Short Story and People

Short Story The ancient house sat astride the cliff's rugged shoulders. Sections of rendering had fallen away into the tangled vegetation far below, revealing thick stone slabs underneath: toothless gaps, the dark smile of an old bearded gunrunner, and the oblivion of a whisky drunk, Brazilian whore. The house was four stories tall and had almost been reclaimed by the jungle; this ornate Churrigueresque fortress had been smashed and peppered for centuries by tropical elements intent on a gradual stripping away of its baroque stone carvings.

"The Story of an Hour" is about a young lady, named Mrs. Mallard. The story describes of how she is heartbroken, upon hearing of her husband's death. The buddy of Mrs. Mallard's messaged this tragic news. However, Mrs. Mallard's sister was the one who told her. What happens next is a bit unusual. Mrs. Mallard goes to her room and starts to feel something new. It is, actually, a feeling of relief. Now, Mrs Mallard thinks that she has the rest of her life just for herself.

The older waiter is the prime example of Hemingway’s idea of a hero as he does not need to deceive himself into thinking that everything is okay because he has already accepted his situation as it is. This acceptance allows him to face the “nada” of his life without any opium, unlike the younger waiter who is unhappy with his situation and always tries to change it by closing up the café before three o’clock and saying that he’s “not lonely [because he has] a wife waiting in bed for [him]” (“Light”, 289). The younger waiter “[has] everything” but is still not pleased with his life, unlike the older waiter (“Light”, 290). In contrast, the older waiter lacks “everything but work”, yet still finds tranquility in his life and helps other people, like the old man in the café (“Light”, 290). He understands and still accepts his situation, unlike the other characters in Hemingway’s stories, which Ernest Hemingway believes to be admirable and heroic. Because he does not need an opium to live with his situation, Hemingway paints the older waiter as a hero and demeans the use of opiums as

One of the most touching aspects of this short story is the older waiter’s expressed solidarity with the old man. While the young waiter is all “youth” and “confidence,” the old waiter and the old man seem overwhelmingly lonely and tired-out by life. This communality structures the older waiter’s consistent thoughts of solidarity with the old man. He understands and defends him; he too prefers a clean, well-lighted cafe to a bar or bodega; he too seeks out such a place to forestall his own despair that night. The climax of this theme of solidarity is the climax of the story itself. It comes in its final line: ‘‘He disliked bars and bodegas.

Through Hemingway's use of indirect characterization, the reader learns that wisdom is the old waiter's method for disregarding his problems, thus achieving a state of peace. Hemingway chooses to indirectly characterize the old man as wise in order to prove that because of the man's investment in knowledge, he is able to come to a state of peace. In the quest for peace, Hemingway clearly indicates, through the old man's characterization, that the old waiter is indeed the most successful in attaining peace. The old waiter consumes himself in thoughts that revolve around his wisdom, such as truth and understanding, instead of dwelling on his problems. Throughout the story, the old waiter comes across instances in which he utilizes his peace to come to terms with a situation. For example, the old waiter feels sympathy for the intoxicated man at the bar. While some would choose to ignore his hardship, the wise waiter empathizes with him, assisting himself in finding peace in his use of perception. In addition, the old waiter uses his wisdom when the younger waiter begins complaining about his lack of youth and confidence, and the old waiter urges him to continue with his job and get home-advice that he follows himself as well. The old waiter assists the young waiter in finding peace. In addition, at the old waiter's place of work, an old man sits and drinks for hours every night. The naive waiter judges him for this, but the wise old waiter understands

