A Natural History of the Dead
Hemingway, Ernest
Primary Category:
Literature /
Fiction
Genre: Short Story
-
Annotated by:
- Ratzan, Richard M.
- Date of entry: Jan-24-2012
- Last revised: Jan-25-2012
Summary
A Natural History of the Dead is a story in The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. It is divided, by subject and style, into two parts, the first part of which reads like non-fiction and the second a short story, or the nidus of one.
The first section (4.5 pages) is a fairly grisly accounting of the title and describes different modes of dying and the dead, especially in war time, especially regarding WWI.The second section (2 pages) involves a medical unit with a field physician and several soldiers, none of them officers as high as the physician. They are discussing a terminally injured soldier who is dying of a devastating injury to the head. The physician does not want to waste any effort or, worse, his limited supply of morphine on a lost cause. Eventually there is verbal and even physical violence over this dispute.
The first section (4.5 pages) is a fairly grisly accounting of the title and describes different modes of dying and the dead, especially in war time, especially regarding WWI.The second section (2 pages) involves a medical unit with a field physician and several soldiers, none of them officers as high as the physician. They are discussing a terminally injured soldier who is dying of a devastating injury to the head. The physician does not want to waste any effort or, worse, his limited supply of morphine on a lost cause. Eventually there is verbal and even physical violence over this dispute.
Primary Source
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway.
Publisher
Scribner; NY, NY
Edition
1987: pages 335-341
Page Count
7
Commentary
The latter half of the story is a narrative set piece for the medical ethics of triage and its capacity to foment disagreement amongst family, friends and providers. This story offers an excellent opportunity for students of lit & med, medical ethics in literature, especially during wartime, and also an unusual opportunity to compare it to other Hemingway stories in this database.