In a general sense, all of Hemingway’s work is related to The Old Man and the Sea because as his last important work it represents a kind of final credo, a culmination and crystallization of the major themes that inform all his work. More specifically, Hemingway’s very early work “Big Two-Hearted River: Parts I&II,” written some three decades before The Old Man and the Sea, explores related material and themes: in the course of the story about a young man alone in the north woods of Michigan fishing for trout in a small wilderness stream, Hemingway examines the important themes of humankind’s relationship with nature and the question of human suffering and endurance. But strictly speaking, “Big Two-Hearted River” should be seen as the final chapter in the story-cycle In Our Time, which deals primarily with the growth of Nick Adams. Many other Hemingway stories and novels examine related subject matter and themes: nature and people’s place in nature; fishing and hunting; relationships between a young protagonist and an older, wiser character. Examples of these works include “Indian Camp,” “The Battler,” “My Old Man,” and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.”
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