Frank Foley
Frank Foley
THE BATTLER
Hemingway, Ernest
Published: 1923
Category: Short Story
Themes: youth and inexperience, fighting and the brutality of life, hospitality
Overview
One of Hemingway's "Nick Adams" cycle of stories, from the collection, In Our Time. Nick, probably in his late teens, naively gets sucker-punched and thrown off a train. Walking through the woods, he comes across Ad Francis a damaged ex-boxer, who seems initially friendly... but will Nick survive?
Frank's highlight!
I've always loved the scene where Ad Francis forces Nick to count his (Ad's) pulse, insisting it is always forty. Ad counts sixty seconds in his head, and demands Nick count his pulse beats. "What did you make it?" Ad says. "Forty," says Nick. Now whether he counted forty or not we do not know. If he did, then fair enough. But if he understands the need to say "forty" whatever the number he actually counts, then Nick has shown he is learning about situations and context. What do you think?
Life-affirming / uplifting message
I've always felt that Buggs's hospitality and decency towards Nick is a testament to his intelligence, strength and dignity. Excluded from society, he nevertheless understands Nick's naivete, and knows how to handle Ad Francis. Buggs has practical wisdom, and is perhaps the model to which Nick may aspire.
Life wisdom
The value of life experience - life is not fair, and experiencing that can be hard. But valuable lessons are learned about yourself and the world. This builds character. Nick learns something from being sucker-punched by the brakeman, something that may well save him from a similar fate to that of Ad Francis.
A Personal Note
From the time I first read Hemingway's, In Our Time, and still today, the thing that strikes me most is the vividness of the writing, and the reality it's able to create. I'm there with Nick as he looks at his scrapped knee and curses the brakeman who has just sucker-punched him. I'm there, uneasy, as Nick meets Ad Francis - I feel the tension, the underlying violence in the night. How will Nick cope this time? This is writing, this is Hemingway!
Quoted passages
QUOTE: "Listen," Ad Francis said. "Take hold again. You count and I'll count up to sixty." Feeling the slow hard throb under his fingers Nick started to count. He heard the little man counting slowly, one, two, three, four, five, and on - aloud. "Sixty," Ad finished. "That's a minute. What did you make it?" "Forty," Nick said.