Literary Analysis: The End Of Something

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In his short story "The End of Something," Ernest Hemingway compares an old broken down mill and a quiet fishing trip to the finalization of a woeful relationship between two people who have grown apart. The title of this short story refers to two different instances of loss or "end of something," One: the end of a flourishing town and two: the termination of a young couples relationship. Hemingway tries to portray to us that no matter how long we desperately cling to the present, time always comes in between that moment of truth or instant in our lives. After that, it becomes past history. We as people cannot live in the moment forever, as Ernest Hemingway conveys in the following work. In a previous time, Hortons Bay was a small lumbering town where everyone knew everyone. It was a place known for its diverse range of activities and small community of good hearted, friendly people. Being such a small, yet very open village, the streets would echo with the ever so familiar faint whirring sound of the old mill which sat, full of liveliness, next to the bay. Hortons Bay played many roles in the lives of the townspeople. Not only did it serve as beautiful scenery but also a place where young Nick and Marjorie spent most of their time fishing and growing in love. Like the small town, the couple of many years, had a close, young spirited relationship. As teens, they had no worries. We could compare their relationship to the town and old mill, full of life and happiness. The problem with being in love at a young age is not that it is not real, but that we change for the better but not always as one. Ten years passed and the old mill no longer hummed the low faint sound everyone had come so familiar with. In fact, the spot that the old mill used to engross so peacefully next to the bay was no longer a mill at all, just a deserted memory, as was the town. As the

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