Although both Ernest Hemingway and Jean Toomer use nature imagery to great advantage in their short stories “Big Two-Hearted River” and “Blood-Burning Moon”, the manner in which the imagery impacts the story is decidedly different. Hemingway paints a picture of nature and man as one symbiotic entity, showing, in his character Nick, a feeling of peace and of comradeship with the natural surroundings. Toomer uses nature as an omen, a boding message to the characters in the story, forewarning of evil and disaster. Both authors use nature images to paint their narrative pictures; both authors, however, paint very different pictures.