Ernest Hemingway

A detailed Summary of Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway is an American author whose ideas of courage and honor in a confusing and hostile world, remain as inspiration to this day. The short stories of Ernest Hemingway are among the most important works of American literature. In order to understand more about American literature, I have chosen two of Hemingway's short stories to compare and contrast the elements on the characters and the stories. The two stories are "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" and "A Very Short Story".

In the story "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," by Hemingway, he describes the feeling of the characters towards each other. The characters include an old man, a young waiter, and a middle aged waiter. They all represent different age groups. The young waiter represents youth, the old man represents old age, and the middle aged waiter represents the transition between the two age groups.

In the story "A Very Short Story," by Hemingway, he initially sets the foundation for what seems to be a tragic love affair. The author begins to describe the relationship between a nameless male and a woman named Luz who works in a hospital. They meet, fall in love, and have stimulating and challenging careers, plan to get married. Then, forces beyond their control sep

In both stories, Hemingway doesn't spend much time or effort using long, detailed descriptions and dense language. He simply tells the story as it is. You can see that the very first sentences of both stories provide the most description out of the entire piece. However, although he has told the story in a very journalistic manner, he has still included the character's deep feelings and emotions which I find difficult to do when using such a straightforward, distant style. Throughout the entire story, he uses the shortest, simplest sentences that are straightforward and describe what is happening in a concise manner. I was amazed by how quickly the events of these stories move.

The similarities of both stories are the introduction, absence of character's name and the puzzling ending. In the introduction (first paragraph) "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," Hemingway starts with the setting and the background of all the characters, In the beginning (first sentence) "A Very Short Story," Hemingway wastes no time and describes the setting of the story (a hot evening in Padua) and the character (Luz and a nameless man). Also, Hemingway simply mentions the character as they are in both of the stories, which he did not give the characters names. For example, old man, young waiter, middle aged waiter, and the major. The puzzling ending which leads the read to think, "The middle aged waiter said to himself, it is probably only insomnia. Many must have it." (Hemingway); In the story, "A Very Short Story," Hemingway brings the entire sequence of events to a close,

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Approximate Word count = 1053
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English