The Fear of Death: The Real Virus in Hemingway\u27s A Day\u27s Wait

Hemingway\u27s very short story A Day\u27s Wait has received only passing critical interest that generally focuses on the relationship between father and son, yet, when taken together with historical context and records of Hemingway\u27s own experiences with the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, it is clear that the story has strong ties to the global outbreak that killed more people than World War I. Details of the story indicate that its characters may be living under the shadow or memory of this terrible pandemic, and a subtle fear of death that spreads from one character to the next acts much like the virus that they dread