Chapter 16 of 22 · 2'42"
An old man tells a visitor about missing the town's finest hour, then about the Spanish Civil War. He claims he fought in the Lincoln Brigade, but he only went to Spain in 1955. He leaves quoting a passage that wishes suffering on those he has faith in.
❝ Monologue · 4 lines He's Given Up on Mankind
More Like the Hemingway Brigade
❝ Monologue · 8 lines a Nietzschean creed
He recites Nietzsche, making suffering the only proof of worth.
An old veteran talks to a visitor, complaining that he missed the town's finest hour and saying he has given up on all of mankind. The talk turns to his war stories, and it emerges that he never fought in Spain at all. Before the visitor leaves, he recites a passage wishing suffering on those he admires.
The scene is a study in a certain kind of old man, and it is funny and sad at once. He begins with a grievance about missing the town's big day and slides from there into total despair: "I've practically given up on not only my own people... but for mankind in its entirety." What keeps it from being merely bleak is the counterweight of his vanity. He tells war stories about Spain, and the visitor learns that he only got there in 1955, long after the fighting — "More like the Hemingway Brigade." He is a man who would rather be a fraud with a good story than an ordinary person, and his parting gift is a passage that wishes suffering and self-contempt on those he has faith in. It is a warm goodbye built out of cruelty, and the scene lets both sit side by side.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“but I can now say that I've practically given up on not only my own people...”
The disappointment widens from his own people to the whole species in one breath.
Informal
“I can only address myself to singular human beings now.”
It pulls a grand complaint back down to one person at a time.
Neutral
“And remember, the passion for destruction is also a creative passion.”
It fuses destruction and creation into a single memorable claim.
literary
“Yeah, I never met anyone that fought in the Spanish civil war before.”
An innocent line of admiration sets up the daughter's quiet exposure of a lie.
Informal
It's taken my entire life... but I can now say that I've practically given up on not only my own people... but for mankind in its entirety. I can only address myself to singular human beings now.
The first hurdle for the true warrior. "To those humans in whom I have faith. "I wish suffering, being forsaken, sickness, maltreatment, humiliation. "I wish that they should not remain unfamiliar with profound self-contempt... "the torture of self-mistrust, and the misery of the vanquished. "I have no pity for them... "because I wish them the only thing that can prove today... "whether one is worth anything or not: That one endures."
Up next · 17a sharp stick in the eyeThe scene: The TV Hoarder Explains VideoHe says he fought with the Lincoln Brigade in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War. The listener later learns that he and his wife only went to Spain in 1955, long after the fighting.
Because the old man was not really a soldier. Hemingway went to Spain as a writer and turned it into stories, which is closer to what the old man has done.
It is a set phrase said when mentioning someone who has died, meaning may she rest in peace. He uses it while complaining about his wife, which is both harsh and oddly tender.
Not only his own people but mankind as a whole. He says he can now only deal with single human beings one at a time.
A passage wishing suffering, sickness and self-contempt on the people he has faith in, which he calls the first hurdle for the true warrior.
