Nick's self-discovery in Hemingway's In Our Time The focus of this essay will be to analyze Nick's transition as he moves from mental to physical isolation, maturation, and discovery of oneself. If Nick's life were to be classified and analyzed chronologically, the stories Indian Camp and The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife would certainly come first. It's these two stories that give us our first glimpse of the kind of character Nick really was as a child. Because Nick is only mentioned briefly in the latter story, I think Indian Camp is more significant in analyzing his character's portrayal. I guess the only passage that really gives any insight into Nick's innocence (and ignorance) at the time was "early in the morning, on the lake, sitting in the back of the boat with his father rowing, he was sure he never would. die” (19). I believe this passage was primarily 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. Due to the way his father explained death, Nick's interpretation of the situation would lead him to believe that he would never die. So this story basically shows Nick's youthful innocence. The next two stories, The End of Something and The Three-Day Strike, become very significant in the analysis of Nick's character because they essentially show the maturation of thought and philosophy that has taken place since Indian times. . Cam...... middle of paper ......fication is that they accurately depict the desensitization to the life experienced by soldiers. The last three stories deal with Nick's character, Cross Country Snow and Big Two-Hearted River (I and II), essentially depict the aftermath of the war and the adverse consequences of this war on Nick by changing the way he lives and thinks . The first depicts Nick's reluctance to leave his new life of adventure that he had begun to live during the war. Big Two-Hearted River is basically about how Nick tries to regain that freedom of lifestyle and exploration. Their significance is that they represent the last path Nick took in his life. He moved from mental to physical isolation, but in doing so he seems to have found himself.