A Day's Wait

Hemingway’s brief style means that what he omits is often just as important as the parts he leaves in. He uses narrative ellipsis frequently to help move the story along and create a sense of ambiguity. For example, in the first sentence, the narrator refers to “we” but never clarifies who the other person (or people) may be. When Papa describes feeling Schatz’s forehead, he notes that the boy has a fever. The next sentence says, “When the doctor came he took the boy’s temperature,” but the narrative doesn’t describe the doctor being called or arriving (Line 14). He simply appears to take Schatz’s temperature.

When Papa goes on a hunting trip, he doesn’t indicate that he asks someone to watch over Schatz, yet when he returns, the narrative states, “At the house they said the boy had refused to let anyone come into the room” (Lines 63-64). Clearly, someone was supposed to be watching Schatz, but once again, Papa gives no indication of who that person or people may be. These narrative ellipses reflect Papa’s communication with his son; they both tend to leave out information, allowing the other to misinterpret their meaning.

Hemingway makes judicious use of imagery in this work. Most frequently, he uses this device when describing Schatz. For example, the second sentence describes Schatz using imagery: “He was shivering, his face was white, and he walked slowly as though it ached to move” (Lines 3-4). This description clearly portrays how sick Schatz is and opposes his claims that he’s “all right” (Lines 7, 13).

After Schatz learns about his temperature, Papa notes, “His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in the bed and seemed very detached from what was going on” (Lines 28-30). While noting that Schatz looks worse, Papa doesn’t question him about it. Papa also notices that Schatz’s condition hasn’t improved when he returns from hunting: “I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him, white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed by the fever, staring still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed” (Lines 76-78). This imagery helps illustrate Schatz’s illness and his worry, showing that Papa knows Schatz is concerned about something.