Male Companionship + Fantasy

In a previous blogpost about Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, I discussed the importance of female companionship when it came to the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam war. It seems as though, to the soldiers, the women were their connection to home, a place some of them so longingly wanted to go back to. But, in Hemingway’s In Our Time, we don’t really see a huge want for a female connection. In fact, Nick, although he isn’t the only character throughout the book, feels more comfortable either by himself or with other men. Things just aren’t the same when he’s with women like Marjorie or Helen. Although he is having a baby with Helen and will be moving back to the States with her, he would much rather stay and ski with George. “The rush and sudden swoop as he dropped down a steep undulation in the mountain side plucked Nick’s mind out and left him only the wonderful flying, dropping sensation in his body” (107). It’s almost like men embody this fantasy experience that must end as Nick is obliged to get back to reality and his, supposed, wife and his life as a writer.

This sort theme of brushing aside women appears in other stories as well, like in “Soldier’s Home”, where Krebs admits that he doesn’t love his mother and is bothered by her nagging to get him out of the house. In the end, although he is supposed to take the car to see his father and get a job, he ends up going to see his sister’s softball game. When reading this, I didn’t see this as a loving act towards his sister, but more as Krebs running away from responsibilities pushed upon him by his parents, more specifically his mother. His sister just happens to be present at that outlet that he can run to. Similar to the women in Nick’s life, Krebs’ mother represents the reality of life at home. The need for a job and stable living. The need to fit in and be like everyone else. According to Krebs’ mother, Krebs needs to stop living in this fantasy world where life needs to be simple. He needs to take his life by the reins and go find his way.

I suppose this idea of the male characters feeling more connected to other male character originates with the more or less absence of female characters in each story. Not only is there a sketchy relationship between Krebs and his mother, but with Nick, we really only get a view of his father. His mother is referred to as the doctor’s wife, a demeaning role that seemingly shows her lack of importance in Nick’s development. We even see Nick, at the end of “The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife”, choose to go out with his dad instead of obeying his mother’s wishes. When Nick is talking with Bill in “The Three-Day Blow”, both guys only talk about their fathers. I suppose the even slightest mention of their mothers may distract from the whole manly vibe they felt like they had going there, but it’s interesting how in both their conversation and mannerisms, Nick and Bill are trying to emulate their fathers. Their fathers represent this vision of how their future could be like, very swell.

This sort of reverence towards fathers is also evident in “My Old Man”, where Joe seems to be the only one who still looks up to his father. Everyone else sees through the old guy’s bright smile and charm and looks at his sketchy actions in the horse racing business. Whether or not Joe is aware of his old man’s shady business, (which I do think he is), Joe chooses to ignore it and focus on the positive light and how his old man is the one person in his life that he looks up to. Joe wishes to be like his old man, to have that kind of charmful, active, and exciting lifestyle. For Joe, he refuses to snap out of the fantasy that his father is this clean, inspiring figure in everyone’s life. Even when his old man dies, he refuses to come to the reality that his father wasn’t the best person in the business. With the absence of Joe’s mother, his father was the only figure Joe could look up to. Any tainted image of his old man would ruin the perfect fatherly figure that he revered so dearly.

All in all, although Hemingway and O’Brien are from different time periods, they highlight the qualities of different genders. In O’Brien’s work, women provide this connection that is fading as the soldiers spend long days and nights away from home. While, in Hemingway’s work, his characters tend to feel more comfortable when hanging around other men. It’s almost as if men represent this fantasy that lets people like Nick, Krebs, and even Joe escape from reality. For Nick, It’s skiing with George and fishing by himself, for Krebs, it’s a simple life at home, away from expectations, and for Joe, it’s the image of his father, one that hasn’t been tainted by his sketchy horseracing decisions. With women like Marjorie and Helen, “it isn’t fun any more” (34). What’s fun is skiing, fishing, and watching and enjoying horse racing just for the thrill; things that let one escape reality and live in this fantasy last where one is allowed to just enjoy the moment and not think about anything else. I suppose women embody the future, while most men in Hemingway’s In Our Time just want to think and enjoy the present.