Webster's Dictionary defines comfort as, 'to give strength, hope to, or to console' (61). People find strength or consolation in different ways. Each person has a unique manner and need for that special thing that comforts them. Baker writes that: 'Hemingway , on several accounts, writes of a man named Nick Adams. Hemingway uses Nick throughout most of his stories. Primarily, he uses this character in about five stories that have been grouped together that critics refer …showed first 75 words of 1291 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1291 total…relationship he has with his father. When he told his father 'I know where black squirrels are' (76), Nick was putting himself in the position of the 'guide' (167). Nick now has become an equal to his Dr. Adams. They both are on the same level. They both have things to teach and show each other. Nick's great want, or better stated, need for consolation is met. Nick's comfort zone is found in what's familiar, his father.