"The Sea Change" Summary

A young couple sits in an almost empty bar. The young woman is explaining to the young man that she is leaving him, although she is not clear why she has chosen to do this. The man accepts this, hoping that she will come back to him later. Both the young man and the young woman have dark tans. The bartender comments on how tan and healthy the young man has become over the summer.

"The Sea Change" Analysis

As many young couples in the short stories of Hemingway, this young couple is about to break up. Like most young couples, their conversation is presented out of context in a public place. The style allows the reader to feel like an eavesdropper on such a conversation, in which the reader can fill in many of the blanks...