Nick Adams experiences many breakups throughout the “Nick Adams Collection” by Ernest

Hemingway, both at his hands and at the hands of another, but I would argue the most impactful

was the one depicted in The End of Something. In this, Nick and his girlfriend, Marjorie, are

having a picnic date, with Nick being unusually cold and distant. This culminates in a small fight

and Nick declaring that love "isn’t fun anymore.” In previous stories, the heartbreak that Nick

faces was at the hands of somebody else towards him, as with Prudence in Ten Indians; however,

this story is significant as the heartbreak is at the hands of Nick, towards Marjorie. As mentioned

earlier, by this point Nick is no stranger to heartbreak, and I believe that one of the reasons Nick

is so distant in this story is not just because he already knows ahead of time that he is going to

breakup with Marjorie, but that he also has to accept that he is going to have to hurt her to find

“fun” again. Also, Nick is usually quite vocal and articulate, except for when he is feeling

particularly down, such as in this story or in Now I Lay Me, where he answers “I don’t know” to

multiple questions, instead of saying how he is really feeling. This builds on themes of past

stories where Nick has trouble expressing his true emotions, which will follow him throughout

the rest as well.

In addition, this story explores the theme of slow deterioration of relationships. There is no

explosive argument, just little slights here and there. This is mirrored by the setting of the story, a

has-been milling town. Just like the town was once lively, one can assume that Nick and

Marjorie’s relationship started out like any other, until eventually it just becomes “not fun

anymore,” in the words of Nick, eventually fading to obscurity – a shell of its former self. And

an end like this might also add to the significance of the heartbreak, as it is not the fault of either

party involved. In other heartbreaks Nick might have an idea of what he could have done

differently, but the passage of time trumps all, and when people drift apart there is not much
either can do to remedy this. A heartbreak where you know that there was nothing you could

have done differently would surely hurt much more than one that you know was somebody’s

fault.

In conclusion, The End of Something tells of Nick Adam’s most significant heartbreak, one at the

hands of the passage of time. Previously the recipient of heartbreak many times, this story

explores Nick’s role in breaking someone else’s heart. However, just because he is the one

pulling the trigger does not mean he does not feel effects, and it also explores the way the recoil

affects him. After Marjorie rows off at the end of the story, Nick just lays there for a long time.

Possibly hoping that maybe, just maybe, the passage of time would restore what it took from him

that night.