Ralph Cheever Dunning’s Crisis

A Moveable Feast

This flow follows Ralph Cheever Dunning’s opium dependence and Hemingway’s unsuccessful attempt to carry out Ezra Pound’s request.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Poet in Decline A Poet in Decline from "A Moveable Feast". A Poet in Decline Hunger and Opium Ralph Cheever Dunning smokes opium and neglects food until he becomes skeletal.

A Poet in Decline from "A Moveable Feast". A Poet in Decline Hunger and Opium Ralph Cheever Dunning smokes opium and neglects food until he becomes skeletal.

A Poet in Decline Hunger and Opium Ralph Cheever Dunning smokes opium and neglects food until he becomes skeletal. Ezra Pound worries that the poet is dying and calls Ernest Hemingway to help. Concern and Doubt Hemingway doubts that Dunning’s poetic speech means death is imminent, but he recognizes the danger of malnutrition. The scene joins literary admiration to an urgent physical crisis.

The Clinic Decision The Clinic Decision from "A Moveable Feast". The Clinic Decision Medical Intervention After a night in which Dunning seems close to death, a physician becomes involved and he is taken to a private clinic…

The Clinic Decision from "A Moveable Feast". The Clinic Decision Medical Intervention After a night in which Dunning seems close to death, a physician becomes involved and he is taken to a private clinic…

The Clinic Decision Medical Intervention After a night in which Dunning seems close to death, a physician becomes involved and he is taken to a private clinic to be disintoxicated. Ezra Pound guarantees the expenses and seeks help from poetry supporters. A Remaining Obligation Pound leaves Hemingway with the jar of opium for a genuine emergency. The decision places Hemingway between a friend’s request and uncertainty about what help should mean.

The Roof Emergency The Roof Emergency from "A Moveable Feast". The Roof Emergency A Cry from the Concierge A concierge tells Ernest Hemingway that Ralph Cheever Dunning has climbed onto a roof and refuses to come down.

The Roof Emergency from "A Moveable Feast". The Roof Emergency A Cry from the Concierge A concierge tells Ernest Hemingway that Ralph Cheever Dunning has climbed onto a roof and refuses to come down.

The Roof Emergency A Cry from the Concierge A concierge tells Ernest Hemingway that Ralph Cheever Dunning has climbed onto a roof and refuses to come down. Hemingway decides that this situation meets the threshold of the emergency Ezra Pound described. A Serious Errand He carries the jar to Dunning’s studio, believing he has arrived with the thing the poet may need. The mission is undertaken in good faith, though its logic is uncertain.

The Jar Rejected The Jar Rejected from "A Moveable Feast". The Jar Rejected An Unexpected Response Ralph Cheever Dunning throws the jar back at Ernest Hemingway, then hurls milk bottles as Hemingway retreats.

The Jar Rejected from "A Moveable Feast". The Jar Rejected An Unexpected Response Ralph Cheever Dunning throws the jar back at Ernest Hemingway, then hurls milk bottles as Hemingway retreats.

The Jar Rejected An Unexpected Response Ralph Cheever Dunning throws the jar back at Ernest Hemingway, then hurls milk bottles as Hemingway retreats. The intended gift is treated as an insult or threat. Failed Help Hemingway recovers the cracked jar and leaves without resolving the crisis. The encounter shows that generosity cannot ensure that help will be wanted or understood.

A Mystery Left Open A Mystery Left Open from "A Moveable Feast". A Mystery Left Open An Unexplained Absence Years later, the opium jar is gone from an old riding boot.

A Mystery Left Open from "A Moveable Feast". A Mystery Left Open An Unexplained Absence Years later, the opium jar is gone from an old riding boot.

A Mystery Left Open An Unexplained Absence Years later, the opium jar is gone from an old riding boot. Hemingway does not know what happened to it or why Dunning rejected it so violently. Respect for Uncertainty Evan Shipman argues for keeping the event mysterious. Hemingway accepts that the poet’s motives and the jar’s final path remain unresolved.

during Dunning’s early crisis in the courtyard

after Hemingway spends a night with Dunning

one Sunday morning before Pound leaves Paris

immediately after Hemingway reaches Dunning’s room

years later while Hemingway clears his belongings