This story combines two of Hemingway's favorite narrative devices: First, he creates an older, seasoned code hero, a man who has confronted life and has experienced the hard, cruel world but has not given in to any display of emotion; he has carefully refrained from baring his emotions except in this very rare case of the death of his young wife. He never talks of his own bravery or his courage or his exploits on the battlefield; he lives a highly disciplined life until he has to confront the death of his wife.
Second, in contrast to the older code character, we have the initiate — here, young Nick Adams, the innocent soldier who is just entering into a world of war and violence.
