'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place'

Sadness, frustration, or discontent, however it’s put, there is an obvious difference with the characters in, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway, and their ideas of mortality and old age. The short story shows the concept of “nothingness,” displayed through a very depressing view on life. This suggesting that all people, even those who are happy and content, will eventually end up lonely, drunk, or unhappy. By allowing a reader to view this from three diverse perspectives, Hemingway is able to render how someone’s attitude of their own life can go from one extreme to another. Allowing suicide as a final option to surface for some.

The style in which Faulkner writes this story allows the reader’s mind to wonder and put the story together their own

Faulkner's story initiates with the death of his primary focus. The deceased recluse, Emily, who had to that juncture existed only in the lonely recesses of her house and in the prying gossip of the townspeople, is a figure beset upon by a unique

William Faulkner is known as one America's greatest authors. In fact, his short stories, "Barn Burning," and "A Rose for Emily," are two of the best-known stories in American literature. Both are examples of the reflection of contemporary Southern American values in his work. “Barn Burning” and “A Rose for Emily” are two stories both written by William Faulkner. “Barn Burning” has a theme of family loyalty verses loyalty to the law. “A Rose for Emily” has a theme of power by death. Emily is thought of as a monument, but at the same time she is pitied and often irritating, demanding to live life on her own terms. Awkward and eerie, versus exciting and dramatic, though written by the same author, the two stories have very contrasting themes,

William Faulkner incorporates balanced sentence structure throughout his speech to draw connections between the writer and their role within humanity. Faulkner begins his speech by addressing all aspiring writers and linking himself to them. He states that these writers are “already dedicated to the same anguish and travail, among whom is already that one who will someday stand here where I am standing.” Faulkner immediately establishes a hopeful tone regarding the future of writers, writers who, like Faulkner, understand that good writing requires the hard-work of self-sacrifice. Later on, when discussing the work of authors who disregard the universal truths of writing, Faulkner once again employs a balanced sentence. He claims such works are “of defeats in which nobody loses anything of value, of victories without hope and, worst of all, without pity or compassion”. Defeat and victory juxtaposed blurs the lines between the two and emphasizes the lack of meaning found within the works of authors unwilling to share the problems of the human heart. The parallelism of victories without hope, pity, and compassion marks any author’s work lacking these essential elements as destitute. Faulkner closes his speech with a final balanced statement, “The poet’s voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.” Faulkner expounds his central message that our writings must be the

Who knew a high school dropout would become one of the most well-known authors still known today? Even though William Faulkner did not finish school (“William Faulkner – Biographical”), he certainly knew how to capture a reader’s attention and drop them into a new world with just a pen. The style in which he writes is unique. With only three semesters of college, he was forced to create from nearly a blank slate; college had not brainwashed him in to a repetitive nature with writing a certain way. He was forced to think outside the box and this makes him stand out from other writers. The building blocks of his stories can be derived from his life. If a reader had a collection of his literature, it would not be hard for them to take a guess at what his personal life was like. Faulkner lived an interesting life and incorporated its aspects into his short stories, two of which, “A Rose for Emily” and “Dry September,” have similar characters, symbolism, and themes. Critics have explored the meanings behind his work and thus given readers a better insight.

The time moves on for all people. If we cannot come to terms with that, bad things can happen. A short story, "A Rose for Emil," by William Faulkner, was first published on April 30, 1930. William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, on September 25, 1897. He is one of the greatest writers in America and obtained Nobel Prize laureate. As he grew up in New Albany, Mississippi, the Southern society influenced to him.

Faulkner’s speech of 1950 at the Nobel Banquet established a new definition of good writing, one engulfed within the tortures and joys of the human condition. To write only of the lustful and greedy, the gluttons and slothful is in Faulkner’s eyes literary blasphemy, for concentrating only upon the fall of man discredits the countless amounts of admirable traits of man persevering throughout his trials. Rather an author’s duty in Faulkner’s eyes is simple; to project the inner yearnings of man and exemplify through characters ‘the old verities and truths of the heart’, the universal truths in which all men can relate, those of love and pity, and of compassion and sacrifice. Focusing upon the suffering of men, Faulkner states that the writer

"Irony and Isolation: Narrative Distance in Faulkner's a Rose for Emily. " The Faulkner Journal 8.2 (Spring 1993): 3-12. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed.

