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Life and creation • 1899-1961, American novelist and short-story writer. One of the great American writers of the 20th century. Hemingway worked as a reporter for Kansas city Star after graduating from high school in 1917. During World War I he served as an ambulance driver in France and in the Italian infantry and was wounded just before his 19th birthday. Later, while working in Paris as a correspondent for the Toronto Star, he became involved with the expatriate literary and artistic circle surrounding Gertrude Stein.
During the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway served as a correspondent on the loyalist side. He fought in World War II and then settled in Cuba in 1945. In 1954, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. After his expulsion from Cuba by the Castro regime, he moved to Idaho. He was increasingly plagued by ill health and mental problems, and in July, 1961, he committed suicide by shooting himself.
Hemingway's fiction usually focuses on people living essential, dangerous lives, soldiers, fishermen, athletes, bullfighters,who meet the pain and difficulty of their existence with stoic courage. His celebrated literary style, influenced by Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein , is direct, terse, and often monotonous, yet particularly suited to his elemental subject matter.
Hemingway's creation: • Main works: In Our Time • The Sun Also Rises • A Farewell to Arms • For Whom the Bell Tolls • The Old Man and the Sea • Men without Women (The Undefeated, The Killers, Fifty Grand) • Death in the Afternoon • The Green Hills of Africa • The Snow of Kilimanjaro
Winner Take Nothing (1933) The Fifth Column, a play. • His First Forty-nine Stories (1938) includes such famous short stories as “The Killers,” “The Undefeated,” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.” Hemingway's nonfiction works, Death in the Afternoon (1932), about bullfighting, and Green Hills of Africa (1935), about big-game hunting, glorify virility, bravery, and the virtue of a primal challenge to life.
Hemingway’s achievements Hemingway’s hero: one who acts the theme out, learn to live in grace under pressure. Almost all of his characters are worldly-weary, but they maintain their grace under the inescapable pressure of reality’s violence. Hemingway’s prose style is simple, clear, direct and precise. His diction is fundamental, favoring plain words. His sentences are short, declarative. He uses the technique of the repetition of words, phrases and sentence structure.
the use of dialogue Dialogue is another distinguishing feature of his style. the master of pause. That is, how the action of his stories continues during the silence, during the times his characters say nothing. This action is full of meaning. To sum up, a statement made by the Nobel Prize Committee, “They were highly impressed by his powerful style-forming, mastery of the art of writing modern fiction”.
His writing theories: characterization and style: 1. Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory: “If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.”
2. Hemingway’s Code heroes: those who survive in the process of seeking to master the code with the honesty, the discipline, and the restraint. • Code: in the general situation of his novels, life is full of tension and battle; the world is in chaos; man is always fighting desperately a losing battle. However, though life is but a losing battle, it is a struggle man can dominate in such a way that loss becomes dignity; man can be physically destroyed but never defeated spiritually. grace under pressure: actually an attitude of his code heroes towards life or his ideal of man’s greatest achievements (continuing to work even in a difficult times). That he had been trying to show in his works.
3. His masculine heroes—the tough man fond of outdoor sports such as bullfighting , hunting and fishing. 4. Grace Under Pressure: actually an attitude of his Code heroes 准则人物towards life or his ideal of man’s greatest achievement (continuing to work even in difficult times) that he had been trying to demonstrate in his works. Hemingway’s limited fictional word implies a much broader thematic pattern and serious philosophic concerns with its mystery of darkness andirrationality.
Hemingway’s theory about his creation: Iceberg Theory (The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one eighth of its being above water.) That part above the water is formed by hard facts. Readers can understand it. Hemingway acts as a naturalist. Actually, we should explore what is under the water. He built those parts like a poet, like a symbolist.
The readers should explore the meaning hidden under it. He has a skillful craft. He knew how to get the most from the least and how to prune language and avoid waste motion, how to multiple intensities, how to tell nothing but truth in a way that always allowed for (considered) telling more than the truth.
A Clean, Well-lighted Place • Summary: • The story begins at a cafe very late at night. Two waiters are watching their last, lingering customer, an old man who is by now very drunk. These are the story’s three major characters. The older of the two waiters informs the young one that the old man tried to commit suicide the previous week. They then watch a couple go by, a soldier and a young woman, and comment on the soldier’s chances of going undetected after curfew.Next, the young waiter moves into action. When the old man indicates that he wants another drink served, the young waiter mutinies. He decides he wants...
Setting • Hemingway's short story, "A Clean Well-lighted Place", takes place at a cafe very late at night. Two waiters are watching their last, lingering customer, an old man, who is by now very drunk. The younger waiter's impatience and the older waiter's understanding toward the old man carry out the theme of the story: "It [life] was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too." Man must consequently find something to distract himself from his horrible truth. For the old man and the older waiter, "a clean and well-lighted" cafe is such an escape. The pervading metaphor in this story is predictably, the "clean well-lighted place." The story's image of the sea of dark nothingness perfect...
