More handpicked essays just for you.
A clean, well-lighted literary analysis
Literary analysis of a clean well lighted place
Literary analysis of a clean well lighted place
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The infamous Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, "Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal." For Ernest Hemingway, the characters that he places in his stories are forever searching for peace. Much like in life itself, the achievement of temporary peace throughout the path of a lifetime can be both minute and momentous. The writer uses the literary devices of indirect characterization, setting and symbolism in order to enhance his final classification of peace. In Hemingway's "A Clean Well-Lighted Place," the author uses literary devices to define peace, as the temporary abandonment of one's problems, assisting one to find an avenue to persevere in life. 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... ... middle of paper ... ...ted in the characters in this story, as well. Hemingway defines peace as being a temporary loss of one's problems; alcohol is the outlet that many characters in Hemingway's short stories use to forget about their worries. Although the effects of alcohol are impermanent, it allows them to move on through life looking forward to the next time they can be intoxicated. Earnest Hemingway in "A Clean Well-Lighted Place," uses literary devices throughout his story in order to provide readers with his view on peace as being a temporary feeling that enable characters to carry on through life. He uses indirect characterization to classify the old waiter as being wise, setting to provide the reader with a contrast between the dark outdoors and clean, bright and safe indoors, and symbolism of alcohol as an outlet for the characters to forget about their worries temporarily.
The main focus of A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is on the pain of old age suffered by a man that we meet in a cafe late one night. Hemingway contrasts light and dark to show the difference between this man and the young people around him, and uses his deafness as an image of his separation from the rest of the world.
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...
The World War One novelist Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “There were many words you could not stand to hear and finally only the names of places had dignity. Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene” (Hemingway, ‘A Farewell to Arms’, 1929). Hemingway knew the horrors of war. He was a veteran of World War One. This was a war where 65 million troops were mobilized, and 37 million were killed, wounded, or went missing. War was seen as glorious until these views were brought in. Hemingway became famous for his writing as a member of the ‘Lost Generation’ of American writers. He, along with writers such as Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and T. S. Eliot made up the great American writers of the time. However, they did have their European
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
Earnest Hemingway is one of Americas foremost authors. His many works, their style, themes and parallels to his actual life have been the focus of millions of people as his writing style set him apart from all other authors. Many conclusions and parallels can be derived from Earnest Hemingway's works. In the three stories I review, ?Hills Like White Elephants?, ?Indian Camp? and ?A Clean, Well-lighted Place? we will be covering how Hemingway uses foreigners, the service industry and females as the backbones of these stories. These techniques play such a critical role in the following stories that Hemingway would be unable to move the plot or character development forward without them.
When Nick looks at the burnt town and all the black ash everywhere not a building standing but old burnt down wood. The only thing that still stood was the old Mansion hotel and it was still destroyed. Hemingway used the town to help the reader understand that this is Nick’s new beginning in life. The example that he used is simple (fresh start). Just like nature would have done if it burned a forest down, it would rebuild itself. Hemingway continues to write about Nick being happy with the things he saw. After Nick found his camp site and made a fire he decided to eat. Hemingway explains what Nick had eat and explained what Nick was thinking about when he deicide to make coffee. Back in the war Nick had a friend by the name of Hopkins. Hopkins was a big coffee drinker and Nick was not so when Nick deicide to make coffee it reminded him of an argument that Hopkins and Nick had gotten into about which way coffee is suppose to be made. “He could not remember which way he made coffee. He could remember an...
In Hemingway’s “A Clean Well-Lighted Place”, the old wealthy man keeps ordering drinks. One of the employees of that restaurant mention...
Ernest Hemingway's short story titled "A Clean Well-Lighted place" deals with the loneliness, isolation, and depression felt by many during the modernist period. The story takes place in a well lit café, occupied by two waiters (one old, and one young) and an old deaf man. This story is the perfect example of the modernist form because it questions the meaning of life. Joseph Gabriel, in his essay titled "The Logic of Confusion in Hemingway's "A Clean well Lighted Place", believes that "the dominant visual image of the story is the radical contrast between the minute spot of light represented by the café and the infinite surrounding darkness outside. " (Joseph Gabriel, The Logic of Confusion in: Hemingway's "A Clean well Lighted Place", Pg, 541) One can't help but compare the story to the image of moths attracted to a light bulb....