He is not as old as the old man, but can comprehend with the aging process. He is not youthful like the younger waiter. He knows that the old man is lonely. That his wife has died and his niece looks after him. The older waiter understands that even though the old man has plenty of money he is alone in the world. He realizes that it is important to keep a clean, well-lit café open for people like the old man who can not sleep. The older waiter recognizes the difference in his café and that of a dark bar or bodega. He knows that "Light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order." He is "reluctant to close up because there may be someone who needs the café." The reader finds out at the end of the story that the waiter is like the old man in need of light and cleanness, when he goes to a bar after closing and comments that although "The light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished." The waiter blames it on insomnia, but he like the old man is alone. In a way, the company of the old man is good for him just as it is to the old man. He admits to the younger waiter "I am of those who like to stay late at the café,...With all those who need a light for the night." He also, tells the younger waiter that he lacks everything but work. Similar to the old man, he lacks youth and confidence.

dramatic irony is used all along the short story as a way of reminding us the

The older waiter who believes he lacks “everything but work” exemplifies the characteristics of existentialism (Hemingway 107). The old waiter deconstructs the Our Father because he too has lost faith similar to the old man. Hemingway draws a correlation between the old man and the older waiter when the older waiter states, “Nor can you stand before a bar with dignity although that is all that is provided for these hours” (107). The old man left walking with dignity because it was his own decision, similar to the choice of suicide. In both cases, the old man is constructing his own version of reality. The older waiter clings to the café unlike the bar he notices. The older waiter orders “A little cup” that is filled with coffee which indicates an even stronger connection to the café (Hemingway 108). The older waiter believes in nothingness because his life is consistent. The older waiter desires from his life “light” and “a certain cleanness and order” (Hemingway 107). Hemingway utilizes the older waiter to introduce the belief system of

The first paragraph of The Story of an Hour summarizes the main elements of the short story. We can begin to see the story take shape as the author gets straight to the point by stating Mrs. Mallard’s health ailment and the possible danger of unexpected news is highlighted with the words, “…great care must be taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death” (Mays 278). We can start to see the direction that Chopin is headed by this first paragraph and the title of the short story is a nod to the duration and the form of which this story will exist.

Lastly, the younger waiter gets painted as the evildoer, he his impatient and very uncouth in his dealings with an old soul. Hemingway of course does this without stating any of this to the reader, he depends upon one to be of enough intellect to infer all of this from his writing and still follow this story line.

The main setting in this story is the clean and well- lighted café. Everything seems to be quite simple. It is very late and there is still one customer, an old man who earlier tried to commit suicide. He has a lot of money and comes here every night, because he is unhappy and lonely. The young waiter does not understand him, he just wants to close the café and return to his home. For him the old man is a burden. However, the old waiter knows how the customer feels, he identifies with him. Therefore the old waiter prefers café to be open for such people. The main theme is about nothingness and loneliness. Both the old waiter and the customer feel emptiness and despair. They feel overwhelmed by life and world, but the café is the place where they find solace. It is an escape from the brutal reality and from meaningless thoughts. In this story Ernest Hemingway uses ambiguity. It means that some expression or phrase is not clear enough, it has many meanings and possible interpretations. This phenomenon is visible when Hemingway refers to the old customer’s

The different mindset that each waiter had with the actions of the old man, one waiter being young, and the other getting older in age was a very important detail in the story. Telling from the way he says things and his actions waiter number one (the younger one) the reader can tell that waiter number one is confident "No, the waiter who was in a hurry said, rising from pulling down the metal shutters. I have confidence. I am all confidence." (Hemingway). Waiter number two, however,

Short Story Imagine an office building, decrepit, run down and looted, windows broken and entire floors ransacked. The top level was a burnt out shell. Snow was falling heavily here, forming drifts on the ashes. A road, pot holed and worn, skirted around two sides of the derelict. It headed towards a car park where half a dozen burnt out cars sat alone, rusting quietly and gathering snow.

My feet, so reluctant to move moments ago, now wish to race us towards his table, and I have to put all my effort into slowing them down as to not appear too eager. Upon his table is an array of papers and books, and of course, a bottle of whiskey parked next to an empty tumbler. He slides along the sofa, allowing room for me to sit beside him. “Are you sure?” I ask. “You seem pretty busy.”

" No," replied Carol with a sigh, "give him a chance to get used to