Question

In Ernest Hemingway’s “In Another Country,” why does the boy with the black silk handkerchief on his face have no medals?

Answer 1

Answer:

Because he had lost his nose and had a surgery to be performed. He did not stand long enough in line to receive the medal.

Explanation:

"In Another Country" is a short story written by Ernest Hemingway, first published in the collection of short stories "Men without Women" in 1927. The setting of the story is of World War 1, the narrator of the story visits hospital daily afternoon to get treatment of his injured knees.

There are other four soldiers also who have come to get their treatment done at the hospital. Three of them have received medals for their bravery in the war, but the boy whose face is covered with black handkerchief, did not received any medal because he got his nose injured in the battle in an hour of the battle and he did not stand long in the line to receive the medals, because fighting only for an hour does not qualify him to win the medal.

So, the answer is because he did not qualify to receive the medal as he got his nose injured within an hour of the battle.

Answer 2

Answer:

The boy wearing a black silk scarf on his face receives no medal because he did not stay long enough at the front line of the battle to be awarded a medal.

Explanation:

The boy wearing a black silk scarf had to leave the front line because he was injured. He lost his nose during the confrontation and needed to be removed from the front line and so he wears a black silk scarf to hide the deformation. As the boy did not stay in the front line until the end of the battle, he was not awarded a medal.