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A clean, well-lighted literary analysis
Literary analysis of a clean well lighted place
Literary analysis of a clean well lighted place
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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.
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...
In life we have to make compromises but that doesn’t mean that we have to compromise our thoughts, beliefs, or aspirations to please another. I think that’s what Hemingway was trying to get through. He wrote a piece that was very subtle but packed a lot of meaning and touches on what people really go through in life. When you sit here and dissect the story your imagination takes over and really makes you take your personal experiences and tie them into the story. Your personal experiences can ultimately leave you with a story you can understand thoroughly and understand the emotions coming off of the characters.
In Hemingway’s “A Clean Well-Lighted Place”, the old wealthy man keeps ordering drinks. One of the employees of that restaurant mention...
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...
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...
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
...phants" one can conclude that Hemingway feels as if he is better than women, seeing that he is a male. The female character in this story, Jig, has repeatedly said that she does not care what happens to her, all she wants is for the American to remain by her side. Hemingway has indirectly stated that women are supposed to obey men because men are superior. In "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" Hemingway shortly brought up the elderly man's wife in the waiters' conversation. While it was not stated, the wife has been accused for the man's suffering. The reader can conclude that Hemingway is indeed a sexist and feels superior to females. His experiences with women have not been the best, so he expresses his hatred towards them in his writing.
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.
... from one friend to another. The quality, the control Hemingway had in weaving his theme through his story is the work of a true master. Philosophy is never an easy subject to tackle, with it’s complex theoretical basis, it’s seeming unending list of unanswered questions, and the frustration and sadness it can bring forward. Applauding Hemingway for his attempt at divulging into his own philosophy would be an understatement and, for the most part, would mean little to the author. He comes across as this mythical figure, who’s intellect was far superior to most, but who’s own faults brought him back down to humanity, revealing that he is far more similar to most humans, a thought that, almost certainly, would have terrified him to no end.
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
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...
He first mentions alcohol when the narrator confesses that the disease that torments him is alcohol (2). At this point, it is clear that the cause of the narrator’s change in temper is because of the alcohol when, “[o]ne night, returning home, much intoxicated, from one of my haunts about town, [he] fancied that the cat avoided [his] presence. [he] seized him” (2). The thoughts of harm were alway in the narrator’s mind, but after intoxication, he “knew [him]self no longer” (2). Especially as the narrator’s mental state deteriorates, his interactions towards his wife and cat show the strain of suppressing his instincts. Including alcohol as a mental impairment in this story does not relate to the alcohol itself, but supplies a symbol of vulnerability in humans that can open up dark parts of a person’s soul. Poe suggests that alcohol plays a role in the narrator’s routine consistently throughout the story, and it leads to the rash decisions he later
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 Hemingway hero must first accept many things, the first of which is a disbelief in God, faith was a cheap way of falsely instilling order upon existence. This is why the priest falls short of everything and the reason behind his constant teasing, he held no true power. Because there is no God, there are no universal moral codes, no abstract values such as "justice" or "glory," and certainly no need for moral conventions. The hero rejects these, but imposes order upon his life through personal values-integrity, dignity, and courage.
We are taken through a journey as we learn of an Old man who sits at a cafe alone at night. The Old man is deaf, and had recently tried to commit suicide although he is a pleasant customer; the two waiters must watch him to ensure that he doesn't get too drunk, because he will leave without paying. As the two waiters in the cafe play close attention to the Old man the Younger waiter is clearly upset because the Old man will most likely be staying all night, and he is anxious to go home and see his wife. The Younger waiter wonders why it is that the Old man tried to kill himself and says to the deaf Old man that he should have killed himself last week, but the Old man simply asks for more brandy. After going back to the table where the two waiters had been sitting together, he asks the Older waiter why the Old man tried to kill himself. However, the Older waiter was not certain and replied by stating that it was because of despair and that he tried to hang himself and was found and cut down by his niece.