1

A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”*

Hwang, In-Tae (Chungnam National University)

Hwang, In-Tae. 2002. A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” The

History of English, 14. The present paper, taking its direction form Roger Fowler's
and Enkvist's ‘new stylistics,’ attempts a stylistic analysis of Ernest Hemingway's
“A Clean, Well- Lighted Place.” With the goal of showing that examining the
language of a literary text can be a means to a fuller understanding and
appreciation of the writer's artistic achievement, this study examines the
development of the literary or aesthetic structure of the story and explicates
linguistic contributions to its thematic content. The actual method of stylistic
analysis is to closely observe deviations from language norms in a text as a work
of art and to proceed inward from the observed details to the central core of the
text, and then, in contrast, to proceed outward from the center in search of further
confirmatory details. The four prominent linguistic features, Hemingway's “choices”
of the story to be dealt with here are the repetition of major theme-words, generic
references, free direct speech, and the highly-condensed, economical dialogue. All
these devices are artistically or aesthetically interrelated and thus strike the reader
with definite artistic or aesthetic effect. Furthermore, they accentuate the theme of
nada and despair, and thus the content and form are organically related.
Key words: stylistics, style, deviation, Hemingway, theme, structure, dichotomy,
contrast, repetition, metaphor, articles, references, free direct speech,
highly-condensed dialogues, artistic effect.

1. Introduction

Stylistics examines the linguistic expressions used distinctively, characteristically,

or significantly for the design or themes in various aspects of literary texts, i.e.,
deviations or variations (distortions) in linguistic features which change the
aesthetic characteristics of the content or the emotive responses of the reader.
In stylistics, style is the way in which language is used for the sake of the

* Special thanks to Dr. Robert Johnston and Dr. John Nemnich of Chungnam National
University for some suggestions and editing.
2

text's effective expression. Style is, as a formal feature of writing,

systematically and organically associated with the intrinsic nature and structure
of the text. In Saussurean terms, it belongs to 'parole' rather than 'langue.'
Therefore, style refers to the particular choices on multiple levels of linguistic
organization in a particular language system. On the grounds that style is about
particular linguistic expressions, style can be said to be unconventional,
individual, creative, and aesthetic. Hence, it corresponds, no doubt, to a
linguistic deviation from conventional language use, 'the general practice'
(Hough 44).
The methods of analyzing style can be as varied and complex as are the
definitions of style. However, the following method is commonly used. The
first step is to closely observe the deviations from the language norm in a text
as a work of art, avoiding the mere linear accumulation of observations in the
vague or impossible expectation that some linguistic pattern will eventually
emerge. The second step is to proceed inward from the observed details to the
central core of the text, and then, in contrast, proceed outward from the center
in search of further confirmatory details. The process can then be repeated as
often as necessary, until the limits of understanding have been reached. During
this process, the text should be observed with spontaneous and intuitive insight.
Not corresponding to the logical method, this process cannot be manufactured
or enforced by a system. Some authentic connection between the observer and
the work of art must establish itself intuitively, and the road from the observed
peripheral factual aspects of the language matter to the central core traveled by
intuitive leaps. These intuitive leaps from surface details to the core must be
followed by the inspection of evidence through returning to the surface and
observing the details. The leaps and verifications should continue until a
satisfactory or suggestive understanding of the text is gained. Although, against
this background, Leech and Short regard style as having 'opacity' (39), this
process lays the foundation of the new stylistics.
Taking its direction from this new stylistics, the present study makes a
stylistic analysis of Ernest Hemingway's short story, "A Clean, Well-Lighted
Place." The reason for the choice of this work as an analytical subject is that it
has a poetic, organic form in which the whole structure of the work is tightly
 A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 3

intertwined by an innate energy, thus suiting stylistic analysis. With the goal of
explaining the relationship between the literary work's linguistic and artistic
functions, this study first examines the development of the literary or aesthetic
structure and then reviews the linguistic contributions to the thematic structure,
centering on nada (nothingness) and despair, a salient characteristic of
Hemingway's works. The story dramatizes the existential quest for dignity in
the modern chaos. With the contrast between the older waiter's acute awareness
and the younger waiter's ignorance, Hemingway emphasizes the understanding
and compassion of the older waiter so that this story becomes an affirmation
and advocates that, even in a world of chaos and nothingness, we must seek
dignity and relationship with others. Because of their special relevance to the
content of the story, the four linguistic aspects on which this study will focus
are: the repetition of major theme-words, generic references, free direct speech,
and the highly-condensed, economical dialogue.

