In our last lesson before tomorrow's final exam, we discussed how the fate of characters illustrates the naturalist genre. Olivia discussed the metaphorical significance of the narrator's anecdote about allowing ants on a campfire log to perish without regret or thought. We then picked out dialogue in the novel further exhibiting Hemingway's fatalism in the face of life's inexorable external forces. Last, we examined the author's initial manuscripts of the novel which contain numerous alternative endings to the novel. While the author ultimately discarded these alternative endings , they highlight the novel's theme.