Ernest Hemingway's In Our Time depicts grace under pressure and definite masculinity threw the men that are strong and resilient to challenges and life and death situations such as bullfighting and war. Man should have these qualities because of the fact that he is on his own, there is no one else, but himself to take care of and get help from. Those who do not obtain grace under pressure and masculinity will become fatigued, weak, and crumble within themselves. Yet, Hemingway seems to believe that one can be too young to achieve grace under pressure and will loose his innocence. Once someone has lost their innocence it is very difficult to accomplish grace under pressure, like Nick; he looses his innocence in "Indian Camp" and struggles through out the novel to succeed grace under pressure. By the end of the novel in "Big Two-hearted River" parts one and two, Nick has not obtained true grace under pressure, nor masculinity, has matured but not to a significant extent, and is living in life of excuses and escapes, so he does not have to deal with the challenges of life. Hemingway strongly believes in grace under pressure. He advocates that either one will be the one to face a certain challenge in life or the mere challenge of life itself with grace and "manliness" or one will break down and be shamed by others and one's self.
In "Big Two- Hearted River: Part II" Nick's battle with taking on the river and the prisoners in the vignette prior to it represents the lost of respect, not getting any sympathy from anyone, and the embarrassment one might receive when not obtaining grace under pressure: "One of the white men sat on his cot with his head in his hands. The other lay fat on his cot with a blanket wrapped around his head" (143). These men are trying to hide from their challenge, they are trying not to deal with it, and they become embarrassed at the fact that they are hiding and denying the challenge.