A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Essay -- Literary Analysis

Ernest Hemingway developed his own style of writing and follows it in â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place†. Hemingway’s elegance in writing is such that he indirectly gives all of the information to the reader without making any judgment; thus allowing one to create an opinion about every minute detail of the story. Hemingway illustrates his foundations of writing in â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place† by providing small clues that provide an indirect view of the larger meaning. Hemingway illustrates one of his elements of writing, omission, by providing two waiters and their exchange of speech and actions with each other and their customer, the old man. By doing so, he provides all of the information for readers to create an assumption about the individual’s traits; the saintly and even wicked. In the story we are given a scene with the old drunken man and the younger waiter. The old man asks for another brandy while pointing to his empty glass. The younger of the two waiters brashly began his dialogue with â€Å"Finished,† he said, speaking with that omission of syntax stupid people employ when talking to drunken people or foreigners. â€Å"No more tonight. Close now.† â€Å"Another,† said the old man. â€Å"No. Finished.† The waiter wiped the edge of the table with a towel and shook his head. The old man stands to leave, counts his tab, pays for his brandy, even leaves a tip for the waiters, and then begins to walk awa y with dignity even for his drunken stupor. (153-154) In this passage the reader is provided with several concepts that help to create the depictions of the old man and the younger waiter. Foremost, the reader is struck with the incivility of the old man; but, before he leaves the cafà © one is forced to become a sympathizer for the fact that ... ...ith him, probably would drink all night with him too. This is very typical of Hemingway in the fact that he cannot help but to create a story where the reader must not only have background knowledge; but also, be completely immersed into the story and become an omnipotent reader. With all of Hemingway’s elements of writing these are the most becoming of his typical writing style. They create a very broad sense for the reader and make it very imperative for one to become a central part of the story. Though he is a very exemplary writer Hemingway employs very artistic and almost novel forms of writing to his works of literature. Works Cited Cover Page Hemingway, Ernest. â€Å"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place†. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Eds. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed. New York: Longman. 2010 152-155. Print.