A Clean, Well Lighted Place - Book Report/Review Example

?Compare and Contrast Ernest Miller Hemingway’s literary works are interconnected with his adventurous life, especially his experiences related to wars. To be specific, most of his literary works contain autobiographical elements. Within this context, the work A Clean, Well Lighted Place is related to the author’s view point on human life. On the other side, the work Soldier's Home portrays the harsh realities faced by a soldier during war and its aftereffects in his personal life. One can see that the theme (say, human life) interconnects these short stories but differs in other literary elements. Thesis statement: The compare and contrast study of the short stories A Clean, Well Lighted Place and Soldier's Home by Hemingway proves that both the works are with similar and dissimilar literary elements (special references to plot, character development, theme setting and mood). Compare and contrast The compare and study is based upon the literary elements like plot, character development, theme setting and mood. A. Plot The plot of the short story A Clean, Well Lighted Place is related to the problem of alienation felt by the senior citizens in the society. The old man in the story never shows eagerness to reveal his identity and personal details. Instead, the conversation between the waiters at the Cafe reveals the personal details about the old man. The narrator in the short story A Clean, Well Lighted Place, makes clear that “The waiter watched him go down the street, a very old man walking unsteadily but with dignity” (290). One can easily identify that the work’s plot is interconnected with the problems faced by human beings in their old age, disregarding their economic status. On the other side, the plot of the work Soldier's Home is interconnected with problems in human life, but from a different angle of view. For instance, one can easily identify that the author’s experience in wars and the alienation from the mainstream society can be seen as the motivation behind the plot. The protagonist (Harold Krebs) in the story is not ready to be free from the hangover of the war in Germany. In the short story Soldier's Home, the narrator points out that “He wanted to live along without consequences” (113). Besides, his hesitation to return to his native place with other soldiers reveals that he was not aware of his role in the society as a soldier. His return to his native place did not make any change in the society because he returned after a number years. His life with his family was not so successful because he was aware of the fact that his life is totally under the control of his father. At last, the protagonist is ready to break the shell of his dreamy world and faces the reality. To be specific, both the works deal with the problems in human life. The former work deals with the problems faced by elder citizens in a society, and the latter work deals with the problems faced by a soldier in his public and private domain. To be specific, the author chose human life as the plot for both the works and the only difference is in the treatment of the plot. B. Character development Some of the factors of character development in literature are concreteness, speech, behavior, motivation and change. Within this context, the main character (old man) in the short story A Clean, Well Lighted Place is displays concreteness because the author makes use of the waiters to provide information about him. This indirect technique proves to be successful because the conversation between the waiters unearths the specific characteristic of the main character. The old man’s speech with the waiters proves that he is able to take decisions of his own and others cannot change the same. Besides, he does not show any interest to communicate with others. The author provides ample importance to the strange behavior of the old man and the same proves that he is facing a number of problems in his family. Tyler states that “ His suicidal attempt, his alcoholism, and his pathetic eagerness to stay at the deserted cafe as long as he can indicate that he suffers from depression- perhaps because of his intense loneliness now that he no longer has a wife” (83). Besides, the motivation behind his habit of consuming alcohol can be considered as an escape mechanism to forget those problems. In a literary work, change or no change in the character is important. Within this context, the old man in the work A Clean, Well Lighted Place does not show any change but the readers are aware of the situation (say, family problems) which does not allow him to change. On the other side, in the work Soldier's Home the protagonist (say, the ex-soldier)’s character is not concrete but flexible. For instance, he is not ready to face the realities of life and his interest to be a productive citizen in the society is limited to an extent. His speech is limited to the context of girls and hanging around here and there. This proves that his life as soldier had changed his character. Besides, his behavior is predictable because he is in between the fear towards his father and affection towards him mother and sister. One can see that the hardships faced during the war can be considered as the motivation behind the protagonist’s negative view towards life. Lamb opines that ““Soldier’s Home” is a bifurcated story; the exposition of the first half blames Harold Krebs’s problems on war trauma while the scenes of the second half fault an overbearing mother” (138). In the end of the story, the protagonist is ready to change according to the situation in his family. C. Theme setting The theme or the dominating idea can be considered as the backbone of a literary work. Besides, theme setting is the author’s interpretation of human experience in a literary work. Within this context, the short story A Clean, Well Lighted Place portrays the existential dilemma felt by the old man. From a different angle of view, the author does not try to approach the old man in