Questions to be analyzed • 1. The characters of the story. • 2. What is the main plot of the story? • 3. What is the setting of this story? Is there any importance about the setting? • 4. Why is the old man reluctant to leave the cafe? • 5. Compare the younger waiter and the older waiter in their attitudes toward the old man and discuss the characterization of the two waiters.
6. Why did the old man choose “light” and “shadow” together? • 7. What is the implication of the last sentence? • 8. What is the theme of the story? (aging, depression, loneliness, suicide) 9. Does the text have any symbolic images? • 10. What is the significance of the image of the old man’s deafness?. • 11. What is the image of Nothing? • 12. The Metaphor of insomnia (sleeplessness).
1. The characters of the story: • The younger waiter: impatient to close the door and go home to his wife, he insults the dead old man, who of course can not hear him. • The old waiter: the old waiter, like the deaf , old man, lives alone and in sympathy to the old man’s drinking until his drunk. • The old man: about 80 years old and deaf, the old man was drinking brandy in the very early hours of the morning in the Spanish café.
2. What is the main plot of the story? • Two waiters discuss a lingering patron in a cafe who overstays his welcome as the night wears on. The old man gets quietly drunk each night; just last week he tried to kill himself, but was rescued. Tonight he tries to pass the night in a clean, well-lighted place. The young waiter, impatient, to get home to his wife, does not comprehend the importance of this place to this old man's survival. The older waiter, who does understand, walks into the night himself, unable to find his own clean, well-lighted place in which to pass a lonely and sleepless night.
3. What is the setting of this story? Is there any importance about the setting? • In the shadow of the leaves of the tree (appeared three times throughout the text). • i. Offer a shelter and give the security. ii. Cut glaring----feel comfortable. iii. Nature in city----pastoral. A clean and well-lighted cafe. The cafe is a place of quiet refuge, which brings relief and consolation to the old man. It is not merely a cafe, but an island of refuge from night, chaos, loneliness, old age and impending death.
4. Why is the old man reluctant to leave the cafe? • Lonely, insomnia. He is a lonely old man who has no warm, welcoming place to go when darkness falls. He tries to seek security and comfort in the cafe.
5. Compare the younger waiter and the older waiter in their attitudes toward the old man and discuss the characterization of the two waiters. The younger waiter is impatient. He shows an uncaring, or even averse attitude towards the old man. He is more concerned about getting home to his wife (who is waiting him on the bed) than he is about the old man. What’s more, he cares the tab (bill) that the old man would pay.
This becomes obvious when he says, "An old man is a nasty thing." That is why he is so upset with the old man, who - being already drunk - asks for another and another drink. The hour is what matters to him. He wants to go home, to seek comfort and security. • The older waiter, who is unhurried and can empathize with the old man, shows more friendly attitude towards the old man, or those people who stand late at the cafe.
He would not close up the cafe early enough because he thought there may be some one who needs the cafe each night. And the fact that there are bodegas open all night does not influence his way of thinking. The older waiter is a reflective man who understands life and is not compelled to rush his time. He says things that convey his nature: "The old man is clean. He drinks without spilling." and "I am of those who like to stay late at the cafe." The older waiter shows concern for the old man. The older waiter possesses the character of a man Hemingway would probably respect and admire.
He is reserved, contemplative,沉思的 judgematic . The older waiter was trying to make sense of what he probably saw as an age of confusion. The soldier that passes by suggests a conflict is occurring and adds to the old waiter's perception of confusion. He was trying to tell the younger waiter how honest and decent it is just to sit in a clean cafe and drink a few brandies while trying to make sense of life. He tries to tell him that it is different to sit in a well-lighted cafe than it is to sit at a loud or dirty bar. The cafe is a place of quiet refuge and the older waiter understands this.
6. Why did the old man choose “light” and “shadow” together? • Light is “being” while shadow is “nothingness”. Those who need light are “alive” ones. Those living in the shadow lock themselves in “nothingness”, their escape from the reality. An old man is a mixture of both. On one hand he stays “alive” late at night sitting in the place full of light but on the other he secludes 隐居himself in “nothingness” since he prefers sitting in the shadow, hidden, covered and theoretically absent.
7. What is the implication of the last sentence? • The last sentence of the story is an understatement. Understatement is a figure of speech that consists of saying less than one means, or of saying what one means with less force than the occasion warrants. For the older waiter the reason for staying late at the cafe and the fact that he does not feel like sleeping, though it is almost dawn, is as simple as illness.
