"The hold over himself relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack and he cried very easily at little things that were of no importance."" This simple yet significant phrase in the resolution period of Ernest Hemingway's short story "A Day's Wait" indicates the theme of fatalistic heroism and miscommunication. Fatalistic heroism or braveness in the face of death as shown by a little boy Schatz throughout the story until he realized that he is in fact fine, resulted from the miscommunication with his father. This essay intends to delve into the details of Schatz's heroism by closely examining his words and actions and to prove how the miscommunication took part in influencing Schatz's transformation from a macho figure to a feeble ordinary boy.

             Machoism of Schatz is constantly depicted through his words and attitude over his day's wait. The tragedy begins when Schatz is determined that he is doomed to die when in reality he is okay. The most striking revelation of Schatz's heroism is the difference between his manner during the day and his demeanor the next day. From the earliest moments of the story, the innocent character Schatz was afraid of his untimely death. The fear strikes him as he comes to know that he has a 102 degrees Fahrenheit fever. His friends from school in France told him that anybody is inescapable of dying when reaching a 44 degrees Celsius. Making a foolish mistake of mixing up the Fahrenheit and Celsius, Schatz draws a conclusion that his life will be over soon. The author writes, "His face was very white and there were dark areas under his eyes. He lay still in bed and seemed very detached from what was going on.he was looking at the foot of the bed very strangely." This points out Schatz's anxiety over his supposed early departure because those are the clear signs that are shown when a person is deeply distressed and concerned.

             But, as the story reaches toward the end, even in the face of what he believes will be a certain death, Schatz gradually begins to remain stoic and manages to hold emotion in all day with strong self-control.