A Simple Enquiry

"A Simple Enquiry" is a short story written by Ernest Hemingway.[1] It was published in 1927 in the collection Men Without Women.[2][3]

Synopsis

Three Italian soldiers are snowbound. The senior soldier, the Major, calls his 19-year-old orderly into his room and questions him about his personal life, specifically whether the orderly had ever loved a woman. The Major appears to be propositioning the orderly; when his homosexual advances are effectively rebuffed he dismisses the orderly from the room, with the understanding that he will not press the issue, but while still questioning whether the orderly was telling the truth. His adjutant is the ambiguous witness.

Characters
  • The major
  • Tonani, an adjutant
  • Pinin, the major's orderly

References
  1. Meyers, Jeffrey. Ernest Hemingway: The Critical Heritage (Psychology Press, 1997), p. 112.
  2. Nolan, Charles J. (1995-03-22). "Hemingway's Complicated "Enquiry" in 'Men without Women.'". Studies in Short Fiction. 32 (2): 217. ISSN 0039-3789.
  3. Hemingway, Ernest (2014-05-22). Men Without Women. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781476770178.
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