the lost world

1

AbriefanalysisofAClean,Well-lightedPlace

英语语言文学刘阳子2

[Abstract]

distinctivelycrisp,

shortstoryAClean,Well-lightedPlaceisoneoftheclassicworksinmodern

waywasonememberoftheLostGenerationwhichwas

xtraordinarywritingskillswhichbringhim

lknow,“IcebergTheory”isatrademarkinhiswritinglife.

Throughthebriefanalysisofthisshortstory,wewillgetmuchmoreinformationof

hismasteryofshortstorywriting.

[摘要]厄内斯特·海明威是文学实际一位享誉盛名的作家。他那特殊的、干净直接

的、不加修饰的写作技巧给美国文学带来了长远的变化。他的短篇小说《一个干

净、明亮的地方》在现代美国文学当中是经典之一。海明威是“迷惘的一代”的其

中一员，这个称呼来自格特鲁德·斯泰恩。他拥有独特的写作技巧，这给他带来

了知道如今都存在的名望。我们都知道，“冰山理论”是他写作生涯中的标志性的

东西。通过对这篇小故事的简单分析，我们能得到更多了解海明威在短篇小说的

写作的大师级的技巧。

tGenerationandErnestHemingway

The"LostGeneration"wasthegenerationthatcameofageduringWorldWarI.

ThetermwaspopularizedbyErnestHemingway,whouditasoneoftwo

contrastingepigraphsforhisnovel,volumeHemingway

creditsthephratoGertrudeStein,

itzgerald,,John

DosPassos,WaldoPeirce,IsadoraDuncan,AbrahamWalkowitz,AlanSeeger,Franz

Kafka,ErichMariaRemarqueandthecomporsSergeiProkofiev,Paul

Hindemith,GeorgeGershwin,andAaronCopland.

1.1TheLostGeneration

InAMoveableFeast,publishedafterHemingway'sandStein'sdeaths,Hemingway

claimsthatSteinheardthephrafromagarageownerwhorvicedStein'scar.

Whenayoungmechanicfailedtorepairthecarquicklyenough,thegarageowner

shoutedattheboy,"Youarealla"générationperdue."Stein,intellingHemingway

thestory,added,"'swhatyouallare...allofyouyoung

alostgeneration."

'Lostmeansnotvanishedbutdisoriented,wandering,directionless—arecognition

thattherewasgreatconfusionandaimlessnessamongthewar'ssurvivorsintheearly

post-waryears.'

The1926publicationofErnestHemingway'sTheSunAlsoRispopularizedthe

term,elrvestoepitomizethe

r,Hemingwayhimlflaterwrotetohis

editorMaxPerkinsthatthe"pointofthebook"wasnotsomuchaboutageneration

beinglost,butthat"theearthabidethforever";hebelievedthecharactersinTheSun

AlsoRismayhavebeen"battered"butwerenotlost.

2

InhismemoirAMoveableFeast,publishedafterhisdeath,hewrites"Itriedto

balanceMissStein'squotationfromthegarageownerwithonefromEcclesiastes."A

fewlineslater,recallingtherisksandlossofthewar,headds:"IthoughtofMiss

SteinandSherwoodAndersonandegotismandmentallazinessversusdisciplineandI

thought'whoiscallingwhoalostgeneration?'"

Variously,thetermisudfortheperiodfromtheendofWorldWarItothe

beginningoftheGreatDepression,thoughintheUnitedStatesitisudfor

thegenerationofyoungpeoplewhocameofageduringandshortlyafterWorldWarI,

sWilliamStraussandNeil

Howe,wellknownfortheirgenerationaltheory,definetheLostGenerationasthe

cohortsbornfrom1883to1900,whocameofageduringWorldWarIand

pe,theyaremostlyknownasthe"Generationof1914,"

fortheyearWorldWarIbegan.[8]InFrance,thecountryinwhich

manyexpatriatesttled,theyweresometimescalledtheGénérationauFeu,the

"GenerationinFlames."

InBritainthetermwasoriginallyudforthowhodiedinthewar,andoften

implicitlyreferredtoupper-classcasualtieswhowereperceivedtohavedied

disproportionately,lt"that'theflowerof

youth'andthe'bestofthenation'hadbeendestroyed,"forexamplesuchnotable

casualtiesasthepoetsIsaacRonberg,RupertBrooke,EdwardThomasandWilfred

Owen,comporGeorgeButterworthandphysicistHenryMoley.

