Dmitri Shostakovich once said, “When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something.” Shostakovich is correct in his quotation about despair because people typically do not pine on something without reason. In Hemingway’s short story, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” two men are portrayed as being in despair. These two older gentlemen have reasons for their grief though. Hemingway specifically displays the theme of despair through the two men because of specific events that have happened in both of their lives; as a result, the story is able to evoke emotions and questions from the reader. He is able to show this through his character’s dialogue, the story’s setting, and also through each of the characters point of views. To begin with, Hemingway communicates his central theme of despair through the character’s dialogue. One of the first examples where despair is communicated is spoken by the older waiter in the café. The waiter states, “You should have killed yourself last week,” (143). This shows that the deaf man is in a constant state of desperation. This statement evokes an emotion with the reader in the fact that the man feels this way. There the feeling that no one should have to feel so desperate that they want to kill themselves. Another statement that proves that the deaf man is very solemn is that he is always alone. The young waiter states, “He’s lonely. I’m not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me” (144). This clearly displays that the deaf man’s solitude has also left him in a state of despair. This excerpt is significant because it signifies that the deaf man has nobody. He has lost everyone; consequently, tragedies such as these leave people feeling saddened and alone. Furthermore, the desp... ... middle of paper ... ...new too well” (146). The older waiter is so far into his routine that he has nothing; nothing to live for except the same thing every day. Each of these views suggest that both of these men live for nothing. The despair that surrounds them is simply that these two men are seemingly stuck. They live each day in the same manor and ultimately feel despair. The central theme surrounding despair is clearly shown through the use of dialogue, images, and multiple viewpoints. Through the information that has been gathered the reader can conclude that both of these men are so deep into their own grief that they live each day for nothing. Despair is revealed though living every day the same and not experiencing new things like the deaf man and the older waiter. Instead of sinking so low into regret, sorrow, and routine, experience the world and the hope that it offers.
In Hemingway's short story there are three characters, two waiters and their customer. Of these three, two are older men who are experiencing extreme loneliness. The customer sits alone drinking his glasses of brandy slowly, and very carefully, peacefully becoming drunk. While he is meticulously drinking his alcohol, the two waiters talk about him. They discuss his suicide attempt of the week past. The younger waiter doesn't seem to understand why a man with money would try to end his life. Although the older waiter seems to have an insight into the customer's reason, he doesn't share this with the younger one. He seems to know why this deaf old man is so depressed, and sits there alone and silent. When the younger waiter rushes the customer, the older waiter objects. He knows what it is like to go home to emptiness at night, while the younger man goes home to his wife. The older waiter remarks on the differences between him and his younger companion when he says, "I have never had confidence and I am not young.&qu...
Ernest Hemingway, viewed as an American hero of his time, wrote novels that enrich the minds' of his readers, creating a lasting image that goes far beyond the actual content of the story. But while reading Hemingway, I learned that his style was far from complex. Through pre-meditated sentence structure, he creates a rhythm that parallels the action in the story. He wants the sentences themselves to be easy to understand, so the reader can use more energy focusing on the symbolism Hemingway's stories create. He skillfully places symbols and metaphors throughout his novels. In his own writing, Hemingway doesn't explain in detail his metaphors. Rather, he forces the reader to discover the deeper meaning hidden in his stories. His use of the "Tip of the Iceberg Theory" leaves the reader searching deeper into Hemingway's writing to find its true meaning. [VGC1]
The major overlying theme of the short story is nothingness and Hemingway’s use of existentialism. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place emphasizes the idea of nothing and the meaningless of life through its characters (Stock). The deaf old man is struggling with aging. He has attempted suicide and drinks often. The young waiter said that the old man had attempted suicide because of “nothing” (Hemingway). Nothing is exactly what the old man has. The old man’s life at this point is meaningless. He has lost his wife and now is looked after by his niece who saved his life by cutting down the rope when he tried to hang himself (Hemingway). Hemingway uses the younger waiter to disp...
