A Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway - 1024 Words

When profound emotions and heartfelt experiences lay beneath a narrative subtext, a simple short story can become an elaborate puzzle where one continues to discover new pieces. Ernest Hemingway’s, â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† is a fascinating short story that has a powerful theme of ‘nothingness’ and ‘loneliness’ enveloped beneath its dialogue. This short story’s re-readability pulls us, the reader, back into its’ text just to discover that a specific character’s dialogue could elude to yet another much darker theme. Hemingway’s writing is minimalistic, consisting of numerous underlying subtext the reader needs to interpret for themselves; however, the writing style contrived throughout the short story grasps the readers every thought†¦show more content†¦Naming the short story â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† is the perfect description for what the cafà © represents. The cafà © is a sanct uary, therefore a little place to escape from the nothingness laying within some of the characters. A bar couldn’t compare to the beautiful, bright, clean, and calming effects the cafà © has, consequently there is where the gentlemen and the older waiter wasn’t subjected to feel alone. They did not force themselves to be uncomfortable in a loud dark bar, and to the older waiter, drinking at the cafà © was still somewhat dignified (Hemingway). The elderly man has a place to drink, forget about his worries even for a minute moment in the night. Suicide, an action only attempted by those who have nothing left to live for. The word ‘nothing’, or ‘nada’, appears numerous times within the short story. The first time ‘nothing’ was said, the waiters are discussing the man’s attempt on suicide (Hemingway). On an individual’s first time reading the short story they may not acknowledge how significant the word ‘nothing’ is, as the young waiter’s harsh response to his despair; for how can the old man be in despair when He has plenty of money (Hemingway). However, looking deeper into the contexts, the word nothing can be foreshowing giving the reader a glimpse into the role nothingness, loneliness, and ‘lack of’ has throughout the short story. We the readers can tell there is something emotional and deep missing fromShow MoreRelatedA Clean Well-Lighted Place, by Ernest Hemingway990 Words   |  4 Pages Ernest Hemingway’s short story, A Clean Well Lighted Place, created literary controversy when it was initially published in 1933. During this time, there were several literary critics concerned with the dialogue inconsistencies. In the original story, the reader would not be able to distinguish between the two waiters. Hemingway failure to identify the characters by name leaves the story flawed according to the literary critics. Hemingway does not go into the mind of any characters butRead MoreA Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway1640 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† is possibly one of Hemingway’s most excellent short stories. It depicts the techniques of his signature writing style. The narrative is a perfect example of an initiation story, a short story that focuses on the key character that comes across a concept, encounter, practice or knowledge he never knew. The characters in his story are the old man, young waiter, and the old waiter. Hemingway employs a number of literary tools in the story to convey his themes of lifeRead MoreA Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway1034 Words   |  5 PagesErnest Hemingway developed his own style of writing and follows it in â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place†. Hemingway’s elegance in writing is such that he indirectly gives all of the information to the reader without making any judgment; thus allowing one to create an opinion about every minute detail of the story. Hemingway illustrates his foundations of writing in â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† by providing small clues that provide an indirect view of the larger meaning. Hemingway illustrates one ofRead MoreA Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway1950 Words   |  8 Pageseverything humanity values in life is utterly meaningless. The author Ernest Hemingway is one of the few people who understands this concept of a pointless life. In his short story, â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,† Hemingway reveals the principle of existentialism, that life is inherently meaningless and people must attempt to give their own lives purpose, through an analysis of the inner workings of life as a human. Hemingway first reveals life’s meaningless nature through a description of the coreRead MoreA Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway1628 Words   |  7 PagesIn Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† the use of plot, symbolism, characters, and theme creates an intricate and complex story line. The elements of plot keep the readers engaged by guiding the reader though the story. Hemingway emphasizes on despair, loneliness, and isolation as major themes in his short story to help the reader understand the main idea. The themes represent the challenge of finding meaning in life. He also challenges the reader’s understanding of compassion thoughRead MoreA Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway1854 Words   |  8 PagesErnest Hemingway is a noble prize winner that is noticed as one of the great American twentieth century writers, and is known for works like â€Å"The Sun Also Rises† and â€Å"For Whom the Bell Tolls†. When first reading Ernest Hemingway’s short story â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† it seemed to be a plain, emotionless, and almost not finished short story. Although, as the reader looks deeper into the short story, they realize it’s not just about a clean, quiet, well lighted cafà © that has two employees thatRead MoreA Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway972 Words   |  4 Pagesin a Clean, Well-Lighted Place Despair is an emotion that can rob one’s joy, inner peace, and eventually, life. The desire for serenity is usually sought after by a person whose life is futile and is at his or her wit’s end. That individual is usually left with no other alternative but to come to the realization that if he or she fails at his or her attempts (such as suicide) to alleviate despair, then the opportunity of finding peace and comfort is an alternative worth pursuing. In Ernest Hemingway’sRead MoreA Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway849 Words   |  4 Pagesin life, and try to make rational existing in an irrational universe. The fact that humans are conscious of their mortality, and must make decisions about their life is basically what existentialism is all about. In the story â€Å"A clean, Well-lighted place† by Ernest Hemingway was about two waiters waiting to close up the restaurant/cafà © for the night. They only had one customer left, an old man who wa s deaf and drunk. But he wasn’t causing any trouble, just keeping to himself. The two waiters apparentlyRead More Nothingness in A Clean Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway1369 Words   |  6 PagesNothingness in A Clean Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway Man is often plagued by the question of his own existence. Existentialism is a subjective philosophy that is centered upon the examination of man’s existence, emphasizing the liberation, responsibility, and usually the solitude of the individual. It focuses on individuals finding a reason for living within themselves. The philosophy forces man to make choices for himself, on the premise that nothing is preordained, there is no fateRead MoreA Clean, Well-Lighted Place, by Ernest Hemingway Essay examples1296 Words   |  6 Pagesmeans 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 Hemingways A Clean Well-Lighted Place, the author uses literary devices to define