Summary and Analysis
Nick
walks through an orchard on his way to Bill’s house, picking up a fallen apple.
When Nick arrives, the two boys stand together on the porch, discussing the
weather. They predict that the wind will blow hard for three days. Bill says
that his father is out with the gun. The two go inside. They decide to drink
whiskey and water. Nick takes off his boots to dry them by the fire. He puts on
a pair of Bill’s socks. The two talk about baseball and their team, the
Cardinals. Then, they talk about books. Nick does not like books whose symbols
are impractical. The two agree that they love Chesterton and Walpole but cannot
decide which of the two is a better person. They talk about their fathers’
drinking habits–Bill’s drinks regularly, Nick’s never. The two are getting
fairly drunk but do not want to admit it. Nick goes outside to get another log
for the fire. The boys start drinking Scotch because they do not want to open
another bottle of whiskey.They drink to fishing and decide it is better than
baseball. Bill tells Nick that he is glad that Marjorie is gone. He did not
want to see Nick married. Yet, this conversation makes Nick sad. But, as Nick
says, it was suddenly over, like the three-day blow taking the leaves off the
trees. Still, they had planned to do many things together, like travel.
Marjorie’s mother had even told people they were engaged. Bill says that Nick
might always get back into the relationship. This idea comforts Nick somewhat,
because he had not realized that nothing is irreversible. Cheered somewhat, the
boys decide to go outside and find Bill’s father. Nick reminds himself that he
can always go into town on Saturday night and find Marjorie again.
Commentary and Analysis
Despite
all the male bonding in this story, it reveals that Nick does have a soft spot
for the feminine. Bill does not want to see Nick married, but Nick is unsure
that he has made the right decision regarding Marjorie. Perhaps he does want
marriage, love, and domesticity. Nick is not entirely masculine, therefore. He
is constantly deciding whether to be a man’s man or a family man.The three-day
blow is also symbolic of this stage in Nick’s life. As a young man, he is in a
flurry trying to decide what kind of person to become. Further, the early
twentieth century is a moment of massive change from rusticity to modernity.
The three-day blow, then, represents this time of change and chaos in the world
as well as in the life of a young man. This term, three-day blow, is also infused
with a biblical connotation, summoning the idea of the forty-day flood, for
example. Such a radical weather phenomenon seems invoked, then, not only by
life and societal changes but by spiritual decree as well.
‘The
Three Day Blow’ is a dramatic story by the most influential author Ernest
Hemingway (1899 – 1961). He had won the Nobel Prize in 1954 for his book “The
Old Man and the Sea” (1952). Nick is the main character of the story. There is
the other character named as Bill who was the sincere friend of Nick.
The rain stopped as Nick walked into the road that went up through the orchard. But the fall wind was blowing. The road came to the orchard on to the top of the hill. There was a cottage which belongs to Bill and his father. Nick went to the cottage. Bill came out and welcomed him and let him inside the room.
Bill and Nick viewed the natural beauty. They talked about the weather and the blowing wind. Bill said that the wind would blow like that for three days. They went inside the cottage. They drank wine sitting by the fire. They talked about the games especially the baseball game, books, swimming, and their fathers. Once Nick fell in love with girl named Marge (Marjorie). They had planned to marry also but unfortunately their relationship broke down because of the bad attitude of her woman who disliked Nick and spread rumors that Nick had already got engaged. Perhaps they would never see each other again. Nostalgias made Nick sad and upset and felt isolated.
But again he thought that what had happened in the past might have been good. This feeling made him happy. Bill and Nick started to talk as previously. Carrying guns they went out for hunting delightfully.
The rain stopped as Nick walked into the road that went up through the orchard. But the fall wind was blowing. The road came to the orchard on to the top of the hill. There was a cottage which belongs to Bill and his father. Nick went to the cottage. Bill came out and welcomed him and let him inside the room.
Bill and Nick viewed the natural beauty. They talked about the weather and the blowing wind. Bill said that the wind would blow like that for three days. They went inside the cottage. They drank wine sitting by the fire. They talked about the games especially the baseball game, books, swimming, and their fathers. Once Nick fell in love with girl named Marge (Marjorie). They had planned to marry also but unfortunately their relationship broke down because of the bad attitude of her woman who disliked Nick and spread rumors that Nick had already got engaged. Perhaps they would never see each other again. Nostalgias made Nick sad and upset and felt isolated.
But again he thought that what had happened in the past might have been good. This feeling made him happy. Bill and Nick started to talk as previously. Carrying guns they went out for hunting delightfully.