2. Thematic Structure

As a spokesperson for the "Lost Generation," Ernest Hemingway expresses

the feelings of the war-wounded in the years following World War I, people
who rebelled against established ideals, only to replace them with despair. "A
five-page masterpiece," as Edmund Wilson calls the story, "A Clean, Well-
Lighted Place" (in Winner Take Nothing, 1933) reflects this loss of values
(Rovit and Brenner 93). The story concerns itself mainly with the theme of
nada (nothingness) and despair. The theme arises from his grasp of the
limitations and absurdity of the human condition in the 1920s and 1930s.
However, as Hemingway leads the reader to the understanding and compassion
of the older waiter, the pessimistic view of life itself is not Hemingway's final
view.
The structure of the story could be based on the opposing tendencies of the
central characters. Prominent throughout the story are the contrasting attitudes
of the two waiters toward the old man and the contrast of light and darkness.
These provide the basis of two opposing concepts, despair and confidence, a
contrast which is the keynote of the story. If the soldier and a girl enjoying
4

sexual escape in the dark also belong to the same class as the young waiter,
the contrasts in the story can be classified into the following dichotomy:

the younger waiter (immaturity) vs. the older waiter (experience)

confidence (self-reliance) vs. despair
satisfaction with reality vs. nothingness
acceptance of darkness vs. resistance to darkness (search for light)
the soldier and a girl vs. the old man
a dirty bar vs. a clean cafe

In the oppositional structure of the story, the shift of point of view is worth
noting. Broadly, the omniscient point of view shifts to the limited point of view
of the older waiter. This kind of shift of point of view supplements the
pictorial method of narration. The story is narrated as a landscape painting, in
which the distant view is painted first, and then the foreground. So, narration,
point of view, and light and darkness move as follows:

from: omniscient point of view to: limited point of view

a distant view a near view
around the cafe the older waiter's consciousness
darkness light

As the narration moves gradually toward a near view, the older waiter's inner
conflicts and light receive more attention than opposing elements.
The opposing structural tendencies in the structure of the story should be
discussed here in relation to the main theme. In the story, despair results from
insight into the human situation from which the old man and the older waiter
suffer, and confidence, symbolized by the younger waiter, results from
ignorance of the human condition. The conflict between the two is promoted by
the appearance of the deaf old man who had tried to hang himself and now
needs "a clean, well-lighted cafe" where he can stay late. The denouement is
the point where youthful confidence loses its meaning because of the reality
that "it is all a nothing and a man is nothing too" (561).1 At this point, dignity
 A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 5

in despair is emphasized. Despair pervades the story, and it necessarily

proceeds from a bitter consciousness of nada (the nothingness) of life. The
existential despair of both the old man and the old waiter is not the result of
some tangible, pressing cause. To the old man, having plenty of money does
not make any sense. To the old waiter, sleeplessness goes beyond insomnia.
Their feeling of despair centers on a craving for a sense of order and assurance
that many people find in religious faith or participation in a mythic world-view.

3. Lexical Repetition

The work's most important deviations from conventional language use are in
word repetitions. Many words and phrases appear along the above-mentioned
opposing tendencies: night appears twelve times, light seven times, nada or
nothingness 26 times. Also, the following words appear repeatedly at least 3
times: bed, cafe, clean, confidence, drunk, fear, glass, kill, late, lonely, money,
shadow. The recurrence of words and phrases in a work necessarily attracts the
reader’s attention, no matter the effect positive or negative.
Since the repetition of the word nada is a key to the aesthetic understanding
of the work in the theme and structure of the work, this section focuses only
on the repetition of nada and related words among other repeated words. Nada
or nothingness is definitely a stylistic choice on the grounds that it appears 28
times in the story and in the latter part is used as a substitute for important
content words of the "Lord's Prayer":

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 not into nada but deliver us from nada; (561).

