Plot Analysis - Analysis, The Revolutionist | The Revolutionist- Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

Exposition

Have Oilcloth Ticket, Will Travel

The narrator gives us a quick background of the unnamed comrade, explaining that he's escaping some nasty stuff in Budapest and traveling the railroads in Italy with nothing but a square of oilcloth from Communist headquarters to serve as a kind of pass. 

Rising Action

Boy Meets Boy

The narrator meets the comrade in Bologna and they travel together for a time, talking art and revolution. Comrade on Mantegna: No thank you. Comrade on world revolution: Nobody's gonna break our stride. The narrator, however, seems somewhat less hopeful…

Climax

Boy Leaves Boy

The comrade and the narrator part ways—the comrade is really set on seeing the mountains on the way to Switzerland. (And still definitely does not like Mantegna.) This isn't much in the way of a crisis, per say, but it is a kind of turning point since it's the last face-to-face contact the narrator has with the comrade. 

Falling Action

Comrade Jailed in Switzerland

The narrator explains that the last he heard of the comrade, the Swiss were holding him in jail near Sion.

Resolution

No Resolution!

Hemingway basically refuses to wrap things up for us in any kind of traditional resolution. We're left hanging with the information that the comrade is jailed somewhere in Switzerland. Some questions to consider: Why does Hemingway neglect to provide a resolution? And how does the absence of a resolution shape the story? Maybe the point is that there really isn't such a thing as a resolution for the comrade—only a restless journeying.