In “The Great Two-Hearted River” by Ernest Hemingway, Nick returns home after the war and visits his favorite fishing spot. Nick's dual sides are shown as he ventures into nature and manifests in his consciousness and subconscious. While Nick's conscious self wants to divert all attention from thoughts of the past, his subconscious thoughts occasionally emerge and reveal that he wishes to face his past and move forward. Nick allows his consciousness to be swamped by the scenery, and by focusing on nature and the menial tasks at hand, he is able to repress the memories and feelings associated with the war. However, Nick's subconscious thoughts and worries are reflected in nature to demonstrate that the change brought about by war and found in nature can be disturbing. Although the story is told through the use of third-person narration which allows the reader to see the surroundings from Nick's perspective, Nick's actual thoughts and feelings are never revealed to the reader. Since thoughts provide information about a person's feelings, motivation, and character, by leaving out Nick's thoughts, Hemmingway shows that Nick has lost all sense of self. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that in addition to returning to nature to experience a form of healing, Nick seeks to regain the sense of self and belonging that was lost during the war, as well as coming to terms with his past . Through the use of sensory details and third-person narration, Hemmingway shows that people's thoughts and feelings are projected onto the landscape and that nature serves as a unifying force that gathers and puts together the fragmented pieces of a person's identity, as seen with Nick who comes to terms with his past and rediscovers his meaning...... middle of paper ......rejects a place among people and instead chooses a place in nature which becomes the place to to which it belongs. As Nick spends more time in nature, the part of him that was consumed by the horrors of war emerges and he finds his sense of self. Aspects of Nick's character such as his compassion and respect for nature that he had possessed before the war are carried over to Nick because nature slowly healed him as he spent more time there. At the end of the story, when Nick thinks that "There [are] plenty of days coming when he can fish in the swamp" (992), showing that although Nick will not face his past now, he will in the future. HemingwayWorks CitedHemingway, Ernest. "The great river with two hearts". American fiction between the two wars. Ed. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Pub (L), 2005. 980-92. Clark I. Draney-AcademicSite. Network. May 22 2014.