Compare the nada prayer with the original Biblical and Catholic prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom

1
All quotations from "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," unless otherwise specified, are from the
D.C. Heath and Co. (1985) edition of Boyd Litzinger and Joyce Carol Oates.
6

come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day

our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those
who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil (Matthew, 6:9-13).

The same technique is applied to "Ave Maria(Hail Mary)": Hail nothing full of
nothing, nothing is with thee (561). In the beginning of the new version prayer,
the major words who art, name, kingdom remain, but towards the end, all the
nouns and verbs are replaced by nada. Such lexical repetition parodies the
"Lord's Prayer" and "Ave Maria." What makes this parody so interesting and
amusing, as black humor, is not simply recognizing what features are being
parodied and why, but also appreciating the author's own creative talents--fusing
creativity, wit or the very despair as seen in the story, with critique. On the
one hand, parody exposes certain stylistic features of the original text or
idiolect; on the other hand, in its own freedom of subject matter, it promotes
its own distinct identity.
Ignoring condensation and variation, such lexical repetition spreads a simple,
non-fictional narrative tone and vivifies the kind of linguistic density and
intensity which can be felt in a lyric poem.2 This repetition gains more
significance when related to the work's highly-condensed dialogues (dealt with
below). Repeated words in condensed dialogues are significant means of
heightening emotion and 'pointing' an argument or a theme. Especially,
repetition in the work's climax elicits a strong emotional response in readers.
Now, consider the repetitive effects and the meaning of nada, the keynote
theme of the work. With Nietzsche's pronouncement at the end of the 19th
century that "God is dead" and the disillusionment following World War I, the
established ideas and values of religion, politics, and philosophy were called

2
Also, the successive reproduction of axial conceptions gives rise to a constant progression of
thought or subject matter. Yet, paying heed to repetition's negative effects (possibly lack of
originality in expression, variety, or interruption of the logical arrangement of ideas), some
modern artists avoid using repetition by utilizing synonyms or pronouns for the purpose of
a change in the work or for the retention of the reader's attention. In some cases, the
repetition, indeed, especially the repetition of words or subject matter as a leitmotif, is
preferred, for it can effectively provide the work with emphasis, intensity of emotion, and
coherence.
 A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 7

under question. Modern life for some people shrank into deep spiritual darkness
and emptiness. Nada connotes a series of significant absences. It is a lack of
the spiritual sustenance, of morality, order, and dignity, of warm human
relationships. As Carlos Baker states, nada is a "Something called nothing
which is so huge, terrible, overbearing, inevitable, and omnipresent that, once
experienced, it can never be forgotten" (124). Though terribly significant, "some
lived in it and never felt it" (561), for example, the younger waiter.
In the story nada, visualized as darkness, is a symbol of the meaninglessness
of life, modern chaos and the passing of absolute systems of belief. The older
waiter and the old man suffer the same kind of bitterness against darkness
combined with a determination to face the darkness with light. So light refers
to reason, belief, order and meaning, even if only partial meaning. In this
context the parody of the two prayers, the "Our Father" and the "Hail Mary" is
indicative of the uselessness of established religion as a spiritual comfort in
such a world.
In contrast with nada, the cafe also becomes the most important symbol in
the story since it represents hope. In it, people retain their dignity and meet or
see other people with decency. While the old man's despair at home leads him
to attempt suicide, in the cafe he can drink brandy with composure and feel a
touch of security. The cafe is the only place where those who do not have
ignorance and the illusion of belief can pass the time with dignity. It is a
shelter and a barrier against nada. The cafe has the light; "light" refers to a
kind of awareness, realism and hope with which one can look into the darkness
and come to grips with the nada which is everywhere. Also, the cafe has
cleanness; "cleanness" is an absence of dirt and indicates a sense of order,
dignity and authentic civilization.
How the two main characters respond to nada is a key to the interpretation
of the story. Hemingway shows the modern conflict by contrasting the two
waiters; as the older one explains, "... we are of two different kinds" (561).
Although the old man is the main topic of the dialogue, he is not as important
as the two waiters. He functions as part of the setting or as a means for
accentuating the conflict between the two waiters. The old man seeks a sense
of order and personal dignity, perhaps even an escapist coziness, in drinking in
8

