The Library Annex

He did not know, among other things, that the girl loved him because he had never been sad one waking morning of his life; attack or no attack. He had experienced anguish and sorrow. But he had never been sad in the morning.

Ernest Hemingway will always challenge me; a writer whom I feel lacks refinement in his craft but exhibits the perfect writer’s philosophy. In Across the River and into the Trees, Hemingway tells an uneventul story of a Colonel returning to Venice where he had previously fought in World War I.

I assert that the plot of the story matters little compared to the portrait of the Colonel; a self-depricating man spoiled by war who yearns for the graceful simplicity of a pure life of joy.

I immediately noticed Hemingway’s style in the novel. I felt prepared for it – the excess words, run-on sentences, limited vocabulary, careless transitions between narrative perspectives – but to my surprise the style serves the Colonel beautifully. We intimately understand his mind through seemingly free-flow stream of consciousness, transitioning narrative perspectives within his inner monologues and thought processes, and simple dialogue. Even his repetition of “I love you” and “tell me true” worked to call the readers attention to the natures of truth and love. These concepts intertwine but can yet conflict with one another depending on to whom the love is given – himself or Daughter – and for whom the truth can set free.

As in many of his novels, sympbolism plays a significant role. Colonel visits Venice during winter and wind and cold permeate the novel contrasted by the intimate love shared between he and Daughter, who also gives him emeralds – a sign of her devotion. He lives with a severely damaged hand which Daughter continually embraces or tells him to put in his pocket. This can represent the social taboo of war scars until the reader realizes Daughters emeralds are in his pocket, like her, which he could carress with that damaged hand.

I wonder if Daughter sees the Colonel as one who has fully lived and yearns to be close to such a one and thereby fully live herself. Their age differential may support this. But it seems the Colonel may not feel like he has fully lived because all of his experiences center around the war. Therefore, the Colonel does not feel capable of giving Daughter what she needs though he desparately wishes he could. A blockade stands between truth and the love shared between these two; one of their own making and misperceptions.

During certain sections of the novel, most notably during his first encounter with the Portrait and when he finally divulges some of his war stories to Daughter, I can honestly say I don’t recall the details. But the way Hemingway crafted the telling almost seemed Shakespearean and I know Colonel better than what his war stories could convey.

Most importantly, I felt Hemingway brought me on a journey to understand Colonel. He did not at any point tell me about him. Hemingway emodies perfect “Show, Don’t Tell” and with the limited events in this work one might expect a level of difficulty in showing anything. And yet Hemingway, by showing Colonel’s inner thoughts and bringing me into his mind, shows the true nature of this war veteran whom I didn’t feel I truly knew until the end.