At the end of the story he says to himself : After all ( ...) it is probably only insomnia失眠症any must have it. Superficially speaking, the conclusion tells us that the old men are just suffering from the particular disease. In fact, in the end, Hemingway leaves us with a universality to the tale in that: "Many must have it", by which he means not only that many people have the insomnia and sleeplessness (the ubiquity and commonality of the loneliness of the old men), but also that many experience loneliness and the need for a clean, well-lighted place in which to feel safe, or perhaps insulated.
8. What is the theme of the story? (aging, depression, loneliness, suicide) • Literally, the story is about • A . The pains of old age suffered: the depression– the realization of futility of life; the loneliness– the consciousness of object of scorn; the nothing of life– desperate of emptiness. • B. The selfishness and lack of sympathy. • Philosophically, the story is about the meaninglessness of human life, and the nothingness and insignificance of the very existence of mankind of pessimistic. Anyway, the younger waiter here turns out to be quite naive and in-experienced, having no idea about one’s entire life, while the old waiter is attaining some true understanding of life’s meaning. • .
Man is often troubled 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 individual. In focus on individuals finding a reason for living with themselves. The philosophy forces the man to make choices for himself. On the premise前提, that is nothing preordained （预定的）, there is no fate. Man must find the truth in his existence.
The story is filled with images of despair. The contrast between light and dark, youth and age are harsh, and well defined, the reader leaves the story with a feeling that there’s no escape from the depression of the winter years of life. Perhaps it’s Hemingway’s own career of old age and infirmity that he’s trying to communicate to the reader
9. Does the text have any symbolic images? • Yes, it does. • Light and dark. • Light—a refuge from the darkness of the night outside, symbolizes comfort, the company of others, a hope of life, a happy mood, etc. • Darkness is a symbol of fear and loneliness. • There is hopelessness in the dark, while the light calms the nerves.
10. What is the significance of the image of the old man’s deafness? • “The old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he could feel the difference……” • Deafness shuts the old man out from the rest of the world. In the day, everything must be a reminder to him of his disconnection from the world. The busy streets, the marketplace, the chatter in the cafes along the street, the animals, and the motor vehicles fill the town with noise all day long. The old man knows this and recognizes that he is completely cut off from the sounds that he probably had not thought much of as a young man. In this café so late at night he is not missing much. In fact, he might prefer to miss the conversation about him between the two waiters.
11. What is the image of Nothing? • Nothing is what the old man wants to escape. The older waiter, who sometimes acts as the voice of the old man’s soul, describes his adversary: “It was all nothing, and a man was nothing, too… some lives in it and never felt it but he knew it was nada y pues nada y pues nada……”
12. The Metaphor of insomnia (sleeplessness) • This metaphor shows the old man’s death-wish. Insomnia is an uneasiness shared by many old people like the old waiter. Insomnia keeps the two awake through the hours of darkness, just as a tenacious life keeps the old man breathing when he would rather rest in his grave. In the second paragraph of the story, the older waiter informs the younger that their elderly customers had tried to commit suicide the week before.
13. Conclusion: 1. In the novel, there are two Code heroes: • One is the old waiter who has found the life’s meaninglessness, but he still lives as before, that means he is seeking to master the code with the honesty, the discipline, and the restraint. He is having a life full of tension and battle; the world is in chaos; man is always fighting desperately a losing battle. However, though life is but a losing battle, it is a struggle man can dominate in such a way that loss becomes dignity; man can be physically destroyed but never defeated spiritually.
The other code hero is the old, deaf man who survives in one terrible world, no love, no sympathy, but he is still live in the world, this is the attitude to life, this is a kind of grace under pressure.
2. This story is filled with images of despair. The contrasts between light and dark, youth and age are harsh and well defined. The reader leaves the story with a feeling that there is no escape from the depression of the winter years of life. Perhaps it is Hemingway’s own terror of old age and infirmity that he is trying to communicate to the reader.
3. The reflection of Hemingway’s iceberg theory. Literally, the story is about • A . The pains of old age suffered: the depression– the realization of futility of life; the loneliness– the consciousness of object of scorn; the nothing of life– desperate of emptiness. • B. The selfishness and lack of sympathy. • Philosophically, the story is about the meaninglessness of human life, and the nothingness and insignificance of the very existence of mankind of pessimistic. Anyway, the younger waiter here turns out to be quite naive and in-experienced, having no idea about one’s entire life, while the old waiter is attaining some true understanding of life’s meaning.
Man is often troubled 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 individual. In focus on individuals finding a reason for living with themselves. The philosophy forces the man to make choices for himself. On the premise前提, that is nothing preordained （预定的）, there is no fate. Man must find the truth in his existence.
