The Glory of Nature

Hemingway is often very sparing on details when describing urban or domestic settings, but his descriptions of nature can be very vivid, long, a detailed. His interest in nature can be seen first of all in the settings in which these stories take place. Nick's entire childhood and adolescence is spent among nature as is much of his adulthood. The only time Nick spends any significant time away from nature is when is off at war, though it does occasionally feature there, too. ("Night Before Landing" is spent on a boat and, as such, the sea features prominently, just for example.)

Nature is also depicted as a refuge from the worries of society and civilized life. This is literally true of "The Last Good Country," where Nick goes into the wilderness to escape from the arbitrary and unjust laws preventing him from respectfully hunting and...