a direct way. Instead, the author makes use of the other characters (say, the waiters) to reveal the hidden identity of the old man. Both of the waiters portray the old man’s life in different ways because their age is different and it influences their opinion about the old man. For instance, one of the waiters is married and he is aware of his responsibility as a husband. On the other side, the older waiter is aware of his age and his confidence level is low. But Bloom makes clear that “In one of the stories, “A Clean, Well- Lighted Place,” we find the best description of what underlies Hemingway’s world of violent action” (33). One can see that the older waiter feel sympathy towards the old man because he knew that old age leads to a dilemmatic situation. On the other side, the work Soldier’s Home does not deal with the problems faced by the elders in the society. Instead, it deals with the problems faced by the members of the younger generation. Lynn states that ““Soldier’s Home” is the story of a young man’s struggle to separate from home, and Hemingway packed it with a lifetime of revulsion and outrage” (260). In the short story, the soldier’s experience during the war transforms him into a new individual with is not ready to face the real world. To be specific, human life and the problems faced by the elders and the youngsters is the theme of both the works. But, one can easily identify that the soldier in the short story Soldier’s Home carries autobiographical elements. Benson makes clear that “The “winner take nothing” philosophy is basic to Hemingway’s conception of the world; the only victories in such a world are victories of the spirit, and if a man gains anything tangible, the only sure thing is that he will eventually lose it” (129). To be specific, through the protagonist, the author portrays the emotional and mental trauma felt by the soldiers after wars and its aftereffects in their private and public domains. D. Mood In the world of literature, mood is the feeling felt by the reader while reading a specific literary work. To be specific, literary works leads the readers towards sadness, joy, horror or anger. One can easily identify that the mood of a literary work is decided by the author. Besides, the other literary elements like theme setting and tone deeply influence the mood of a literary work. Within this context, Hemingway’s works are more flexible because most of his works carry autobiographical elements. His usage of colloquial language provides freshness and familiarity to his characters. The work A Clean, Well Lighted Place by Hemingway creates sympathy for the old man. Berman states that “Hemingway feels enormous sympathy in this story for all those who lack self-esteem and self-confidence” (112). To be specific, the character of the old man in the short story can be generalized to the broader context of the problems faced by the senior citizens. The old man’s richness does not help him to be peaceful in his old age because his suicidal attempt proves the same. The problems in his private domain force him to spend more time at the Cafe. On the other side, the work Soldier's Home by Hemingway creates sympathy and anger towards the protagonist, but anger is the dominating mood. The readers can assess the motivation behind his behavior but this does not prove that an ex-soldier must lead a life without responsibilities. Eby states that “Traditionally understood as a story about post-traumatic stress disorder- or at least post-war malaise- and superficially intended to be exactly that, “Soldier’s Home” in fact offers a fictionalized account of the onset of Hemingway’s fetishism” (147). One must not neglect the element of violence in wars and its aftereffects in an individual’s private and public domains. To be specific, the soldier in this short story is the victim of war. This creates sympathy in the mind of the reader. But his hesitation to return to the normal (say, real) life proves that he is an escapist. This attitude of escapism creates anger in the mind of the reader. In short, both the works deal with the theme of human life and related problems but the mood created in the mind of the reader is different. Summing, the similarities and differences between the works A Clean, Well Lighted Place and Soldier's Home by Hemingway bind both the works together because the author provides panoramic view of human life from a different angle. The plot of the former work is interconnected with the problem of alienation in human life and the latter deals with the problems of war. In the former work, the conversation between the waiters is the integral part of character development (direct), but the latter work proves that character development is interconnected with the behavior of the protagonist. The theme setting of both the work is interconnected with the difference in interpretation by the author. The mood created by the former work is sadness (say, sympathy) and the dominating mood of the latter work is anger towards escapism. In short, the autobiographical elements and the difference in treatment of the theme/ plot lead the readers to experience the craftsmanship of the author. Works Cited Benson, Jackson J. Hemingway: The Writer's Art of Self-Defense. USA: U of Minnesota Press, 1970. Print. Bloom, Harold. Ernest Hemingway. USA: Infobase Publishing, 2005. Print. Berman, Jeffrey. Surviving literary suicide. USA: Univ of Massachusetts Press, 1999. Print. Eby, Carl P. Hemingway's fetishism: psychoanalysis and the mirror of manhood. Albany: SUNY Press, 1999. Print. Hemingway, Ernest. The complete short stories of Ernest Hemingway. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998. Print. Lamb, Robert Paul. Art matters: Hemingway, craft, and the creation of the modern short story. USA: LSU Press, 2010. Print. Lynn, Kenneth Schuyler. Hemingway. USA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Print. Tyler, Lisa. Student companion to Ernest Hemingway. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. Print. Read More