Under the Ridge

Ernest Hemingway's "Under the Ridge" short story portrays war in a haunting way. The imagery and dialogue he uses paints a descriptive picture of the war-like scene we, as readers, are transported to. There are a few things that are mentioned more than once in the story which I would like to point out because I believe they hold some sort of importance.

1- Dust

"In the head of the day with the dust blowing, we came back, dry-mouthed, nose-clogged and heavy-loaded down out of the battle to the long ridge above the river where the Spanish troops lay in reserve." The first sentence gives the reader an idea of what the day has been like, and what kind of place they are in. The people and mules and tanks in this place are unsettling the dust and it blows away in the wind. Dust is unpleasant and unavoidable. It sticks to you and reminds you of where you were and what you were doing. The dust on their clothes reminds them of when they had to crawl on their bellies to avoid the machine gun fire of the enemy after they discovered that the Poles did not gain any new territory at all. Dust is disappointment, it can blow away, but only to find a new place to settle.

2- Failure

The attack was a complete failure. No one executed their orders. "The French tank commander had got drunk to be brave for the attack and finally was too drunk to function. He was to be shot when he sobered up. The tanks had not come up in time and finally had refused to advance, and two of the battalions had failed to attain their objectives. The third had taken theirs, but ot formed an untenable salient. The only real result had been a few prisoners, and these had been confided to the tank men to bring back and the tank men had killed them. The general had only failure to show, and they had killed his prisoners."

3- What does it mean to be considered Brave, and what does it mean to be considered a Coward?

In the story a Frenchman with "his head held high" walked over "the edge of the ridge and out of sight." This man was obviously walking away from his duties as a solider. The narrator of this story doesn't believe the Frenchman's actions to be cowardly. However, the men in the leather coats certainly did and made him pay for it. The narrator stated that, "He could walk out of it (the hopelessness and idiocy of their situation) not from cowardice, but simply from seeing too clearly." The narrator states in the last paragraph that "The nearest any man was to victory that day was probably the Frenchman who came, with his head held high, walking out of the battle." Why is walking away the sole victory of the day?

4-Setting Examples/Consequences of Actions

The boy Paco, who shot himself in the hand out of fear, was made an example by his officers. He shot himself so that he could be excused from the front to be bandaged and cared for. He wanted to escape the terror of battle so he shot himself in order to leave. It was an act of cowardice that made him react to battle in this way. His officers wanted to show the other soldiers that reacting to battle in that way would not result in pity. "Paco must be punished as an example, in order that there would be no more self-inflicted wounds, and that all others would be punished in the same way." To me, it seems that Paco was already ashamed of his actions and suffered enough for that. However the officers made him feel more ashamed and his last living emotions were that of embarrassment and regret. "Then, while the one held Pace by the arm; Paco, looking very ashamed to be spoken of this way when he was already ashamed and sorry; the other took his pistol and shot Paco in the back of the head without any word to Paco. Nor any word more."

This story delves into the deep questions of what it means to be a man. What is bravery? Who should be considered a coward, and who shouldn't? Also, I think it allows the reader to think about what he or she would do in this kind of situation. Are you more like the Frenchman, Paco, of the Extremaduran?