Postmodernism In Hemingway's A Clean Well-Lighted Place

965 Words2 Pages

Hemingway’s story is postmodernism because of his minimalist writing, with only a few adverbs or adjectives, reporting dialogue cleanly and directly. Hemingway only includes the essential information in his story, omitting much of the background information. Therefore, his story is visible on the page, while the rest is left unsaid. The most descriptive line Hemingway gave the reader is the opening of the story, which, in fact, barely tells us any detail at all "It was late and every one had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light". We don't see the café, nor do we know where it is or anything else about it – however, Hemingway manages to sketch out just enough of the scene …show more content…

In it, fact meets fiction, revisiting history, revising previous texts, and resistance to traditional writing in the text. This is shown when religion is being acknowledged and repurposed for the story. In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” Hemingway suggests that life has no meaning and that man is an insignificant speck in a great sea of nothingness. The older waiter makes this idea as clear as he can when he says, “It was all a nothing and man was a nothing too.” Rather than pray with the actual words, “Our Father who art in heaven,” the older waiter says, “Our nada who art in nada”—effectively wiping out both God and the idea of heaven in one breath. Not everyone is aware of the nothingness, however. For example, the younger waiter hurtles through his life hastily and happily, unaware of any reason why he should lament. For the old man, the older waiter, and the other people who need late-night cafés, however, the idea of nothingness is overwhelming and leads to despair. The young waiter reveals that there is absolutely no reason to commit suicide if one has money — which he's heard the old man has. For the young waiter, money solves all problems. For an old, rich man to try to commit suicide over the despair of confronting nothingness is beyond the young waiter's understanding. However, nothingness is the reason that the old man comes to the cafe every night and drinks until he is

Open Document