On the Sublime Beauty of Hemingway’s A Clean, Well-Lighted Place ——From the Perspective of Longinus’On the Sublime

贾强强

【Abstract】Ernest Hemingway is famous for his short stories and novels. And his short stories are all very simple and direct narrated. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is one of his representative short stories. On the Sublime is a classics dealing with the sublime beauty of literary works written by Longinus. The author thought that “sublimity is a certain distinction and excellence in expression, and that it is from no other source than this that the greatest poets and writers have derived their eminence and gained an immortality of renown”. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is pregnant with the sublime artistic elements both in the theme and the language.

【Key words】Ernest Hemingway; A Clean, Well-Lighted Place; Longinus; sublime beauty

Introduction

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is a famous short story of Hemingway. The story takes place in a Spanish town after the First World War. The plot is very simple. A deaf old man who was wealthy was sitting in a cafe alone. He had already been a little drunk. Two waiters used different attitude towards him. The younger waiter drove him away rudely because he wanted to go home immediately. Although already drunk, the old man still left a half peseta tip in a polite way when he left. The older waiter had the same feeling with the old man, and he thought they were living in a life full of “nada”, and everyone was confused with the future. Longinus is a Rome poet in the first Century A.D. On the Sublime is wide acknowledged as his work. In this work, Longinus said “sublimity is the echo of a great soul”, and “our soul is uplifted by the true sublime”. The reflection of the theme and the uses of writing skills by Hemingway in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place attract many readers and make the story being a sublime one.

The explanation of sublime in Longinus On the Sublime:

On the Sublime is a famous work dealing with the aesthetics. In this work, Longinus elaborately explained the principal sources of elevated language. He listed five principals of sublime. First and the most important is the power of forming great conceptions. Second is the vehement and inspired passion. Third is the use of figures and the forth is the noble diction, which in turn comprises choices of words, and use of metaphors, and elaboration of language. The fifth cause of elevation is dignified and elevated composition.

The embodiment of sublime beauty in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place:

The sublime beauty of the theme in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place:

As far as Longinus concerned, the most important element of a sublime work is the great conception. “Hence also a bare idea, by it self without a spoken word, sometimes excites admiration just because of the greatness of soul implied.”Based on his rich life experience, Hemingway chose a moving subject before the readers. The author gave the readers a vivid description of the old mans loneliness and his void. The old man was rich but deep void and his life was filled with frustration. He sought a clean and well-lighted place to escape from the “nada” for a moment of peace. He hid himself in the shadow of the leaves of the tree. At this time, the “light” in the cafe shows a great contrast to the reality, and it indicates existence, order, hope and survival for the old man. The theme of the story—nada, in fact, is not a personal fear of a specific thing, but a fear of the unknown future. After the First World War, there was a group of people called the “lost generation”, who held negative attitude to future life. They didnt know what they should do and they were surrounded by a sense of confusion and meaninglessness, just as the older waiter. Hemingway himself is one of them, and his famous works like The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms are representations of lost generation. Longinus thought the reason for Sapphos work success lies “in the skills with which she selects and binds together the most striking and vehement circumstances of passion”. It is also the same with Hemingways A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.

The sublime beauty of the writing skills in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place:

Hemingways works are known for the use of the “iceberg theory”, which indicates that the conflicts and the changes in his works are not discovered immediately. Longinus pointed the latter three principal sources of sublime are the figures of speech, noble diction and dignified and elevated composition, and they are “partly the product of art”. The excellent writing skills of Hemingway in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place also show the sublime beauty.

Firstly, Longinus proposed several rhetorical devices that can produce the sublime beauty, such as “the figure of question and answer”, “hyperbata” or inversions, “polyptota” and “periphrasis”. In A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, Hemingway mainly used “the figure of question and answer” to show the sublime beauty. In the story, there is a paragraph which narrates the older waiters conversation with himself when he turned off the electric light. “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.” From his own conversation, we can seethe world is full of “nothing”. The human is also a “nothing”, and they didnt know what they should do. Longinus said “questions asked and answered by oneself simulate a natural outburst of passion”, so the sense of alienation and meaninglessness of the society and people in this period is deep reflected in these few lines.

Secondly, when it comes to the noble diction, Longinus said the proper diction can make the works “grandeur, beauty, mellowness, dignity, force, power, and any other high qualities there may be”, but “that stately language is not to be used everywhere”. The language of Hemingways works is very simple and easy to understand. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is almost a dialogue. The diction is very easy, but the meaning behind it is significant. The old man only said four sentences, three of them asked the waiters to give him another brandy, but his images are deeply rooted in these four sentences. Whats more, with the discussion of the two waiters about the old mans suicide, his images of loneliness and void are reflected vividly. When the older waiter said playfully to the younger waiter that “you have no fear of going home before your usual hour”, we can indicate the moral degradation of that time. For his “iceberg theory”, Hemingway tried his best to make people understand the “one eighth” on the surface of the water, and at the same time, attracted the readers to imagine the rest “seven eighth” under the water better. That is the extraordinary aspect about his diction.

Last but not least, the last principal source of sublime is “dignified and elevated composition”, which is related to the structure of the whole work. Longnius said “the chief causes of the sublime in speech, ... is the collocation of members” and “when formed into a body by association and when further encircled in a chain of harmony they become sonorous by their very rotundity”. The story begins with the description of the “clean, well-lighted place” and the contrast with the day time of the street, and it ends with the older waiters praise of the “clean, well-lighted place”. For the structure of the story, it seems to form a circle, which gives readers a whole and complete impression of the place. It is the only place that people can escape themselves from the reality. The circle of the structure further promotes the sublime beauty of the story.

Conclusion

Hemingways rich life experience, deep insight and excellent writing skills have been accurately reflected in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. Though it seems simple, we can still feel his extraordinary personality and unique writing styles from this short story. Because of the sublime beauty in his works, Hemingway has been popular by the readers from domestic and abroad for a hundred years.

References：

[1]Li Ting.A Stylistic Analysis of Ernest Hemingways A Clean,Well-Lighted Place[J].海外英語,2016(10):190-191.

[2]Hemingway,Ernest.“A Clean,Well-Lighted Place.”Winner Take Nothing[M].Columbus:Ohio State University Press,1970.