With different historical and personal experiences, Hemingway holds the view that all the people end up in this existential angst and incertainty about the existence or meaning of life, while Carver illustrates the establishment and transformation of self-awareness with connection to the world in promoting the significance of life and human existence.
The story starts with the description of the hills across the valley and the surrounding nature, and continued with an endless conversation between an American man and a woman. Throughout the story, Hemingway portrayal the man according to his rigid conception of masculinity, being experienced, knowledgeable and always in control of himself when facing difficult situations. At the beginning he intentionally avoids discussion of their problem, but when the men starts to pressure him, he tackle them by simplifying the operation pushing her to have it. Thinking himself to be the more reasonable of the two, he supports the girl by failing to provide the sympathy and understanding she needs during the crisis. Uncompromising, he seems to identify more with the other passengers “waiting reasonably” at the station than with his own girlfriend at the end of the story, which suggests that the two will go their separate ways. While, on the other hand, the woman is being pictured, in Hemingway’s story, as less assertive and persuasive, compared to the American who has overly masculine character. Throughout the story, the girl appears confused, helpless, and indecisive, even though she was very defens...
Ernest Hemingway is known as one of the best writers of our time. He has a unique writing style in which he manipulates the English language to use the minimum amount of words and maximize the impression on the reader. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is a prime example of this. Here, Ernest Hemingway uses his writing style to reinforce the theme of “Nada”. The setting is simple, the characters are plain, and the dialogues among them are short and to the point. It is with the absence of similes and metaphors that the reader is able to appreciate the work for what it is.
Hemingway has created a situation where she is forced to depend on him because she is a young, immature, girl in an adult situation. It is when the American tells jig that “we will be fine afterward. Just like we were before, it is the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” that she realizes nothing will ever be the same no matter what he says. During one discussion she says “we could have everything” the man agrees, then she says “no we can’t it isn’t ours anymore and once they take it away, you can never get it back.” He says “But they haven’t taken it away” and her response is “we’ll wait and see.” The American doesn’t realize that at this point she has discovered that if he cannot love her and be happy while she is pregnant how he will ever truly love her as much as she loves him. According to Robert Barron many critics believe that the couple’s relationship has a bleak and ultimately poor ending (Barron). The older waiter in “A clean, Well-Lighted Place” is dealing with a similar situation when a wealthy old man who is a regular at the café he works at comes in after a failed suicide
When a writer picks up their pen and paper, begins one of the most personal and cathartic experiences in their lives, and forms this creation, this seemingly incoherent sets of words and phrases that, read without any critical thinking, any form of analysis or reflexion, can be easily misconstrued as worthless or empty. When one reads an author’s work, in any shape or form, what floats off of the ink of the paper and implants itself in our minds is the author’s personality, their style. Reading any of the greats, many would be able to spot the minute details that separates each author from another; whether it be their use of dialogue, their complex descriptions, their syntax, or their tone. When reading an excerpt of Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast one could easily dissect the work, pick apart each significant moment from Hemingway’s life and analyze it in order to form their own idea of the author’s voice, of his identity. Ernest Hemingway’s writing immediately comes across as rather familiar in one sense. His vocabulary is not all that complicated, his layout is rather straightforward, and it is presented in a simplistic form. While he may meander into seemingly unnecessary detail, his work can be easily read. It is when one looks deeper into the work, examines the techniques Hemingway uses to create this comfortable aura surrounding his body of work, that one begins to lift much more complex thoughts and ideas. Hemingway’s tone is stark, unsympathetic, his details are precise and explored in depth, and he organizes his thoughts with clarity and focus. All of this is presented in A Moveable Feast with expertise every writer dreams to achieve. While Hemingway’s style may seem simplistic on the surface, what lies below is a layered...
