In Another Country

In Another Country Summary | Detailed Summary

The story opens in the fall in Milan. The narrator, an American soldier who was wounded in World War I, describes going to the hospital every afternoon for physical rehabilitation. He explains that although there are many ways to get to the hospital, he must always cross one of three bridges. On one of the bridges is a woman who sells roasted chestnuts. He likes the warmth of the fire and the warmth of the chestnuts once they are in his pocket on the cold, windy, fall days.

Each day while in rehabilitation, he meets up with a group of former soldiers. They sit in their "machines that were to make so much difference" with the hopes of a full recovery from their injuries. We learn that the narrator used to like to play football when his doctor tells him that he will be able to play football again "better than ever." The narrator then explains how his knee no longer bends. His rehabilitation consists of him sitting in a machine that is supposed to bend his knee as if riding a bike. Not even the machine, however, can get it to bend yet. The doctor has a positive attitude and reassures the narrator that he will be able to play football once again.

We meet one of the other soldiers in the group, an Italian major. His hand is small and withered and he spends his afternoons trying to rehabilitate it. Although he was once a great fencer (before the war, he now cannot fence because of his injury. His machine has leather straps that flap the fingers, trying to loosen their stiffness. The major expresses doubt and the doctor reassures by showing him a "before" picture of a small withered hand and an after shot of a slightly larger hand (after it had "taken a machine course").

Three others that meet at the hospital on those fall afternoons are originally from Milan; they sometimes walk with the narrator to a café after their treatment. They would always take a shortcut through the communist neighborhood. Even though the people do not like to see the officers on their territory, the officers feel safe because there are four of them together. Sometimes a fifth soldier joins them on their trips to the café. He wears a black silk scarf over his face because he does not have a nose - he had been in the military academy and then went straight to the front lines. Within an hour, he had been wounded. He did eventually have his face rebuilt, but the narrator explains that his nose never looked quite right.

All of them have medals from the war except for the soldier wearing the scarf - he did not fight long enough to earn any. One of the other three soldiers (the one who had wanted to be a lawyer) had three medals but the other soldiers only had one each. While they had all been around death and had become detached because of it, this soldier had been around death more and was even more detached. The one thing that holds them all together, however, is the fact that they meet together every afternoon at the hospital.

The narrator also explains that the others are polite and understanding towards his medals, but, once they find out what he had done to get them, they change their manner towards him. The papers with his medals say that he had received the medals for simply being an American, not for some heroic act. The other three had done something other than being wounded (which is just an accident, anyway) to earn their medals. The narrator sometimes imagines that he had done all the different things the others had done to earn their medals, but is proud of his ribbons and medals none-the-less. He also admits that he is afraid to die and probably would never have done those things anyway. Eventually, even though the three soldiers from Milan stick together, they drift away from the narrator. However, the narrator does stay close to the young soldier who was wounded during his first day in action.

The narrator then explains that the major does not believe in bravery and the stories of the three soldiers from Milan. He does not shy away from the narrator regardless of his medals and ribbons and their history. Instead, the major gives the narrator Italian grammar lessons while they talk during rehabilitation. While the major never misses a day of rehabilitation, it is obvious that he does not believe it will do any good.

During one of the days, the major is particularly agitated, says that the machines are simply nonsense, and scolds the narrator for not learning his grammar. He calls the narrator "a stupid, impossible disgrace." The major asks the narrator what he will do when the war is over. The narrator explains that he wants to return to the United States and to get married. The major says that it is foolish to get married because that is just placing himself in a position to lose. The major then orders an attendant to unhook him from the machine and goes to get a massage. When he returns, he apologizes to the narrator saying that he just lost his wife - she had come down with pneumonia and had only been sick a few days. No one had expected her to die. The major then leaves and does not return for rehabilitation for three days. When he does return, he has a black band around his sleeve. The doctor has placed framed photographs of injuries before and after using the machines on the walls around the room. Those in front of the major's machine are pictures of hands like the major's that have been completely restored. The narrator marvels at how the doctor gets these pictures because they are supposed to be the first people to use them. It does not matter to the major, however, because all he does is look out the window anyway.