An Analysis of the End of Something One area of ​​literature emphasized during the modernist era was the inner struggle of every man. Novels written before the 20th century, such as Moll Flanders and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, dealt with external conflict, a conflict that the reader could visualize in action. Together with other writers of bohemian Paris, Ernest Hemingway distanced himself from this process and began to use external actions as symbols of the internal conflict that resided in the protagonist. Hemingway's short story The End of Something is an example of how banal dialogue and simple descriptions accentuate the mental conflict of the character Nick. The plot of the story is not complex: Nick and his girlfriend Marjorie are canoeing along a river they knew as children. Once on the riverbank, the two participate in the same activities but carry them out in silence. When Marjorie tries to start a conversation, Nick doesn't respond. Marjorie asks Nick if there's a problem, and Nick says he's not in love anymore. Marjorie then leaves, and the story ends with Nick lying down alone while his friend Bill (who enters the story several sentences after Marjorie leaves) eats a sandwich while looking at the river. As basic as the story sequence is, Hemingway's literary innovations are dominant. within the text. Through experimentation with pace, language, and plot structure, Hemingway elicits an emotional response from the reader, leaving them shocked that so much content can be captured in such a simple story. Most authors read at a relatively steady pace throughout the story, with sections of dialogue working faster than descriptions. Hemingway breaks this conventional nature in The End of Something. The... center of the paper... messes up and asks how things went with Nick. Hemingway quickly describes Bill's entrance, but ends the paragraph with "Bill didn't touch him either." This line is Hemingway's entire story; Marjorie felt there was something between the two of them, while Nick was unaffected by it. Hemingway emphasizes this again in the last line of the story, when Bill takes a sandwich and looks at the fishing poles. While Nick is caught up in the moment and sad about what he has done, Bill, who represents Nick's life, is not moved. The End of Something is a simple story about the breakup of two young people. Its four-page length would lead some to believe that the story is light and easily something to look at rather than read carefully. However, Hemingway does a great job of turning the four pages about a common event into an event that every reader can feel and will never truly end..