a clean, well-lighted cafe. His nightly drinking in the cafe makes him forget the
despair and meaninglessness he perceives so strongly in the dark world of
nada. The young waiter fails to understand the reason why the old man
frequents the cafe. When he refills the old man's brandy, he speaks harshly and
overflows the glass so that the rude behavior might drive the old man away.
Furthermore, the young waiter can not in the least figure out the cause of the
old man's despair and the old waiter's frequent comments about nothingness.
But the young waiter is not one-dimensionally defined as a snob or callow
youth. For even when refusing to serve the old man, he does not "wish to be
unjust. He was only in a hurry" (561). He is satisfied with his marriage and
eager to go home to his wife "waiting in bed" (560) for him. He is full of
youthful self-interest, lacking in empathy, and inexperienced in life. He is one
of those people who "lived in it [nada] and never felt it" (561). He even tells
the old waiter, "I have confidence. I am all confidence" (561). He is like many
young people who think that the world is as it should be and will always be
the same. Hemingway calls "imagination" moral and aesthetic sensibility (Benert
183), and the younger waiter appears to lack imagination, and thus he functions
as a foil for the old waiter.
Unlike his younger counterpart, the old waiter understands the old man's
despair and his need to seek the cafe's light. He expresses solidarity with the
old man, a "kindred spirit" (Luscher and Robinson 89) and wants to keep the
cafe open as long as the old man wants to stay. He knows that those who are
disillusioned by the dark and disordered world need such a place. He does not
have the faith or confidence of the young waiter. He is someone who can not
find anything to depend upon, neither within nor outside himself. He is
sleepless like the old man, both possessed by nada. His insight into nada
causes him to be awake all night, so he says that he could be of "those who
like to stay late at the cafe, .... with all those who do not want to go to bed,
with all those who need light for the night" (561). He suffers from the lack of
order and assurance that people earlier found in religious or nationalistic faith.
He is really one of the initiated who understands the true nature of the world,
who clearly sees the distinction between light and darkness, between the cafe
and the dirty bar. But his awareness of nada has not yet led him toward
 A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 9

self-destruction, nor self-actualization.

Furthermore, after he parodies orthodox religion with the altered prayers,
"he smiled and stood before a bar with a shining steam pressure coffee
machine" (562). He can smile because he knows that the world, himself, and
even his prayers are nothing. By the very act of awareness he can survive with
dignity. Turning off the light in the cafe and going home to bed is a daily act
of courage. The old waiter and the old man are like Santiago in The Old Man
and the Sea. They have dignity not necessarily from age alone, for it is usually
denied to inexperienced and passionate youth. In this respect, the old waiter can
be regarded as a kind of hero according to the Hemingway code.
The episode of the soldier with a girl also shows the difference between the
two waiters. The young waiter does not seem to be concerned about the
soldier. As he tries to close the cafe on time, he is more concerned about
curfew, ignoring the soldier's personal feelings. In contrast, the old waiter
understands an individual's limitations: "What does it matter if he gets what he
is after?" (559). He knows that the soldier is disillusioned with the military
world and seeks sex with the girl just as the old waiter and the old man need
to drink.

