Chapter 11

On page 110-111

Bill raised the wine-skin and let the stream of wine spurt out and into his mouth, his head tipped back. When he stopped drinking and tipped the leather bottle down a few drops ran down his chin.
       “No! No!” several Basques said. “Not like that.” One snatched the bottle away from the owner, who was himself about to give a demonstration. He was a young fellow and held the win-bottle at full arms’ length and raised it high up, squeezing the leather bag with his hand so the stream of wine hissed into his mouth. He held the bag out there, the wine making a flat, hard trajectory into his mouth, and he kept on swallowing smoothly and regularly (111)

I chose this passage because it conveys some hope for the lost generation through the Basque’s skillful drinking from the wine skin. This passage shows how the Basques are able to drink properly from their own wine skins. Unlike the bottles that bill offer the men on the bus the Basques have their own unique and skillful way of drinking. There is heroic, passionate, and triumphant diction of the young man lifting the wine bottle high above his head to drink and he doesn’t spill it all over himself like Jake did previously.  There are some masculine connotations associated with the ability to skillfully control the wineskin. The Basques are also people that are part of two countries but don’t have a particular connection or nationalism to either France or Spain, their disconnected but still remain similar to the lost generation. But the skillful way they drink from their wineskins show that they have redefined their masculinity and identity. This passage is an example that even disconnected lost people can redefine them it provides a little hope for the characters in the book.