"Cross-Country Snow" and "Ten Indians"

The contrast between these two stories was quite interesting. These stories were obviously not written in a pair like the last few stories we have read of Ernest Hemingway’s. However, you can still compare them to each other.

            I thought it was interesting to go back and look at the conflict that appears in each story. In “Cross-Country Snow,” there was this unspoken conflict of growing up. It seemed as though both George and Nick were not looking forward to the responsibilities of becoming adults. At one point in the story, George says to Nick, “Gee, Mike, don’t you wish we could just bum together?” This is one of the many keys that let’s us know that George and Nick are just not ready to leave this winter wonderland filled with pubs and skiing for the real world of work and families. Ultimately, the two know that they have to go back. This is the main conflict with these characters in this story.

            In “Ten Indians,” the conflict differs. Little Nick is quite fond of his “girlfriend,” Prudence Mitchell. However, when he returns home from a baseball game with the Garners, his father has some unfortunate news. He quite harshly tells Nick how he heard Prudence and Frank Washburn “threshing around” in the woods. This breaks Nick’s heart. He finally falls asleep that night, and when he wakes up he doesn’t remember that his heart is broken for a long time. Now, obviously this conflict is much different from that in “Cross-Country Snow.” However, I believe that when you read these stories together, you get more out of these two conflicts.

            Both of these conflicts have to do with age. I believe that the conflict in “Ten Indians” emphasizes that in “Cross-Country Snow. For Nick in “Ten Indians,” his problem almost disappears over night whereas the Nick in “Cross-Country Snow” can’t exactly sleep his burden away. These two stories emphasize the difference of life as a child versus life as an adult. When we were all children, we had problems, but for the most part, they tended to disappear over time. As adults, we are handed responsibilities and are expected to take care of them. Even though older Nick wants to run away and be a ski bum with his friend, he knows that he has to go back to Helen and there expected child. He has to move back to the states and get a job. Nick does not want to do any of these things, but he is obligated to because he is an adult. Little Nick didn’t want to see his girlfriend with another guy, and unfortunately he did. The only difference between this and older Nick’s problems is little Nick can move on to something else by the next day. The weight of his problem does not hang on his shoulders.

            Reading each story individually, we see each individual conflict. However, when we read the two together, the two conflicts seem to grow in depth and seem to add meaning to a much bigger conflict of age.