Hemingway’s Use Of Dialogue In A Clean Well-Lighted Place Essays Example

and The Gambler, The Nun and The Radio
Earnest Hemingway belongs to one of the most famous American writers and journalists. His talent was acknowledged by the Nobel Prize and critics’ appraisal. His books are considered to be classics of the American and world literature. Hemingway lived long and eventful life. Despite he was born in the USA, he lived in Paris and Cuba, participated in Spanish Civil War and witnessed the D-day of Normandy landings. In his works, he described moments and events he faced or heard about of them. He depicted the life as it is and therefore his works seems to be so realistic.
Furthermore, Hemingway managed to invent his own style, which was later called The Iceberg Theory. This technique influenced the writing process of the 20th century. As is clear from the name, the style is focused on the surface elements without deeper discussion into the implicit meanings. This style is revealed in his short stories. Hemingway believed that the meaning of the story should not be evident but it should be implied. This is achieved by the mastery of dialogues Hemingway used in his short stories. Despite it is clear that people rarely speak in a way the author described, the reader would admit that the thoughtful and calculated repetition and highlighting of the main points create a realistic picture of the dialogue and leave food for thoughts.
The Clean Well-Lighted Place is regarded as one on the stylistic masterpieces by Earnest Hemingway. The story is about five pages long, almost all of which are dialogues. Yet the whole story can be descried as the interior monologue of the main character (Hoffman 173). The plot of the story is quite simple. An old man is drinking in a Spanish café. He is about 80 year old, he is deaf, he lost his wife recently and tried to commit the suicide but he was saved by his niece. He is wealthy but lonely. The old man is observed by two waiters, who know that he would not pay if he gets too drunk. They wait for him as he is the only client and they talked to each other. They discussed the man and his attempt to kill himself. The younger waiter wants home to his bed and his wife. He makes the old man to pay and leave the café. According to the older waiter, the younger has everything, because he has youth, a confidence and a job. The older one possesses only a job. Besides, they are of different kinds. The older waiter is reluctant to close the café because he understands that despite all of the bodegas a man needs clean, well-lighted place with no shade of leaves and no music and the opportunity to sit in dignity. The younger waiter leaves and the older head to the bar and orders a drink. The waiter does not like the bar because it is well-lighted but not clean enough. The older waiter thinks that the only problem he has is insomnia.
Another masterpiece by Hemingway is called The Gambler, the Nun and the Radio. This story is also revealed through the dialogues, which contain the ¾ of the story. It seems that the title does not pass to the story, which is written by Mr. Frazer. He is a patient of a hospital, he broke his leg and he is interested in events taking place in the hospital. The sister Cecilia helps him and describes all the news in the hospital. Recently, two patients were transported to the war after the shooting. One of them is Russian and he is screaming all the time. Another one is Mexican, who was shot twice in the abdomen. His wound is really serious, he might die but he is silent. The policeman comes to Cayetano Ruiz, the Mexican, and tries to find out the justice. Ruiz is not willing to reply. His abdomen is hurt and he wants to be left. The interpreter seems to be bad as well. Mr. Frazer is asked to help. It is revealed that the Mexican actually speaks English quite well but he does not want to tell the truth about the shooter. Mr. Frazer is constantly listening to the radio. He listens to football match. Sister Cecilia supports the Notre Dame team but she leaves the ward to pray for this team instead of listening. Three Mexicans come to visit the Ruiz. They tell Mr. Frazer that Ruiz is a gambler. He wins a lot of money, yet he is one the poorest men there. Mr. Frazer visits the Ruiz himself and talks to him. Ruiz is willing to tell his story. He likes gambling, so the game for him is more important than money. But his bad luck does not allow him to win. His bad luck also results in this shooting. On the last night, Mexican musicians come to play. Frazer is laying in his room and thinks of different kinds of opium. Religion, music, education, patriotism, alcohol are opium for the people. Revolution, on the contrary is no opium but catharsis.
With the help of dialogues, these short stories depict how all the character face nada, mentioned in The Clean Well-Lighted Place. Nada means “nothing” in Spanish. Here, the concept is revealed as a philosophic and existentialistic. Besides, the stories are not about nada itself but about different human responses to it (Hoffman 174). Both stories describe the types of the hero, the naif and the victim and their reaction to nada (Hoffman 190). The victims like an old man and Mr. Frazer take different opium to forget about this nothingness they face every time. Naifs just accept it, like Sister Cecilia and the younger waiter. The older waiter and Cayetano Ruiz are heroes, who understand the concept but they have no fear of it. This is shown with the help of waiter’s prayers and silence of Ruiz. Besides, the dialogues of the second story illustrate the drastic change in the character of Mr. Frazer (Montgomery 204). With the help of communication with Mexicans and the sister he get the understanding of nada.

Works Cited

Hoffman, Steven K. "Nada and The Clean Well-Lighted Place: The Unity of Hemingway's Short Story." Essays in Literature 6 (1979).
Montgomery, Marion. "Hemingway's "The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio": a Reading and a Problem." Forum 3 (1962): 36-40.