In Our Time

Ernest Hemingway

Get this SparkNote to go!

Chapter V

Summary

The narrator and others are setting up to execute cabinet ministers. Five of them stand quietly against the wall, amid the puddles and strewn leaves from a heavy rain. The final minister is suffering from typhoid and will not stand up. Finally, they decide to let him sit. He is sitting in the water when they fire the first round of bullets.

Commentary

This story is told in an even colder manner than the others. Hemingway drains his prose of any emotion or feeling. By doing so, the executions, with one sick minister, seem even sadder. After all, the narrator cannot even bring himself to engage in the act: he wants to separate himself from the event by discussing it as a distant phenomenon.

On the Quai at Smyrna

by bhnnad, December 04, 2012

Sparknotes' commentary for On the Quai at Smyrna seems to have quite a few historical errors. The commentary states that the narrator is likely talking about the Greek evacuation of Thrace, but the title is On the Quai at Smyrna. Smyrna is a city in modern-day Turkey (now called Izmir). The Christian (mainly Greek and Armenian) part of Smyrna was burned in 1922 after the Turks recaptured the city from the Greeks. Hemingway was actually in Turkey just after the Great Fire to cover the Greco-Turkish War as a correspondent for the Toronto Star.... Read more

23 out of 25 people found this helpful

0

More Help

Buy the ebook of this SparkNote on BN.com

Easy to view on your iPod, phone, or ereader.

EVEN MORE HELP! ↓

Take a Study Break

SparkLife

What's your Pretty Little Liars name?

Take this quiz to find out!

SparkLife

Which young actress just got married?

Click to find out!

SparkLife

Cat bearding WINS THE INTERNET

Have you seen this yet?

SparkLife

Scary movies with funny posters

These. Are. Hilarious.

Geek out!

The MindHut

Geeky Actors: Then and Now

Travel back in time!

The MindHut

Villains We Want These Actresses to Play

From super cute to super bad!

The MindHut

10 Movies Better Than Their Books

What do you think?

The MindHut

Summer Movie Open Thread

Leave your thoughts here!

The MindHut

12 Scientific Inaccuracies in Into Darkness

What did Star Trek get wrong?

The Book

Cover image

Order In Our Time at BN.com

All the words, printed on paper. Classic!

Cover image

Read What You Love, Anywhere You Like

Get Our FREE NOOK Reading Apps