The Three-Day Blow

I really enjoyed “The Three-Day Blow.”  I think Hemingway was writing about a stage that every teenager goes through.  Nick is at an age in the story where he is going through changes in his life and his personality.  He is trying to find out what he wants out of life, when he wants it, and what direction he should take to get there. 

                I believe that Nick decides to drink in an attempt to flood his emotions away.  He responds to Bill with simple answers and multiple times he says nothing at all.  I think Hemingway does this to show how deep in contemplation Nick is about everything.  He is sitting, thinking, and drinking, hoping to find an answer to his question of whether he did the right thing by pushing Marjorie away. 

                When Nick starts to believe that he has a chance to change things and that nothing is permanent, a weight lifts off of his shoulders and he has hope for the future.  This is an experience I can relate to in my own life.  I know that sometimes I wonder whether I made the right decision for my life but knowing that everything is never over just because of one decision, is always reassuring.  We all have the ability to change our lives and steer ourselves in a new direction from the one we are heading in now.

                This short story showed me a new side of Nick.  I now see Nick as a teenager in transition, who cannot decide between being a free man like Bill and becoming a family man with Marjorie.  In my view, he likes the freedom but he needs a woman.  He wants what his father doesn’t have, and by the end of the story, he realizes that it is all still attainable.

                The story is set in a time in history where there is a massive change going on in America that is even larger than Nick’s own changes.  The world around Nick is evolving into a modern age, and this transformation contributes to Nick’s confusion.  He has to find his place in this new world, and he has options that are conflicting. 

This story is relevant to teenagers growing up in the world today, also.  There are many changes occurring, that in my opinion, can either be good or bad.  We rely so much on technology that our personal relationships may suffer in the future.  Our communication is through the internet and smart phones, and the world feels smaller than ever before.  This is good for business and economic growth, but it can be debilitating when it comes to our human need to feel connected to other people on an intimate level.  “The Three-Day Blow” got me thinking about the changes in my own life, and I think it’s a story that still holds true today and will forever.