Essay/Term paper: A clean, well-lighted place

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois July 21, 1898. He died in 1961 at the age of 63. Hemingway is known to be one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. He has written more than one hundred short fiction stories, many of them are well known around the world. Some of these short stories have had just as powerful an impact as his novels. As a young man, Hemingway left his hometown in Illinois to go to Europe, where he worked for the Red Cross during World War I. His time spent there inspired him to write some of his most famous novels, most of which spoke of the horrors of the war.

For instance, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway is a short story that focuses on three different age groups and their varying views on life. By analyzing the three different points of view, we see Hemingway"s perspective of an old man. The story is about an old man that every so often, sits in a very clean bar, drinks away at two o"clock in the morning and is the last one to leave. There are three waiters: one is a young man, one is an older gentleman, and the last is a very old man. All the waiters see him in a different way based on their ages.

Furthermore, Ernest Hemingway had a different style of writing than the other authors of his time. "The Sun Also Rises is the book that established Hemingway as a literary force and it introduced the world to the Lost Generation" (5). The Lost Generation is referred to as the "disillusioned that fought in the war". "Two of the novel's main characters, Lady Brett Ashley and Jake Barnes, typify the Lost Generation" (1). "This book has a lot of thematic issues, but the reader really needs to think to be able to pick up on all of them" (2). Friendship, stoicism, and natural grace under pressure are offered as the values that matter in an otherwise amoral often-senseless world (1). "His mind is set on writing only" (3). The only thing Hemingway thought about was writing and finishing The Sun Also Rises. "The writing is as strong and powerful as a swift kick to the head" (4). This quote is referring to Hemingway's strong and complex style of writing. "Hemingway writes about the dreariness of everyday life but it is interesting at the emphasis on drinking during the age of prohibition" (3). "The only failing is that the messages he delivers are a little empty in that we know he delivers them in a way that we like (4). His morals are hard to understand unless you can achieve his state of mind.

In conclusion, Hemingway shows us the different opinions people have based on their age and experiences, through the eyes of the three waiters. Most people assume things about others, especially of those they do not know, but we need to have an open mind and try to look through the eyes of a person, instead of just looking at them. Hemingway helps the reader see this and think twice instead of assuming. The Sun Also Rises was Hemingway"s best-selling novel and is still a popular book today. The Sun Also Rises was about the events that were taking place in Hemingway's life. The Sun Also Rises can be related to real life by realizing that it was written from a man's real life experience.

















Notes

1. Bruccoli, Matthew. J. Fitzgerald and Hemingway "A Dangerous Friendship" New York, Carroll and Graf Publishers, Inc.: 1994.

2. Carey, Gary. Cliffs Notes on Hemingway"s The Sun Also Rises Lincoln Nebraska 1968.

3. Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises New York, Macmillan Publishing Company: 1926.

4. http://www.lostgeneration.com/hembio.html February 06, 2000

5. Selkirk, Errol. Hemingway For Beginners. New York, Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc.: 1994.



























Bibliography

Kirszner & Mandell, Literature; Reading, Writing, Reacting, 4th Edition Harcourt Brace, 2000