Analysis of Ernest Hemingway's 'The End of Something'

Look beyond the obvious! What we see is often just a friction of what actually lies ahead. In order to understand the meaning of curtain concepts, you have to unfold what awaits beneath the surface - however, this isn’t always what is given.

“The end of something” captures the end of something, nonetheless it is up to the reader to percept what is actually ending. The overall story captures what can be anticipated as a mundane story, yet - it is all hidden underneath the exterior.

The minimalist way of writing is apprehended by Ernest Hemingway in the short story “The end of something”. The short story is told through a third-person narrator omniscient - page 1: "No," Marjorie said [...]. She loved to fish. She loved to fish with Nick”. This gives the effect of a ‘multiple experience’ in the sense that we’re being told the same story however, the reader gets to examine the situation through different ‘lenses’ - by following the thoughts and actions of numerous characters. The story reflects a parallel context, due to the title referring to two aspects: The end of Horton's Bay as a prosperous town, and the end of Nick and Marjorie’s relationship. This draws analogy between the two themes, making the reader comprehend the feeling of something that was once so alluring come to an end. The setting is therefore crucial in order to understand the telling. Because, as the social ambiance illustrates a change in the old, lumber town - we see a development as well in the couple’s dynamic. All which represent a form of ‘gap’ from the traditional notion. The town was once a time-honored lumber ‘central’, and has turned into a deserted place - just like their love. The story also puts the element of losing something/someone into perspective - by ‘ending’ two former beautiful things. This is viewed on page 1: “In the old days Hortons Bay was a lumbering town. No one who lived in it was out of sound of the big saws in the mill by the lake”. The town is pictured as vibrant, working city. The narrator then adds: “Ten years later there was nothing of the mill left except the broken white limestone of its foundations showing through the swampy second growth”. This structure indicates the course of an action, that the reader is about to stumble upon. It’s a indication, because it essentially follows the journey of Nick and Marjorie, without the reader knowing so just yet.