Final Blog Assignment

Select at least 2 literary pieces we read and discussed in the course and explore how the author's theme affects and influences you.

I have chosen:
"A Clean Well-Lighted Place"
"Poem 280"


A Clean Well Lighted Place by Ernest Hemmingway

This short story takes place in a Spanish cafe, late in the night, after its closing time. There are two waiters and an old man in the cafe. The old man is delaying the closing of the restaurant because he is constantly ordering drinks. The younger of the two waiters gets impatient and refuses to serve him any more alcohol and hurries him on home. As the waiters lock up they discuss the elements of life and why the old man stays so late.

The theme for this short story is "Nothingness - How far one goes to escape from the nothingness of what life has become." The old man spends his nights at the cafe because he does not want to go home to his empty house which represents the nothingness of his life. The older waiter expresses the same feeling. He tells the younger waiter "You have youth confidence, and a job. You have everything" . The older waiter feels old and does not see life as he used to. This waiter did not go home after the cafe closed. He did like the old man and went to a bar to drink; hence, he did not want to go home either - "It was all a nothing he knew too well".

There is also an entire paragraph that rephrases the 'Lord's prayer' and replaces every other word with nada [i.e. nothing] . This shows that what he believed in [God, religion] has become nothing.

In addition, the characters of the story remain nameless. This in return shows that the names of the characters were not significant or held no importance to the story [this contributed to the feeling of nothingness].

The theme of 'A Clean Well-Lighted Place' has made me to view older individuals in a new light. Many times young people get impatient with old folks and don't understand or stop to consider what they might be going through. Also, it makes me want to spend time with the older generations of my family in hopes that, if their lives have become nothingness, maybe I can help change that.


'Poem 28' 'I felt a funeral in my brain' by Emily Dickenson.

This poem describes the feeling Emily Dickenson is experiencing mentally. She describes different elements of a funeral - the people ['the mourners'], the sound of the opening cuffin, the music [the drums beating, beating], etc.

The common theme is 'a struggle to bear life as it is- living feels like death'.

When I read this poem, I got the feeling that she was dying internally (mentally). She was giving up hope and letting nature take its course, as if all that was left was for family to bury her. What is a body without a soul?
In a literal sense, I was able to relate how she felt with the pain I experience in a headache, as I mourn the state of my 'health' and well-being. However, in the sense Emily portrayed, I felt that she was struggling to get a grip of life as it was. She was clearly extremely sad and depressed and did not want to be alive anymore.