch is how Hemingway uses a different writing technique from his own to create Nick’s dream. Hemingway’s style is lean and declarative; in Nick’s dream, the style is different, creating a surreal dreamscape that separates the “Hemingway reality” seen in his usual sparkling, clear style.
“In Another Country” revisits the Hemingway code hero concept, with Nick Adams recuperating in an Italian hospital alongside some high-ranking Italian officers and a friend who is a major. They are all resting and undergoing physical therapy. While there, Nick observes the behavior of his older and higher-ranking friend, the major. It is this particular man that Nick identifies with and learns from by observing how he reacts to other mens’ bragging, personal loss, and physical therapy itself. Additionally, Nick learns what it is to be disciplined, even if he does not entirely believe in what he is doing.
