Bugs and Sam: Nick Adams's Guides in Hemingway's "The Battler" and "The Killers"

Abstract

In his stories "The Battler" and "The Killers," Ernest Hemingway portrays two characters, Bugs and Sam, as potential guides for Nick Adams on his journey from his home. Bugs and Sam counsel Nick Adams in ways that resemble his broken monologue to Rinaldi about finding "a separate peace" from the war. In "The Battler," Hemingway depicts Bugs with deft, calculated force, as he directs Nick to leave the camp in order to avoid an escalation of a hostile conflict. Likewise, in revising earlier drafts of "The Killers," Hemingway shifts the focus from Sam's role as George's short-order cook to his role as Nick's guide. Hemingway portrays Bugs and Sam as important guides for Nick Adams in facing and coping with such pain.