Insight into Hemingway's use of racial constructsHemingway's simple and direct writing style in "The Nick Adams Stories" does not leave much room for interpretation of the text. The reader must analyze individual characters to gain a deeper understanding of their beliefs, backgrounds, and racial tendencies. Nick Adams, for example, appears to be very discriminatory towards the American Indians and black males he encounters in this collection of short stories. Hemingway uses the character of Nick Adams to exemplify racial stereotypes during his time period through Nick's interactions with African Americans and American Indians. Although critics argue that Hemingway was the epitome of white male oppression, he uses racial constructs to highlight the prejudicial differences found in the 1920s and 1930s. Hemingway uses irony and racial stereotypes to help dispel claims that people of color must be held to a lower standard than whites. During the time Nick Adams' stories were originally in the short story "Fathers and Sons", Nick reflects on the time he would spend as a boy with Billy and Trudy Gilby, recalling the contempt he felt towards Eddie Gilby when Billy told him Eddie wanted to go in bed with Dorothy. Nick expressed his feelings of hatred towards Eddie when he states, “If Eddie Gilby ever came at night and even talked to Dorothy, do you know what I would do to him? I would kill him this way... Eddie Gilby was lying on the ground with his entire chest shot. (Hemingway 262). This passage shows us that Nick did not want Eddie around his sister and considered him inferior. It's ironic that it was acceptable for Nick to sleep with Trudy, but Eddie couldn't even talk to Nick's sister Dorothy without it being a sin against