Short Fiction · Chapter
The Revolutionist explained
In 1919, a young Hungarian revolutionary travels through Italy using a party-issued oilcloth instead of a ticket.
What happens
In 1919, a young Hungarian revolutionary travels through Italy using a party-issued oilcloth instead of a ticket. He is shy, impoverished, and delighted by the country, its people, and its art. He is accompanied briefly by the narrator in the Romagna, discusses the world revolution, and expresses hope that Italy will be its starting point. He leaves for Switzerland via the Aosta pass, but is later reported jailed near Sion.
Themes in this chapter
Post-War Trauma and Alienation
The young revolutionary has suffered under Horthy's regime, yet remains idealistic about world revolution, embodying the dislocation and hope of the post-war period.
The Search for Authenticity
The protagonist's genuine love for Italy, its people, and its art contrasts with the political disillusionment expressed by the narrator, highlighting a search for meaning beyond ideology.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The narrator meets and travels with the young Magyar revolutionary in Italy, providing guidance and companionship.
Key passages
“He was very shy and quite young and the train men passed him on from one crew to another. He had no money, and they fed him behind the counter in railway eating houses.”
The young man's shyness and youth prompted train crews to help him travel without a ticket, and railway staff fed him discreetly.
Illustrates the kindness of strangers and the precariousness of the revolutionary's journey.
“In spite of Hungary, he believed altogether in the world revolution.”
Despite his traumatic experiences in Hungary, he remained fully committed to the cause of global revolution.
Highlights his unwavering idealism in the face of personal suffering.
“The last I heard of him the Swiss had him in jail near Sion.”
The narrator's final knowledge of the young man is that he was imprisoned by Swiss authorities near Sion.
Ends the story on a note of unresolved fate, typical of Hemingway's understated style.