Cross Country Snow

This study guide will help you analyze the short story “Cross Country Snow” by Ernest Hemingway (1924). You can also find a summary of the text, as well as inspiration for interpreting it and putting it into perspective.

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Some of his novels include A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), and The Old Man and the Sea (1954). Hemingway is known for inventing what he referred to as the “iceberg theory”, which means that the true significance of a story is hidden beneath the surface of the story itself. The short story “Cross Country Snow” first appeared in 1924 in the Transatlantic Review literary magazine and was later published in 1925 in the short story collection In Our Time.

Below, you can read an excerpt from our study guide:

Skiing is symbolic of freedom and escape from responsibilities. Both Nick and George see skiing as a way of being truly free and having no worries. Skiing also provides the characters, especially Nick, with the feeling of having complete control over life. In reality, they cannot have this kind of freedom and control, since they both have responsibilities, some of them unplanned. Nick, for example, is going to be a father and will have to return home to his estranged wife.

The patch of soft snow that causes Nick to crash unexpectedly can be considered a symbol of Nick’s unexpected duties that will take him away from a life of total freedom. Nick’s wife, Helen, is having a baby, so Nick will have to return to California. With his new responsibilities, it is doubtful that he will have time to go skiing again with George.