Ryan, Ken. "THE CONTENTIOUS EMENDATION OF HEMINGWAY'S 'A CLEAN, WELL-LIGHTED PLACE'." The Hemingway Review 18.1 (1998): 78. Academic OneFile. Web. 8 Feb. 2014.
In 1933, Ernest Hemmingway wrote A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. It's a story of two waiters working late one night in a cafe. Their last customer, a lonely old man getting drunk, is their last customer. The younger waiter wishes the customer would leave while the other waiter is indifferent because he isn't in so much of a hurry. I had a definite, differentiated response to this piece of literature because in my occupation I can relate to both cafe workers.
Hemingway’s characters exemplify the effects of combat because World War I had a negative impact on them; the veterans lead meaningless lives filled with masculine uncertainty. Jake and his friends (all veterans) wander aimlessly throughout the entire novel. Their only goal seems to be finding an exciting restaurant or club where they will spend their time. Every night consists of drinking and dancing, which serves as a distraction from their very empty lives. The alcohol helps the characters escape from their memories from the war, but in the end, it just causes more commotion and even evokes anger in the characters. Their years at war not only made their lives unfulfilling but also caused the men to have anxiety about their masculinity, especially the narrator Jake, who “gave more than his life” in the war (Hemingway). Jake feels that the war took away his manhood because he is unable to sleep with Brett as a result of an injury. Although he wants to have a relationship with Brett, and spends most of his time trying to pursue her, she rejects him because he cannot have a physical relationship with her. At several points in the novel, Brett and Jake imagine what their lives could have been like together, had he not been injured during the war. Thus, his physical injury gives him emotional distress because he cannot have a relationship with the woman he always wanted. The traditional American perception of...
From the short story, ‘A clean, well-lighted place’, Hemingway has comprehensively used his theory of omission. The first part where this theory is used is in the definition of the characters present in the story. The old man, who is the first character, is brought out with lots of omissions regarding his details (Hemingway 1). The old man is only described as old and deaf. In addition, it is stated that he enjoyed coming out at night when it was quieter and could drink until the waiters became restless and ordered him out.
Hemingway was very good at stating impressive amount of things in a one short sentence. “Hemingway’s mature style of writing short, declarative sentences developed at the Star”(Oliver 3). He acquired this skill from working at a Newspaper company. He uses minimal amount of words to make a powerful point. “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot tried very hard to have a baby” (1). This short sentence itself raises many questions and it states many things; the inability of the Mr. Elliot to satisfy his wife sexually or questioning Mr. Elliot sexual preference and as well as of Mrs. Elliot. “The liquor had all died out of him and left him alone” (171). This short line describes how lonely the character of Nick Adam feels and how sad he feels for the loss of her girl friend Marjorie. “‘Well, Doc,’ he said, ‘that’s a nice lot of timber you’ve stolen’” (7). This particular sentence has so much weight that it shakes th...
The atmosphere of a well-lighted place may bring comfort to one 's darkness. With living each day, some may just live to pass time and others will live to become a greater something and to achieve. The older waiter in this story fits the characteristics of an existentialist. The older waiter has very little left in his life to look forward to, and the cafe isn 't just a job to him, its something to wake up for. "I am of those who like to stay late at the cafe" (203), "With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night" (203). These quotations from the older waiter show not only the connection he feels with the old man, sharing the same feeling. With a life filled with darkness, both the old man and older waiter, find comfort in the well-lighted cafe. Due to the conversations between both the younger waiter and older, they share vastly different perspectives on everything. The older waiter is very skeptical and does not have enough in life to cherish. Although he did not go to the extreme of trying to end his life, he lives each day dying rather than
As Gillespie (2010) suggests biographical and historical backgrounds largely influence on literary works, which should not be omitted when considering their philosophical outlook. Therefore, the personal life and specific historical period that the two authors experienced might provide hints for their individual perspective on life and existence meaning. In spite of the enthusiasm on war during almost his life, Hemingway suffered from his physical ailments and mental deterioration and solitude (depression and paranoia) in his late years, which was a hangover from his engaged experience in World War I and World War II (Burwell, 1996). Hemingway was one member of the “Lost Generation”, who were victims of the World War I and struggled with moral and psychological aimlessness when searching for the meaning of life, while A Clean, Well-lighted Place was created at that time. In 1961, Hemingway committed a suicide to end his life. On the other hand, the majority of Carver’s life was in a relatively peaceful post-war period. Though Carver was addicted to alcohol and experienced his unhappy first marriage, in 1983 when Cathedral was published, he has started new li...