4. Generic References

There are no distinctive linguistic expressions at all for the characters and
the objects of "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." None of the characters or the
cafe, the background of the story, are given individual proper names. The
words "nada" and "hombre (line 14, "a man, fellow" in Spanish)" toward the
latter half of the story, only hints that the novel's setting is in a
Spanish-speaking area or society. In addition, no physical descriptions or
costumes of the characters are specified. This stylistic peculiarity is distant from
the norms of literary realism. Although less true at the time of the story's
writing, at present, such use of a foreign language has come to epitomize or
symbolize the chaotic nature of the multi-cultural, inter- penetrated world. It is
a feature much used in near-future science fiction in which languages have
merged to create an over-riding urban, dystopian pidgin.
10

The old man is referred to only as "the deaf man" (lines 40-1), "the old
man" or "the very old man" (line 88). References to the two waiters are more
restrained: for example, in the introduction of the story, it is almost impossible
to tell which of the two waiters is speaking in their dialogues. It is not until
line 29 that the author differentiates the speakers, specifying 'the young waiter'.
Throughout the story, the old waiter is "the unhurried waiter" (line 90), "the
older waiter" (lines 107, 114 and 118); the young waiter is "the waiter who
was in a hurry" (lines 77-8 and line 105) and "the waiter with a wife."
No individual characters and backgrounds in the story have any specific
idiosyncrasy. What meaning does this peculiarity have in relation to the story?
The characters without unique individuality represent all of us. The cafe is the
space of all modern people, the young waiter being the young lacking in life
experiences, and the old man and the old waiter being anyone who has fully
experienced life and realistically faced it. We can belong either with the
self-centered, young waiter or with the sensitive older men.
In this context, the indefinite article as in the title of the story and the
definite article as in "the old man," "the old waiter," and "the younger waiter"
have the same value.3 The author avoids referring to any specific cafe or
specific person and thus limiting the time and space his theme covers. Rather,
he opens the theme of the novel to any space and time and any particular
human in the then modern world, but what is now, from a historical
perspective, a specific past era.

5. Free Direct Speech

When using direct speech, a writer is claiming to represent the actual words
of a speaker within the quotation marks. The words are also explicitly marked

3
Quirk et al. (1985: 281-83) states that the indefinite article characterizes "any representative
member of the class" and can be replaced by 'any': The best way to learn a language is
to live among its speakers. The definite article do a more restricted function in terms of
generic reference and refers to "the class as represented by its typical specimen": No one
knows precisely when the wheel was invented. The definite article and the indefinite article
differ somewhat when used for generic references but the general usage is not greatly
different.
 A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 11

as such by an accompanying reporting clause or tag which commonly precedes

the reported clause, and contains a reference to the speaker, and a speech act
verb, eg., say, state, reply, or shout. Direct speech is certainly more expressive,
honest, and straightforward than indirect speech, since it admits exclamations,
terms of address, interjections, etc. Direct speech not only foregrounds the
nature of the utterance itself, but its truth value, whether in the journalistic
reporting of parliamentary proceedings in the real world, or the fictional world
of the novel. Indirect speech conveys the report in the words of the reporter.
The words of a speaker are presented in a nominal that-clause after a speech
act verb or clause (e.g., say, tell, ask, inquire etc.) In the process of reporting,
the direct words are transmuted. In the process of reporting, there is a tendency
for the bare propositional content only to remain, and for the colloquial
characteristics of actual speech, the idioms and prosodic features, to be lost,
filtered or interpreted, as it were, through the mind of the reporter or narrator.
So indirect speech is a useful economical device for novelists who wish to
keep a firm control on the narrative, and a steady pace.
Besides the categories of direct speech and indirect speech, a writer has
available to him the possibility of using free direct speech or free indirect
speech. Direct speech has two features which show evidence of the narrator's
presence, namely the quotation marks and the introductory reporting clause.
Accordingly, it is possible to remove either or both of these features, and
produce a freer form, which has been called free direct speech. The following
are examples of free direct speech:

a. "I want to see the dog."

b. I want to see the dog.

