Nick's recovery begins here as Nick goes alone to a deserted area along the fictional Two-Hearted River (Michigan's Fox River) in the upper peninsula of northern Michigan, where he can see Lake Superior from a hilltop, where "there was no town, nothing but the rails and the burned-over country. . . . It was all that was left of the town of Seney." The symbolism here is fairly obvious: Nick is leaving the burned, destroyed portions of his life behind, hoping and searching for renewal on the rich, green, and fertile river bank of the big Two-Hearted River. Nick, however, does not go immediately to the river; instead, he gets off the train and pauses on a bridge, watching trout that are far below him in the stream. It is important to note here that Nick is looking down onto the river and the trout, which will both be living, breathing symbols that are essential to Nick's healing later. The trout are all steadily floating in deep, fast-moving water. Hemingway uses another important symbol here: the kingfisher, a brightly-colored bird that dives just under the water's surface for fish. This is most definitely a metaphor for the facile, healthy spiritual state that Nick is seeking on this solitary camping trip. The bird's ability to fly is a traditional symbol for spiritual ascension and the ability to transgress beyond worldly cares, and the bird's ability to go underneath the surface and pluck things out of the river and digest them is a metaphor for what Nick needs to do to transmutate his unpleasant memories. He follows the river from a distance, for some time, delaying gratification before deciding on a place for his camp. He wants to begin his healing in the woods deliberately and with discipline. Throughout the story, he will be isolated from other people. He will not see or communicate with anyone.
Connect with CliffsNotes
