Hemingway’s usage of rivers as a symbol of time occurs in the stories “Big Two Hearted River,” and “Hills Like White Elephants.” “Big Two Hearted River” is a story about Nick Adams and his postwar life. The story is centered in the small burned down town of Seney and Nick is trying to get away and relieve his mind of his always constant memories. In “Big Two Hearted River” the river functions as a symbol of time because the trout, which represent Nick’s thoughts, are trying hard to swim steady and not move along with the flow of the water. When Nick got to Seney he immediately went to the river and, “looked down into the clear brown water… and watched the trout keeping themselves steady.” The river, time, is trying to move Nick’s thoughts to
