Nick and Binx

The main similarity between Nick Adams, Ernest Hemingway's character, and Binx, the main character in the novel The Moviegoer, is their lack of social proficiency, and the measures they take to compensate. Each character uses external pursuits to cover their inner turmoil and a sense of social inadequacy. Binx uses the movies he attends, the secretaries that he has affairs with, and his concern for Kate to mask his sense that his life is meaningless; later, he uses “the search” to attempt to gain a sense of fulfillment. Nick uses his communion with nature to mask his lack of social proficiency, and later to block out the memories of the war that he participated in. Both characters are constantly running from their problems, and attempting to obtain their own versions of the “perfect” life, which in the end is hopelessly idealized and unobtainable. Each strives to belong, even though they are unsure what it is exactly that they want to belong to, or how to ensure their acceptance.