The Writing Of A Clean Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway

In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” the narrator describes the importance of the cafe compared to all the other places that are open to convey the idea of loneliness and despair. Through the use of imagery, symbolism, point of view and, allegory Ernest Hemingway establishes a connection between the older waiter and the deaf guy, as he illustrates the significance the well-lit cafe brings to their lonely night. As the waiters discuss their thoughts on being open so late, the older waiter claims to be one of those who enjoy the aura of the cafe being open so late compared to other places. “With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night.“ The role the cafe plays to diminish loneliness and despair does not go unrecognized by the older waiter and deaf guy who find their escape in that clean well-lit cafe. Loneliness screams louder at night for those who walk through it by themselves. They look to find comfort in a well-lit place with a calm and pleasant aura. The feeling displayed between the old deaf man and older waiter does not register with the younger waiter who does not understand the search of finding peace found in the cafe. The younger waiter has a wife to go home to as the older deaf man and older waiter have nothing and that is their escape from their dark loneliness, the cafe. Since it is clear that Ernest Hemingway has established that the old deaf man

The younger waiter believes he has “no regard for those who have to work.” On the contrary the older waiter also doesn’t belong to a family and attempts to explain “he stays up because he likes it” “it’s clean and well lighted” the light acting as a metaphorical parallel to the comfort the café offers in his otherwise dark life. Seeing as the older waiter understands him he does his best to make the customer feel he belongs and build a relationship with him. He realises that not everyone shares the same perspective realising “it’s not only a question of youth” but in this case a question of lack of relationships allowing sympathy and explaining his actions.

Benson, Jackson, J. The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway Critical Essays. Durham: Duke University Press, 1975. Print.

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.

In a “Clean, Well-lighted Place,” author Ernest Hemingway uses his direct, unadorned, detail oriented imagery and a minimalist style of writing to convey the philosophical idea of existentialism. Existentialism is a way of life that means one must create their own essence but, they have no predetermined purpose (Meyers 558). This notion of existentialism was very important during Hemingway 's time period. The war was shaping and shaking people 's belief of God, happiness and love (Meyers 558). This created the pathway to existentialism. In fact, in his short story readers are given an insight into the search for the meaning of life. Hemingway uses two of his main characters too show a current life of un-fulfillment, loneliness, despair and depression. However, both of these characters are on the search for the meaning of life.

The older waiter is much more understanding of the old man’s situation. He knows what it feels like to be lonely. He knows the desire to stay in the light that staves off the darkness, a darkness that brings thoughts of how lonely you really are. There is an emptiness in him can only be filled with the cleanliness and light of the café. He feels that this is the same for the old man.

Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” like all of his other stories, is based around a famous code of behavior. The philosophical premises that are demonstrated in Hemingway’s code of behavior tell people to accept that there are no guidelines or rules in life, face reality and see things exactly as they are, no matter how difficult, contain their despair and self-pity by sheer willpower, don’t make trouble for others, and instead of judging others, people should view the unenlightened with irony and pity. By analyzing “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” the reader can find different examples of this code of behavior within Hemingway’s writing.

  While Hemingway's short story "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is usually interpreted as an intensely poetic description of despair, it can with equal validity be seen instead as mankind's never ending yearning to find spiritual peace. Hemingway's short story displayed this emotional journey in many different ways. First, the title itself is a symbol for man's desire to find a state of tranquillity, safety, and comfort. Hemingway also showed this in the story's setting, which was used as a symbol for a sense of order, for it was late, the cafe was empty, and the men there were at ease. Finally, Hemingway showed this desire in the contrasting actions between the

Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway gives different viewpoints about Hemingway’s life and marriage. Hemingway gives the character Harry, who gets an infection in his leg and is suffering from great pain, a different outlook on his life when death gets involved. When describing such themes as death, infection and the small and unimportant values of life, we see a different kind of Harry come out of the story. A bashful, unkind, and shameful Harry is brought into our imagination with such imagery, symbolism, flashbacks, and rude dialogues that Hemingway writes about in Snows of Kilimanjaro. These dialogues make the reader rethink how happy Harry really is with his marriage. Rude words being said to his wife Helen such as, “bloody fool”

Although Hemingway and Carver are both important writers of the twentieth century, they have different outlooks on the value of faith and on human existence due to their distinct historical backgrounds (Pettinger; “Raymond Carver Biography”). Ernest Hemingway served as an ambulance driver in World War I and his military experience unfortunately deteriorated his mental health and resulted in depression and paranoia (Pettinger). His struggle with depression transcends in the fatalistic view of the old waiter, the main character of his short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” On the other hand, even though Carver had to deal with bankruptcies, a divorce, and alcoholism, “Cathedral” was published after this short-story author had settled down with his new wife and after he had quit drinking (“Raymond Carver Biography”). While Hemingway makes use of a narrative shift into the old waiter’s head to identify the nothingness of life, Carver uses the epiphany of his protagonist and a foil character to convey the message that people’s lives will become better if they take a leap of faith.

Ernest Hemingway has this uncanny, yet, clear and distinctive writing style, that has made him a successful author and a means of many criticisms. One critic in particular, David M. Wyatt, says that Hemingway has a way of making the beginning of his stories “raise the very specter of the end against which they are so concerned to defend.” (Wyatt). In his two short stories, “Hills Like White Elephants” and “A Clean-Well Lighted Place, Hemingway draws out this uncanny effect in anticipating the sense of an ending. He paints this very minimalistic style, “only centering on surface elements without giving explicit content of the underlying themes”(Wyatt) he creates. He wants readers to depict what’s below the surface, letting the crux emit through.

There are a lot of different types of conflict, the most common being between two characters. However, in the story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” there is a combination of conflict between characters and a conflict between the old man and time. The conflict between the waiters arises towards the end of the story when they begin to talk about closing up the café for the night. This is a direct argument and the younger waiter believes that the café should be closed, whereas the older waiter believes that the café should be open.

The boy wishes the other boy was with them because he thinks the boy must be alone and he just wants to help the boy not feel alone.

Ernest Hemingway was an intricate and dedicated writer who devoted a significant portion of his life to writing multiple genres of stories. Throughout his stories, the similarities in his style and technique are easily noted and identified. Two of the short stories he wrote contain themes and motifs that specifically explain the plotline. The first story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” sets its scene in the depths of a desolate area in Africa, where the main characters, Harry and his wife, decide to make their home. After living there for a few years, Harry ventures out and falls into a thorn bush, thus infecting his leg with gangrene. A few weeks later, he finds himself on the brink between life and death, unable to treat such a severe

There is perhaps no greater an example of exemplary Modernist writing than that of Ernest Hemingway. The Modernist movement defined itself with its opposition towards traditional American values. With a tendency to suggest rather than state, show rather than tell, and focus on questions rather than answers, the Modernist movement changed the course of American Literature, and one of the most influential members of that movement was Hemingway. Amongst a sea of notable works, Hemingway's “Snows of Kilimanjaro” serve as a testament to the subtle craft of the Modernist style of writing. The symbolism and dialogue within the “Snows of Kilimanjaro” is superb and helps reinforce the Modernist themes of Hemingway's writing. Hemingway frames Harry's wife in a way that negatively equates her with American wealth. Hemingway then suggests that such wealth ruins the natural gifts of a writer, symbolized through Harry's gangrene. This is further expanded upon with Harry's salvation in realizing that his writing is what was truly important, a salvation symbolized within the snow leopard and the mountains of Kilimanjaro themselves. Hemingway's symbolism is well constructed, and helps to illustrate the theme of the dangers of corrosion under wealth, while expressing salvation in purpose.