Sea of Change

This is perhaps the best example of the Iceberg theory we have read so far. The reader has barely any information to make a claim about the characters in this story. Here is what I think.

I think the girl cheated on the man with another girl. I think she is bisexual and is experimenting with her identity. The man is obviously upset and states, "I'll kill her." He is confused by her action and asks, "Couldn't you have gotten into something else?" She responds with, "Seems not." I think she is struggling with the fact that he is upset. She doesn't want to hurt his feelings by being attracted to girls.

Event though she cheated on him she still states that she loves him. That is confusing for him and he doesn't believe her. He asks her to prove it. My guess it that he wants her to prove it by not being with a girl. She gets a little upset when he asks her to prove and says, "You didn't use to be that way. You never asked me to prove anything. That isn't polite." This statement leads me to conclude that they have been in a relation ship for a long time.

The couple that comes into the bar is two men. They converse with the bartender. I think it is interesting that it most of Hemingway's stories there are couples. Usually a man and a girl, and they are usually alone or only accompanied by wait staff. I wonder why this is.

At the end of the story the man decides to let the girl go. I think they both believe that she will decide she isn't a lesbian and that she will return to him.

He is taking a chance by letting her go and "he was not the same-looking man as he had been before he had told her to go." There was a change in his character that was noticeable to him and her. I don't know why he is trying to tell the barman that he is "quite a different man." Maybe he feels he has to prove himself to someone.

I liked this story and am very interested to hear the discussion we have today in class.