A Day’s Wait
"A Day's Wait" (1936) is a brief story by
Ernest Hemingway that conveys the seemingly tragic outcome of miscommunication
between a boy and his father. Schatz is a nine-year-old boy who
becomes sick. The doctor conveys that Schatz has contracted the flu and
has a high fever. It is considered only a mild case, and the doctor leaves
medicine for the boy. The boy overhears the physician tell the father that the
temperature is 102 degrees. It is this information that causes
the perceived conflict and misunderstanding between the boy and
his father.
Schatz is put to bed, and his father maintains a
steady watch over him, reading from a book about pirates. But Schatz
seems unusually detached and when his father suggests he get some sleep,
the boy refuses. The father reads to himself for a while, but the
boy remains awake. He tells the father to leave if it bothers him. Thinking
that the boy is simply a bit light-headed, the father leaves the room and takes
the family dog for a walk along the frozen creek.
When the father returns, Schatz is still white-faced at
the foot of the bed. After the father takes Schatz's
temperature, the boy demands to know what it was. His temperature is 102
degree. The boy suddenly asks, "About what time do you think I'm
going to die?". The stunned father tells him all will be okay, and calls
it silly talk. But then Schatz explains: "At school in France the
boys told me you can't live with forty-four degrees." The father explains
the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius thermometers, comparing
them to miles and kilometers. Then the boy slowly relaxes.
This story deals with the familiar
Hemingway theme of heroic fatalism or fatalistic heroism, namely courage in the
face of certain death which is exhibited by the boy.
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