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The Narrator
Previously the greatest fencer in Italy, the major’s hand has shrunk down to the size of a baby’s following a wartime injury. He receives treatment from the machines next to the narrator. Though the major humors the doctor’s optimism about his chances for recovery, he confesses to the narrator that he has no confidence in the machines’ ability to heal him. He also tells the narrator he does not believe in bravery and teaches him Italian grammar so that he can communicate more naturally. Later, after his young wife dies suddenly of pneumonia, the major angrily tells the narrator not to marry, and that men should never put themselves in a position to lose anything. Afterward, he apologizes for his rudeness and bears his tears with “soldierly” dignity. He spends his subsequent treatment sessions staring out of the window.
The Major Quotes in In Another Country
The In Another Country quotes below are all either spoken by The Major or refer to The Major. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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In Another Country Quotes
The major came very regularly to the hospital. I do not think he ever missed a day, although I am sure he did not believe in the machines. There was a time when none of us believed in the machines, and one day the major said it was all nonsense.
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The major undergoes physical therapy in the machine next to the narrator’s. His determination to hold onto hope in the face of near-certain failure is the kind of bravery the story commends. Every day, the major makes a choice to persevere, representing a truer form of courage. The major’s courageous approach to life inspires the narrator, in contrast to the misplaced glorification of battlefield valor elsewhere that causes division and insecurity among the group of officers. The narrator continues to present the machines as ineffective, as all the officers doubt the treatment’s ability to heal their war wounds. Their doubts Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaeca
If he is to lose everything, he should not place himself in a position to lose that. He should not place himself in a position to lose. He should find things he cannot lose.
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After the narrator announces his hope to one day marry, the major rants against opening oneself up to the pain of loss. What the narrator does not yet know in this moment is that the major has just unexpectedly lost his young wife to a short battle with pneumonia. Fueled by this sudden pain, the major angrily insists that men should not put themselves in a position to lose anything—which would mean effectively cutting themselves off from the joys of the world. The irony is that these men have ostensibly fought in the war—damaging physical and emotional parts of themselves Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati e
He looked straight past me and out through the window. Then he began to cry. "I am utterly unable to resign myself,” he said and choked. And then crying, his head up looking at nothing, carrying himself straight and soldierly, with tears on both his cheeks and biting his lips, he walked past the machines and out the door.
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After explaining to the narrator that his young wife has unexpectedly died from pneumonia, the major breaks down, overwhelmed by his grief. He cannot look at the narrator, with whom he has been talking, or anything else in this moment. His anguish separates him from others, turning his mind inward as he instinctively, protectively isolates himself from the world and all its potential for loss. Hemingway’s point, though, is that everyone must “resign” themselves to the fact that loss is an everyday, inevitable reality. Here, the major makes his first steps on the long road to recovery, choosing to persevere Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volupt
When he came back, there were large framed photographs around the wall, of all sorts of wounds before and after they had been cured by the machines. In front of the machine the major used were three photographs of hands like his that were completely restored. I do not know where the doctor got them. I always understood we were the first to use the machines. The photographs did not make much difference to the major because he only looked out of the window.
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The major returns to the hospital after the death of his young wife, wearing a black armband and not engaging with anyone or anything around him. The doctor, meanwhile, has placed photographs around the treatment room to encourage the soldiers, but his propaganda attempt falls flat. The soldiers easily see through the patronizing deception—the narrator notes the impossibility of the images, considering they’ve been told they are the first group to use the machines; the doctors were either lying then or are now. What’s more, the propaganda does not even address their central concerns—a direct reflection and critique of wartime Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta.
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The Major Character Timeline in In Another Country
The timeline below shows where the character The Major appears in In Another Country. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
In Another Country
In the machine next to the narrator is the major , whose hand has shrunk to the size of a baby’s. The major asks, winking...
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The major does not believe in bravery. He spends a lot of time teaching the narrator Italian...
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The major goes to the hospital very regularly—in fact, he never misses a day even though he...
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The major asks the narrator what he plans to do when he returns home after the war,...
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The major calls for an attendant to turn off the machine, which is still bashing his hand...
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The doctor explains to the narrator that the major ’s wife was very young, and he had delayed marrying her until his injury took...
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