Literature & Language

Responding to Reading

Let's analize this story...

For which character do you feel the most sympathy?

What clues does Hemingway give during the first half of the story to indicate that the relationship between Marjorie and Nick is strained?

Think about : what they say to each other, and what they do not say to each other.

Why do you think nick wants to break with Marjorie?

Think about : The kind of person Nick is, his answers, how the war mught have affected him.

How does Nick feel at the end of the story?

Literary Concepts

POINT OF VIEW

A first-person point of view is the narration of the story by one of its characters.
The main advantage of a first-person description is that the reader feels closer to the narrator and therefore closer to the events of the story.

A third-person point of view refers to a story being narrated not by a character but by someone outside the story. The narrator uses persons such as he, she, they. There are several variations in this point of view :
In "The End of Something", the narrator does not explain any of the character's feelings or thoughts.
The description of details is purely objective: the setting, the actions, and conversations.

Optional Writing
If you wish to practice your writing, try one of the following options:

Write a letter from Nick to Marjorie, where he tells everything he could not on the beach.
Write a letter from Marjorie to a friend explaining the situation with Nick.
Rewrite one section of the story, using first-person point of view.
Write a brief narrative of the year before the breakup.

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