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Ole is a gentle, kind man whose life has been overtaken and defined by violence. He is large in stature, as shown by how he barely fits on his bed, and his face bears the marks of his boxing career. Taken at face value, Ole would be an intimidating figure. However, when it seems death has finally come for him, he chooses not to fight back, making him a non-example of Hemingway’s “code hero” archetype and, in some ways, a foil of Nick Adams.

Presumably older than Nick, Ole has had plenty of life experience and has seen his share of death and violence thanks to his time as a boxer and his involvement in mob business. But despite this experience, he falls into a stupor of despair after his “mistake” in Chicago. He knows that death is coming for him but he remains passive, lying in bed, unable to even leave his room, rather than taking any kind of action.

Also unlike Nick, it seems that Ole hasn’t lived according to his own character and ideals. The landlady of his boarding-house calls him a gentle and kind man, noting how at odds with his character it is that he was ever a boxer. Through unknown circumstances, whether by his own choice or not, Ole has fallen into a life of violence, a life he can’t now escape. His story is a tragic one that contrasts with the arc of a typical Hemingway hero.

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