1.2ErnestHemingwayandtheIcebergtheory

ErnestHemingwaywasbornin1899fromadoctor’wardedthe

eofthe

mostinfluentialwritersaftertheFirstWorldWar,andreadersareveyfamiliartohis

eofadventureandhispublicimage

ishedvennovels,sixshortstorycollections,

onalworks,includingthreenovels,fourshortstory

collections,andthreenon-fictionworks,his

worksareconsideredclassicsofAmericanliterature.

HemingwaywasraidinOakPark,ighschoolhereportedfora

fewmonthsforTheKansasCityStar,beforeleavingfortheItalianfronttoenlistwith

1918,hewasriouslywoundedandreturned

timeexperiencesformedthebasisforhisnovelAFarewellto

Arms(1929).

In1921,hemarriedHadleyRichardson,ple

movedtoParis,whereheworkedasaforeigncorrespondentandfellunderthe

influenceofthemodernistwritersandartistsofthe1920s"LostGeneration"

ishedhisfirstnovel,TheSunAlsoRis,

his1927divorcefromHadleyRichardson,HemingwaymarriedPaulinePfeiffer;they

divorcedafterhereturnedfromtheSpanishCivilWarwherehehadbeenajournalist,

3

andafterwhichhewroteForWhomtheBellTolls(1940).MarthaGellhornbecame

histhirdwifein1940;theyparatedwhenhemetMaryWelshinLondon

rentattheNormandylandingsandtheliberationof

Paris.

ShortlyafterthepublicationofTheOldManandtheSea(1952),Hemingwaywent

onsafaritoAfrica,wherehewasalmostkilledintwosuccessiveplanecrashesthat

waymaintained

permanentresidencesinKeyWest,Florida,(1930s)andCuba(1940sand1950s),and

in1959,heboughtahouinKetchum,Idaho,wherehecommittedsuicideinthe

summerof1961.

Fromhiswritingswecanfindhisuniquestyle,IcebergTheory,aclassicwriting

styledemonstrating“theartthatconcealsart”.Heexplainedthetheoryas

ngthe

wr

furtherexplained,“Ifawriterknownoughaboutwhathiswriting,hemayomit

thingsthatheknowsandthereader,ifthewriteriswritingtrulyenough,willhavea

nityofmovementof

anicebergisduetoonlyone-eighthofitbeingabovewater.”(Hemingway,1932,

p.192).

Theicebergtheoryisawritingskillrelatedtotheartofbothwordsconcisionand

stomakelanguageconcibyusingtheminimum

amountofadjectives,metaphorsandeventhelongntences,andfinitewordswith

waywantsreaderstoimaginewhathehasn’ttoldinthe

story,andurgethereaderstofollowthewriter’sthoughtswithhisownexperiencean

iresahigherlevelofrecognitionfromboththereaderandthe

writer.

,Well-lightedPlace

TheshortstoryAClean,

inlatenight,everyonehadleftthecafeexceptanoldmanwhosatintheshadowthe

saloneandhopeless,he

’twanttoleavethecafe

u

storywasfullofthedialogueandtheattitudestowardtheoldman.

2.1Thetitle

Thetitle“AClean,Well-lightedPlace”caudthesamestrongemotionalresonance

toAmericansastheShakespear’swords“Tobeornottobe”

manwantedtofindaclean,well-lighted

ngmanfeltconfidentin

waterwasjustlookingfortheorderand

stayedlateintheclean,Well-lightedPlaceimpliesthe

,thethemeofthe

storyis,hor

meansthatmanshouldfacethechallengewithdignity,fightthebattleswithpassion

thoughlifeismeaningless.

ed

withJamesJoyce,heisalsoamasteroftheartofwordswhichhasmadehimbecome

dsinthestoryarenotonlyconcrete,specific

4

tencesherearesyntacticallyshort

yarealsotoo

atingtheimageofdarkandthewordof

nada,wayusthe

symbolstohelpreaderstohaveabettercomprehensionofwhattheven-eighthsof

thethemeunderwaterthatlookslikeinthisstory.

