English Literatur

Hemingway opens this story with a typical Hemingway narrative device: Two people are talking; moreover, they are talking about pain and a horrible odor. Hemingway zeroes in on the immediate problem: Harry's certain death — unless help arrives. Hemingway does not immediately identify the people who are talking; and readers don't yet know the names of the characters, the place, the time, or any other kind of background, expository information about them. Readers know only that something is terribly wrong with the male character, causing a potent stench, and that three big birds squat "obscenely" close by. The woman's first comment — "Don't! Please don't." — indicates that tension exists between her and the man, a tension that will soon erupt into antagonism.


Also, mainly through conversation only, readers learn that the man has some type of injury but that the pain has disappeared; he is lying on a cot under some trees while "obscene" birds (vultures) are circling overhead. A truck that the man and woman were driving has broken down, and they are now waiting for a rescue plane to take them away.

Label: Ernest Hemingway