The mood of “Big Two-Hearted River” is simultaneously heavy and hopeful. This is because the story is centered on a man (Nick) who has recently returned home from World War I, both burdened by his memories of war and happy to be having time alone in the woods of Michigan, a place that is soothing for him. The following passage captures the seemingly contradictory moods in the story:
Nick was happy as he crawled inside the tent. He had not been unhappy all day. This was different though. Now things were done. There had been this to do. Now it was done. It had been a hard trip. He was very tired. That was done. He had made his camp. He was settled. Nothing could touch him. It was a good place to camp. He was there, in the good place. He was in his home where he had made it.
As the narrator directly states, “Nick was happy.” This—along with language like “He had not been unhappy all day” and “He was there, in the good place”—conveys a positive and hopeful mood. Readers feel glad, in this moment, that Nick has made it to his campsite after a challenging hike, and can relax alongside him.
That said, there is still a palpable sense of heaviness and emotional burden in this passage. This comes across in the short and repetitive quality of the sentences, which suggests that Nick may be repeating these things in his head in order to convince himself that he is happier and more content than he feels. The language that “Nothing could touch him” also implies that Nick does not generally feel safe or at ease, likely a form of hyper-vigilance he picked up while serving in the war. Though Nick is relaxed in this moment, the heaviness of the mood suggests that he still has a long way to go (and much trauma to process) before he will feel fully safe and relaxed.