“ A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway is a simplistic short story in which he narrates a scene in a Cafe, where the main characters are two waiters and an old man. In the story, Hemingway hardly created a background for his characters, but this was part of his minimalist writing style. He wanted to create a story that was straightforward to the reader, and in which the reader could easily understand his attitude. His purpose for writing the story was to expose his feelings on society, politics, and the individual at the time. These feelings could be characterized by three main words: desperation, disillusionment, and loneliness. Through all of the characters in his story, the reader was able to obtain one of these feelings. However, when I read the story I wanted to know more about the characters to be able to establish a connection with them. I wanted to know how and why did each of them acquired those feelings? Therefore, I decided to change the point of view of the story from third- person- limited to first- person. Unlike Hemingway, I included more personal details about one of the main characters, in this case the old man, whom I consider to be the most mysterious character of the three. This way, I could make the reader relate more to the emotions conveyed by the story. Consequently, by showing the reader the old man's background, I made Hemingway's attitude of his original story stronger, and also establish a connection between the reader and the character(s). However, I also had to modify some of the plot, and language to make my scene coherent and relevant to my point of view.
Hemingway's novel by harnessing the listener and reader to understand that a man can be
To begin, Hemingway indirectly characterizes the old waiter as wise in order to demonstrate how he utilizes this quality to facilitate the abandonment of his problems. At the bar, when analyzing the old drunk man, the old waiter immediately recognizes the root of the drunkard's problems. He feels sympathy for the man, pointing out that he is in despair and that he might be happier if he was married (Hemingway 2-3). The old waiter also uses his wisdom when he offers the young waiter advice. The old waiter suggests that the young waiter forget about his lack of confidence and youth and move on with his priorities (Hemingway 4). The old waiter demonstrates his wisdom once more on his journey home after working at his clean cafe. He notices that the bar where he has sat down for a small drink is very bright, but dirty. He then contemplates laying in bed and getting a restful sleep during the daytime. The story reads, "He disliked bars and bodegas. A clean, well-lighted café was a very different thing. Now, without thinking furth...
...be able to understand that the idea that “nothing” leads to “despair” because he isn’t lonely and old he is young and has a wife. Hemingway also seems to focus on the feeling of nothingness, not nothingness itself. The Old man found refuge in the clean well-lighted cafe, as an escape from his thoughts and knowledge that there is nothing more than human life, and the thoughts of there being no God and no Heaven. Unlike the Older waiter who found himself late at night, in the dirty uncleaned bar without the dignity that the Old man had. He depicts the idea that he will not be able to sleep to his audience by stating he has insomnia however, in reality we know that it is because he is afraid of nothingness, of darkness and of being alone, unlike the Old man who found refuge from these feelings in the …”shadow of the leaves of the tree made against the electric light.”
Although Hemingway gives an existential picture of his characters, their ideals clash with the hopelessness of their surroundings. This paradox is present in all of Hemingway’s works, yet the contradiction only strengthens the intent of the application. Viewing A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls, readers see the heroes create their own inner meaning in the face of a meaningless universe. How is this paradox ultimately solved in Hemingway’s works? In light of the topic, readers solve this problem with the philosophy of Albert
First of all, at the beginning of the story, the old man is sitting in the shadows at a table outside. The tables were all empty except for his. Additionally, according to Hemingway, the old man was deaf but he could tell that it was quiet (Hemingway 151). Because he
At first glance “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway is an unemotional, unfinished and simplistic narration of two waiters and an old man. However, when readers dig a little deeper for insight, they can truly see how meaningful this story actually is as Hemingway captures the source and essence of nihilistic thought, in a time of moral and religious confusion after the World War I. The post World War thinking of Hemingway and the Lost Generation in Paris was expressed and represented through his ideas, which were influenced by the ordeals of war. Due to Hemingway’s disturbing and unsettling experiences while serving in the military, he portrays the idea that all humans await an inevitable fate of eternal nothingness and everything that we value is worthless. He states that all humans will die alone and will be “in despair” about “nothing” (Hemingway 494), also that people will look for a “calm and pleasant café” (Hemingway 496) to escape from his misery. Hemingway goes on to say “[Life is] all a nothing, and a man [is] nothing too” (Hemingway, 496), undoubtedly abolishing any existence of a higher being. After observing the actions of individuals in the past three decades, Hemingway attempts to elaborate in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” that life is about gradual despair and not continual enlightenment and that we all will eventually fade into “nada” (Hemingway 497).