In the above examples, the characters apparently speak to the reader

immediately, without the narrator as an intermediary. Functionally, there seems
to be little difference between the two, but free direct speech tends to minimize
to an even greater extent the narrator's role and foreground the characters'
speech. It is used in fiction both to depict the mental reactions of characters to
what they see or experience and to represent dramatic discourse in the written
12

medium.
Free indirect speech refers to a kind of indirect speech or reported speech in
which the speech of a character and the words of the narrator are blended, but
there is generally no reporting clause and it retains some features of direct
speech such as direct questions and vocatives. Like indirect speech, the
illocutionary force and the propositional meaning of the supposed utterance of
the speaker are represented in free indirect speech, but not necessarily the
actual words (as in direct speech). Free indirect speech is often more vivid than
indirect speech, since other transpositions characteristic of indirect speech do
not usually occur. Despite this immediacy, free indirect speech clearly lacks the
impact of free direct speech, and suggests a narrator's voice in some control. It
commonly arises in the novel, or in parliamentary reports, for example, in a
context of narrative report or indirect speech. It can be effectively exploited,
like the other modes of speech representation, in the foregrounding and
backgrounding of characters and viewpoints, manipulating the reader's foci and
sympathy.
Examples of the above-mentioned four speech types are as follows:

1. Indirect speech (IS): He said that he wanted to see 1the dog there.
2. Direct speech (DS): He said, "I want to see the dog here!"
3. Free direct speech (FDS): I want to see the dog here!
4. Free indirect speech (FIS): He wanted to see the dog there!

Free direct speech has the reported clause of direct speech, but may omit either
or both of the features, the reporting clause and quotation marks. Above (3) is
the most extreme form. Free indirect speech is a mixture of direct and indirect
speech. In (4) above, the reporting clause associated with indirect speech is
missing, but the tense and the exclamation mark associated with direct speech
are retained. The present tense in the reported clause is backshifted to the past;
the first person pronoun becomes the third person; the verb and the adverb
here, expressing proximity, shift to those of distance.
Mick Short (1982:183) aligns the four speech modes along a line which
moves from a situation in which the character's exact words are apparently
 A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 13

given without any narrator's interference, to one in which the utterance is

apparently completely under the narrator's control.

Character Narrator
apparently apparently
in control in control
FDS DS FIS IS

Free direct speech and direct speech present the words of the speaker in his
own words. In terms of the degree of 'character apparently in control,' free
direct speech is more extreme than direct speech. Leech states that "as direct
speech is the norm for the presentation of speech, the use of free indirect
speech is usually perceived by readers as indicating narratorial intervention. It is
thus often used for distancing, irony, or both."
In terms of Hemingway's manipulation of point of view in connection with
the thematic axis, the free direct speech mode is a very important and
conspicuous stylistic choice in the story. In Hemingway's works, this mode of
speech is often used; Hemingway is fond of omitting the reporting clause. In
"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" a stylistic choice of free direct speech appears
in 28 line-long-dialogue between the initial direct speech and the next narrative
sentence (lines 46 to 75), followed by another three dialogues: 92-98, 108-113,
and 123-126. The following dialogue of free direct speech is only a portion of
the 28 lines of the conversation between the two waiters:

'He's drunk now,' he said.

'He's drunk every night.'
'What did he want to kill himself for?'
'How should I know?'
'How did he do it?'
'He hung himself with a rope.'
'Who cut him down?'

The dialogues have quotation marks but do not have reporting clauses. So these
14

dialogues belong to a rather simple form of free direct speech. The above
dialogue has the characters apparently speaking to each other immediately
without the narrator as an intermediary. There seems to be little difference
between the speech of the two characters in this dialogue. Without the reporting
clauses specifying which character says what, the writer makes it very difficult
for us the reader to identify and remember which character is which. Naturally,
confusion is gradually produced in the reader's mind. This psychological effect is
the author's intentional choice of deviation. The author deliberately makes it hard
for the reader to identify the speaker in the conversation between the two
waiters, so that the reader's reading and interpreting of the work is temporarily
deferred, just as in everyday experience when overhearing a conversation out of
eye-sight, say, behind you on a bus. The reader experiences ambiguity or even
anxiety. In the reader's case, this limitation is removed only when connected with
the old waiter's mental struggles and his self-identification with the old man,
toward the climax or denouement of the work. The author deliberately
encourages the reader to make an initially incorrect discrimination between the
two waiters, which, when discovered and corrected, amounts to a kind of
peripeteia. Hemingway, in short, is making things deliberately difficult for his
readers in this story, in contrast to the stereotype that his style is journalistic,
factual and clear.