In Raymond Carver’s A Small, Good Thing, we are presented with several good things worth cherishing in this heartbreaking story of a young couple dealing with the tragic death of their only child. The death of the child resulting from a hit-and-run car accident. Carver explains to the reader how undeniably human it is to take our love ones for granted. In the beginning the selfish actions of the baker contributed to the couple’s anger and confusion. However, by the end of the story they are left with a sense of optimism and strength. The story, A Small, Good Thing, is not so much about death as it is about people being able to relate to others loss and fear. The story begins when Ann Weiss orders a cake for her son’s birthday. She describes the baker as “an older man with a thick neck” (Carver) and states that his attitude made her feel uncomfortable. Additionally, she wonders “if he 'd ever done anything else with his life besides be a baker”(Carver). Ann is genuinely surprised at the bakers bad attitude and does not understand why he isn’t happy about her son’s birthday. Nevertheless, she continues to order the cake and plans to pick it up on Monday. On her way out she notices a large oven and that the radio is playing country music. The author is clearly mindful when it comes to his word choice. The choice of words he uses allows him to convey his point very well. In this scene where the mother is ordering the cake for her son, she does not inform the baker of her

William Faulkner at one point stated that if he were offered a chance to choose between grief and nothing, he would have chosen grief (Volpe 187). He additional clarifies why he would do this through the story “A Rose for Emily”. However, the story is not about Faulkner but a lonely, selfish and poor woman, Emily Greirson. Emily is incapable of coming to terms with the notion of death and as a consequence suffers an immense deal of denunciation (Anderson 89). While the town folk anticipated that she would grieve upon her father’s demise, she is not. However, she goes on to claim that her father is okay and alive. Faulkner’s notion of anguish is lucid in this story as he shows the readers that it is worth acknowledging death than disregarding it through Emily’s life (Claridge 59). Faulkner’s story is set in the South, during the racial discrimination and key political shift epoch.

Ernest Hemingway's short story, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," first published in 1933, is written in his characteristic terse style. It is the story of two waiters having a conversation in a café, just before closing up and going home for the night. They cannot leave because they still have a customer. One is anxious to get home to his wife, while the other sympathizes with the old man sitting at the table. Without realizing it, they are discussing the meaning of life.

A clean well lighted place by Ernest Hemingway has a few themes that stand out clearly but the one theme that stands out to me is despair. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, despair means to lose all hope or confidence. In the story, the older waiter and the old deaf man somehow share a common bond of despair. Both men are of age and like to be out, late at night, alone. Asides from the story alone, the theme of the story can be brought out by the setting. The setting contributes to the story’s theme in different ways. The setting contributes to the mood of the story, to the structure of the story, and to the lesson of the story. The café represents salvation for despair which is shown through the setting of the

This story was written by Hemingway in 1933. It details an evening's interaction between two waiters, and their differing perspectives of life. Hemingway uses an old man as a patron to demonstrate the waiter's philosophies. Hemingway is also visible in the story as the old man, someone who society says should be content, but has a significant empty feeling inside. What follows is a line-by-line analysis, putting emphasis on the philosophies of the waiters.

In the story “A Clean, Well- Lighted Place” by Earnest Hemingway begins with the main character and his co-worker in a café. The two are analyzing, and discussing a deaf, drunk Oldman, who is their last customer of the day. As the deaf old man insists on having more whiskey, the main character informs the young waiter as to why and how the old man tried to commit suicide. They began to converse about the Oldman’s depressed life. The younger waiter is in a rush to go home to his wife, while the older waiter is patient and he stands up for the Oldman, being able to relate to him. Hemingway’s sentence structure and writing style represents the comparison and contrast between setting, people, and objects, along with emphasizing how it is to have and be nothing.