An Analysis of the Presence of Alcohol in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Stories Alcohol and Desperation: An Analysis of the Presence of Alcohol in Ernest Hemingway’s Short Stories Throughout the short stories of Ernest Hemingway, alcohol inevitably lends its company to situations in which desperation already resides. In an examination of his earlier works, such as In Our Time, a comparison to later collections reveals the constant presence of alcohol where hopelessness prevails. The nature of the hopelessness, the desperation, changes from his earlier works to his later pieces, but its source remains the same: potential, or promise of t