How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He watched them holding themselves with their noses in the current, many trout in deep, fast moving water, slightly distorted as he watched far down through the glassy convex surface of the pool, its surface pushing and swelling smooth against the resistance of the log-driven piles of the bridge. (I.3)
The trout here could be on one of those motivational posters. By holding themselves against the current, they represent strength, overcoming adversity, resolve… basically, they’re modeling what Nick feels like he should be doing in the face of his nervous condition. But that is much easier said than done, and it might help explain why Nick is gripped by anxiety as he watches the trout move.
Quote #2
He did not need to get his map out. He knew where he was from the position of the river. (I.11)
It’s not that Nick doesn’t like asking for directions; instead, by nixing the map and using natural signs like the river and the sun, Nick is being guided by a more solid instinct. A map shows you where you are, but only theoretically. If instead you look around yourself and know that you are following the river, it’s more definitive and, for Nick, reassuring.
Quote #3
Now, as he watched the black hopper that was nibbling at the wool of his sock with its fourway lip, he realized that they had all turned black from living in the burned-over land. He realized that the fire must have come the year before, but the grasshoppers were all black now. He wondered how long they would stay that way. (I.12)
So the grasshoppers (1) have been changed by a circumstance in the past beyond their control, (2) are now manifesting the effects of that circumstance, and (3) might be doing so for a while yet. Not only do we not see a nice past-present-future layout here, but this sounds an awful lot like what happened to Nick as a soldier coming home from WWI. Now, we might not immediately make this connection on the first reading, but even if we miss the WWI aspect we know by this passage that something similar is going on with Nick.
Quote #4
“Go on, hopper,” Nick said, speaking out loud for the first time. “Fly away somewhere.” (I.14)
What does flying away evoke for you? Freedom? Letting go? That tear-jerking movie from the 90s with Anna Paquin? The point is, Nick sees some hope for the grasshopper because he can transcend what has harmed him in the past (think of flying away as leaving your problems behind)—and that means that there is some hope for Nick as well.
Quote #5
He washed his hands at the stream. He was excited to be near it. (II.4)
Note that it doesn’t say that Nick was excited to fish; he’s excited just to be near the stream. What does the stream mean for Nick, other than clean hands? Well, remember how earlier Nick uses the river instead of a map to guide him? The river seems to be something that Nick can count on to be there for him.
Quote #6
Nick did not like to fish with other men on the river. Unless they were of your party, they spoiled it. (II.23)
Nothing like other people to ruin your entire day, areweright? For Nick at least, fishing is not a social event; it seems to be very much a period for introversion and solitude. Hey, those things can be pretty great too. In terms of the story, this passage tells us that Nick, at least right now, really can’t stand the company of other people. Why else hike all the way out into the middle-of-nowhere wilderness just to fish?
Quote #7
His mouth dry, his heart down, Nick reeled in. He had never seen so big a trout. There was a heaviness, a power not to be held, and then the bulk of him, as he jumped. (II.31)
Sometimes, nature can have a mystical aspect. You might say that there is nothing mystical about a big fish (it’s not even that big), but Hemingway certainly seems to be evoking the idea of uncontainable nature. “A power not to be held”? Sounds uncontainable to us. No wonder it freaks him out.
Quote #8
He thought of the trout somewhere on the bottom, holding himself steady over the gravel, far below the light, under the logs, with the hook in his jaw. Nick knew the trout’s teeth would cut through the snell of the hook. The hook would imbed itself in his jaw. He’d bet the trout was angry. Anything that size would be angry. (II.33)
Ouch. Sounds like trout are some pretty tough fish. But you know what’s weird about this passage? Nick is actually imagining himself as the trout, in a way. Look at how the narration doesn’t just end with Nick’s perception, which would run something like “And then the trout disappeared under the water.” End of thought. Instead, Nick’s mind follows the trout to the bottom of the stream, imagines the trout’s future with the hook embedded in its jaw, and even imagines how the trout is feeling in the moment. He’s really worked everything out for this trout, hasn’t he? Even if we don’t compare Nick and the trout directly, we can think about Nick’s reflection of the trout’s reaction to a thing like almost getting caught: namely, how it’s going to bear the hook for the rest of its life, and how it’s going to react emotionally.
Quote #9
Nick did not want to go in there now. He felt a reaction against deep wading with the water deepening up under his armpits, to hook big trout in places impossible to land them. In the swamp the banks were bare, the big cedars came together overhead, the sun did not come through, except in patches; in the fast deep water, in the half light, the fishing would be tragic. In the swamp fishing was a tragic adventure. Nick did not want it. He did not want to go down stream any further today. (II.60)
Geez, Nick, then don’t go into the swamp already! We won’t blame you; it sounds nasty. But Nick seems to think that he is obligated to go into the swamp. Think about how Nick describes the swamp and the language that he uses: deep, sunless, tragic. Now think about the dark places of a person’s mind, which hold things like traumatic memories that people would rather not return to. Now think about both of those things together.