Fathers And Sons

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate May 2001

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In Hemingway's short story "Fathers and Sons,"ÃÂ he writes about a man named Nicholas Adams who experiences many episodes in which he recalls his childhood in strange ways. The main object of his recollection is his father. This story begins with Nick driving his car through a rural area with his son in the seat beside him. As he begins to notice the fields on the side of the road, it reminds him of the hunting adventures of his childhood.

He remembers shooting quail and the lessons that his father taught him about hunting. In the end, these lessons were not only about hunting, but about life as a whole. Nick's memories of his father are limited, but sometimes they are brought back vividly. He remembers things such as the keen sense of sight that his father possessed. I think that these random thoughts seem to only bring out anger in Nicholas.

The few good memories he has are heavily outweighed by the bad memories. Nicholas is haunted by violent memories of fights that he had with his father and the abuse that he also suffered from him. At one point in the book, Nicholas mentions that he even considered killing his father after one extreme incident. Even though Nicholas expressed some remorse and even shame for these thoughts, it leads me to believe that he was disturbed as a child. I also think, because of his distorted recollections, that this problem carried on into his adulthood.