2.2Thethreecharacters

Threecharactersinthestoryaresymbolscreatedbytheauthor,theyreprent

lknow,theyareall

eryoneinsociety,

readercanalsofeelsuchfeelingsasfearandnothingnessthroughtheirconversation,

hemtendto

waiterwhoisbachelorfeartobe

aloneinhisroom,soa

deaf,sforcesthe

youngwaiterwhofeelsveryuncomfortabletobeawayfromhim.

However,theyoungwaiterislf-confidentbutlfishandimpatientwiththeold

wife,andhewantstogohomeforhiswife’s

n,hejustwanttofindasheltertogetsomepeaceinhis

mind,alot,s

nosympathyfortheoldmanandhasnocareaboutthevalueofpeople’xistence.

Hispursuitofmaterialhappinessandsatisfactionwiththiswayoflivingisrevealedin

gofconfidencefromhixternalbehavior,theyoungwaitercanbe

eefromwhathesaid——“Ihave

confidence,Iamallconfident.”Thisishowtheicebergtheorydemonstratedinthe

ndajobarethewaiter’s“confidence”whichareas

somethingsupreme.

But,theyoungwaiter’become

old,thedespairand“nothingness”areapproachinginstead.

Theolderwaiter,incontrast,

willingtobecompaniedwiththeoldman,becauheisalso“oneofthowholike

tostaylateatthecafe”.Hecan’tfallasleeptilldawnandhewantstoescapefromthe

darkness,,‘insomnia’

symbolizespeople’sfearofdarkness,awarenessoflife’smeaninglessnessandtheir

waitercanalsorecognizethenothingnessofhis

iaisanagonizingexperiencethatmakespeoplefeelmorethreatenedby

theyoungwaiter,theoldwaitertendstodisagreeevery

ndofthestory,hesaidtohimlf,“itisprobablyonly

insomnia,manymusthaveit.”

wealthy,buthedoesn’edinthedarknessallnight,thoughhe

aradoxforhim,asheshowsfearofbeing

manreprentstheoldpeopleandthepeople

ehasdiedandhehasnochild,whichstrikes

mmitssuicidewhichhethinkscanmakehimescape

manbelievesinneitherreligionnorsocialprinciples.

Obviously,theoldmanbearsmanyremblancestoHemingwayhimlf.

2.3Thecontrastbetweenlightanddarkness

teraimstomake

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aneasierwayforthereadertothinkoftheimageofdeath,sohechoostofixthe

htsymbolizesthecomfortandthecompanyof

others,inuationsof

“theshadowoftheleaves”and“thedarknessofnight”arefear,lonelinessanddespair.

arkwhich

meanshopeless,

differfromthenaturallight,thelightinthecafeisakindofelectricartificiallight

’sacquirementofthiskindoflightistemporary

andincomplete.

Also,helterwhichmakespeopleaway

-calledmoderncivilizationmakespeoplefeel

tercontraststhelightanddarktoshowthe

differencesbetweentheoldmanandtheyoungmanaroundhimandtouncoverthe

trastsheresymbolizepeople’sfearand

,thecafeisabrightplacekeepingthedarknightfrom

theoutside,butHemingwaysuggeststhateveryonewouldcomeintothedarknight,

heshouldlearntoadapttoitandarchawaytogetoutofit.

sion

Suchsimpleanalysismadeherehelpsusunscramblethestoryandeventheauthor

wayustheperfectwordsandexpressionstonarratethestory,and

wofthe

hreemendisplaythree

entreactionsof

way’sviewoflifeis

ly,

hetriestostressthedeterminationtoliveundergreatpressure.

References:

[1]JamesD,Hart.(1999).g:Foreign

Language.

[2]Deng,Z.T.(2010).ASpatialapproachtoHemingway’sagedcharacters.

ShanghaiInternationalStudiesUniversity.

[3]JacksonJ.(1990)NewCriticalApproachestotheShortStoriesofErnest

iversityPressBooks.

[4]Mao,J.F.(2000).Adesolatesoullivesadignifiedlife:ThethemeofHemingway’s

Aclean,lZhejiangUniversity(HumanitiesandSocial

Science),4,53-56