"A Natural History of the Dead" is a short story by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

. The story first appeared in Hemingway's 1932 novel ''

Death in the Afternoon ''Death in the Afternoon'' is a non-fiction book written by Ernest Hemingway about the ceremony and traditions of Spanish bullfighting, published in 1932. The book provides a look at the history and the Spanish traditions of bullfighting. It al ...

'' as the conclusion of Chapter 12. It was later included in the 1933 short story collection '' Winner Take Nothing''. The short story is influenced by Hemingway's time spent on the Italian Front during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as an ambulance driver with the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

Plot summary

The story parodies natural history by recounting events of WWI, specifically those involving death, the way a naturalist would examine nature. Naturalist Mungo Park is often referred to in that context. The story details the appearance of corpses on the battlefield, and includes several anecdotes regarding specific events and deaths. The final scene of the story involves a gravely injured man who is put among the dead while still alive, and the reactions of the men at the dressing post.

References

1932 short stories Short stories by Ernest Hemingway Italy in fiction {{1930s-story-stub