I am an independent scholar based in Japan. I am posting this message in the hope that you might be able to help me to interpret a line of Hemingway's "A Simple Enquiry."
The story is about three soldiers who are snowbound in Italy. "Major," the senior soldier, returns to the hut, where Tonani, his adjutant, and Pinin, a 19-year old orderly, are working for him. The Major enters his room, which is adjacent to the office where the adjutant is working. The wall that separates the Major's room and the office is so thin that it is easy to hear what is said in the other room.
The Major summons Pinin into his room. The Major asks him private questions, with an apparent intention of sexual advance. When he does so, he tries to assure Pinin that their conversation will not be heard by Tonani, who is in the next room. The passage goes as follows:
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“Tonani,” the major said in the same tone of voice, “can you hear me talking?”
There was no answer from the next room.
“He can not hear,” the major said. “And you are quite sure that you love a girl?”
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I have a problem with the interpretation of "He can not hear."
What separates the two rooms is so thin that anything that is spoken in one room is heard in the other. This fact is explained by the author repeatedly in the previous part of the story.
It seems to me that two readings are possible.
(1) Tonani cannot hear us. (=It is impossible for Tonani to hear us.)
(2) Tonani can pretend that he has not heard anything.
Which interpretation do you think is appropriate?
Hemingway uses "cannot" 29 times in his short stories. Interestingly he uses "can not," too, though only twice. The instance above is an example. The other use of "can not" appears in "A Train Trip". It seems to me that the reason that Hemingway used "can not" rather than "cannot" here was that his intended interpretation was (2) above. Yet I am not confident enough. I would appreciate if you could enlighten me about this point. Thank you.
The story is about three soldiers who are snowbound in Italy. "Major," the senior soldier, returns to the hut, where Tonani, his adjutant, and Pinin, a 19-year old orderly, are working for him. The Major enters his room, which is adjacent to the office where the adjutant is working. The wall that separates the Major's room and the office is so thin that it is easy to hear what is said in the other room.
The Major summons Pinin into his room. The Major asks him private questions, with an apparent intention of sexual advance. When he does so, he tries to assure Pinin that their conversation will not be heard by Tonani, who is in the next room. The passage goes as follows:
-----
“Tonani,” the major said in the same tone of voice, “can you hear me talking?”
There was no answer from the next room.
“He can not hear,” the major said. “And you are quite sure that you love a girl?”
-----
I have a problem with the interpretation of "He can not hear."
What separates the two rooms is so thin that anything that is spoken in one room is heard in the other. This fact is explained by the author repeatedly in the previous part of the story.
It seems to me that two readings are possible.
(1) Tonani cannot hear us. (=It is impossible for Tonani to hear us.)
(2) Tonani can pretend that he has not heard anything.
Which interpretation do you think is appropriate?
Hemingway uses "cannot" 29 times in his short stories. Interestingly he uses "can not," too, though only twice. The instance above is an example. The other use of "can not" appears in "A Train Trip". It seems to me that the reason that Hemingway used "can not" rather than "cannot" here was that his intended interpretation was (2) above. Yet I am not confident enough. I would appreciate if you could enlighten me about this point. Thank you.