In Our Time Reader Response"Early in the morning, on the lake, sitting in the back of the boat with his father rowing, he was sure he would never die" (19) The first four readings of In Our Time seem to be primarily focused on the life/death relationship that life presents. After reading the first story, I have to be perfectly honest in saying that I don't think I understood all of the underlying themes, but I began to focus more carefully when the story describes the women on the pier with the dead babies. Automatically, these images made me think of the response passage from this set of readings. Denying that death exists and is ultimately a part of everyone's life seemed to be a philosophical element common to both stories. Just as Nick made sure the inevitable would never happen to him, the women on the pier with their babies who had been dead for six days (!) "wouldn't abandon them." I think the connection to Hemingway's life in these elements perhaps shows or admits the tendency of the lost generation to deny themselves that they were susceptible to harm and death. An example of this is the character in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road who tended to live a free and reckless life of drugs, partying, and freedom that seemed to have no limits or consequences. Another example of the life/death relationship that appears to be The conflicts that arise during the Indian camp are illustrated in the first four pieces of Hemingway's novel. Rather than Nick expressing the sole fact that he believes he is not going to die, I believe that, because of his father, he has misunderstood the concept of dying. I believe the passage that says "he was sure he would never die" was essentially a reaction to the suicide of the pregnant woman's husband. Because this is the topic that came up during the story, I believe that Nick interpreted the situation that "death" equaled "suicide" and, believing that he would never kill himself, he ultimately believes that he will never die. I also believe that the way Nick's father spoke to him during the woman's C-section is significant. He said something along the lines of "you can watch this or not", meaning that even though Nick didn't see his father perform the surgery, it was still happening and, therefore, was only 'a part or reality of life..