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Post by jarelyrebollar on Jun 2, 2024 13:34:12 GMT
"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway seems to be written as a perfect example of American Existentialism. All three characters can be viewed as being existentialists. The younger waiter views the old man's suicide attempt as meaningless since he has money; in contrast, the older waiter can understand why the old man continues to stay late and drink until he's drunk.
The short story tells about the conditions of nothingness and how both older characters respond to that nothingness.
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Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jun 2, 2024 18:44:11 GMT
Great post, Jarely! Let's talk a little more about the "conditions of nothingness." In particular, I want to look at the famous interior monologue from the older waiter:
What did he fear? It was not a fear or dread. It was a
nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too.
It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order.
Some lived in it and never felt it but he knew it all was nada y pues nada y nada y
pues nada. Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy
will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us
our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from
nada; pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with thee.
Basically, this whole thought bubble is a lot about nothingness. But it seems like the waiter fears "a nothing that he knew all too well." Then, when it comes to the prayer, are we seeing his belief in nothingness-- -whereas the word "nada" (Spanish for nothing) replaces the deity? Or is this an essentially atheistic prayer, professing un-faith in traditional Christianity? Or both?
To borrow a great phrase from Jarely, what does existentialism "tell [us] about the conditions of nothingness" and how do our characters "respond to that nothingness"?
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