Journal 18

1. What is the significance of the story’s title?  

The title is significant because it describes how each of the characters feels in a territorial, mental, and physical sense.  The men are literally in another country because of World War I.  Physically, because the men are injured, they are in an unfamiliar state; they are unsure about whether they will ever return to the same physical being ever again.

2. Which character do you think best represents the “Hemingway hero”? Why?

I think the Major best represents the Hemingway Hero because he seems to experience the most pain emotionally as well as physically.  In Hemingway’s writing, he often depicted sadness and loss in many of his characters to reflect how many felt after the war.  The Major shows sadness because his wife had died and he lost his hand.  The loss of his hand is important because he was known to be the best fencer in all of Italy.

3. What can you infer about the photographs the doctor hangs up?  What is the significance of the major’s reaction? 

I can infer that the photographs the doctor hung up were simply intended to trick the patients by giving them a false sense of hope.  This false sense of hope is due to the fact that Hemingway and the other men knew that the pictures were not real because they had been previously informed that they would be the first patients to use the machines.  This causes the men to be doubtful of their possible recovery, and like in many of Hemingway’s works, they find that there is no hope.

Journal 17

1. What is the significance of the poem’s epigraph?  How does it relate to Prufrock?

The significance of the poem’s epigraph is that is talks about the afterlife.  It relates to Prufrock because he is reflecting on his life and all the experiences he missed out on.  The epigraph is informing the reader that as he tells his lifestory, he is not ashamed because he is no longer on earth.

2. Make a list of questions that Prufrock asks.  Do you see a pattern/theme to these questions or are they random?  

He asks many questions throughout the song that show a theme of uncertainty.

What is it?

Do I dare [disturb the universe]?

How should I presume?

Should I, after tea and cakes, have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?

How should I begin?

Shall I part my hair behind?

Do I dare to eat a peach?

3. What do you think is Prufrock’s main flaw/problem?

Prufrock’s main problem is that he was very ordinary, often seen as unimportant.  His personality is protrayed when he refers to himself not Hamlet but as an adviser to the prince.

4. Why do you think this is called a love song?  In what way is it a love song?

I think this is called a love song because it often mentions women, and missing out on the opportunities he had to love in his lifetime.  I think it is a love way in a lonely, depressing way.