“The End of Something” and “The Three-Day Blow”

I have found this new series of Nick Adams stories to be extremely interesting. Looking at each story individually gives the reader different impressions and has a different meaning than reading the short stories more like chapters in a book. All of the recent tales have revolved around Nick Adams and his family and friends. Looking at “The End of Something” and “The Three-Day Blow” together changes what you think of Bill. Reading “The End of Something” first, it appears that Bill had a minor role in the breakup of Marge and Nick. He only appears right at the end and seems to want to help and comfort Nick. After I finished the second short story, the conversation between Bill and Nick showed that Bill might have actually had a larger hand in the breakup. Bill talks to Nick as if he pushed Nick into breaking up and is trying to see if Nick resents him for it.
The way that “The Three-Day Blow” ends reminds me of the quote about the human mind being like a sieve. It is sad and true how terrible the human memory is. This is not only due to lack of will power it is also a result of strength of will power. We often rewrite our own memory by convincing ourselves that something happened that did not or something else meant something that it did not. Nick does this in the end. At first he regrets that he ended the relationship but the more he drink and the more he think about what happened he begins to believe that he did the right thing.
I have also noticed that Hemingway loves nature. Every single one of his stories that we have read so far has a large outdoor component. He ends the tales with the mist rising or the cold coming or moose calls in the distance.