6. A Highly-Condensed Dialogue

In connection with the dialogue of free direct speech examined above,

highly-condensed dialogues should be noted here. In this work, there are a total
of 113 dialogue sentences. The number of the words in these 113 sentences is
596. Consequently, there are, on an average, 5.27 words in each sentence of
dialogue. Strikingly, 9 sentences out of 113 consist of only one word. The
longest sentence is made up of 17 words. The following is a detailed statistical
table showing dialogue size and frequency. The percentage means the number
of times or the frequency each sentence appears in the 113 sentences.
 A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 15

Table 1. Dialogue size and frequency

words per sentence frequency cumulative
line
sentence frequency percentage percentage
1 9 8.0% 8.0%
11,14,79,82,83(2),105,112,145
13,31,44,53,63,69,71,79,
2 14 12.4% 20.4%
81,101,113,127,128,144
32,34,41,46,57,63,67,72(2),
3 16 14.1% 34.5%
81,106,108,110,146,147,154
12,30,34,47,49,52,55,71,
4 15 13.3% 47.8%
93,98,99,106,124(2),153
16,26,50,54,68,71,91,95,
5 10 8.8% 56.6%
109,111
24,27,51,56,58,60,65,69,
6 13 11.5% 68.1%
73,94,103,113,118
10,15,36,40,59,62,67,70,
7 4 12.4% 80.5%
73,92,96,104,107,124
8 7 6.2% 86.7% 26,35,48,60,90,117,123
9 4 3.5% 90.2% 64,66,74,97
10 4 3.5% 93.7% 25,61,112,116
11 2 1.7% 95.4% 115,102
12 2 1.7% 97.1% 114,149
13 0 0% 97.1%
14 1 0.8% 97.1% 125
15 0 0% 97.9%
16 1 0.8% 98.7% 119
17 1 0.8% 100% 121
total 113 100% 100%

Ninety percent of the sentences consist of less than ten words. Highly
condensed sentences in the free direct speech mode supposedly make the reader
feel that the words are actually and naturally being uttered by each character at
that moment. They give emotional immediacy to the speakers and even the
reader, and so dramatize the whole situation of the story. Moreover, just as
concise replies in a real conversation are felt to keep some distance between
the speaker and the listener, that kind of dialogue separates the two waiters and
vividly embosses their contrasts. In fact, the incomplete revealing of the
characters' emotions and their non-emphatic language show a rupture or
estrangement of communication between characters. Eventually the highly-
16

condensed dialogues contribute to deepening and consolidating the structure of

the story based on two opposing tendencies and to constantly increasing the
tension and anxiety between the two factors.
The very short sentential rhythm with simple and restrained words may be the
product of the author's intention to convey, as realistically as he can, the
situational context of the weird world the story unfolds and its people. The author
tries to avoid completely the subjectivity which has arisen from his intervention.
He makes the situation of the story more plausible and simultaneously entices the
readers to search for the theme on their own. In a sense, such a restrained
dialogue form provides poetic intensity and concentration, which is difficult to
convey in English language prose. Definitely, this stylistic choice intensifies the
emotional perception of the experience of the story's world.
Among Hemingway's characters, mentioning of emotions or feelings is
something to avoid. What Jake Barnes in The Sun Also Rises says to Brett
Ashley, "Let's not talk. Talking's all bilge," might be one of Hemingway's basic
literary intentions. Such restrained conversation, as Richard Bridgeman puts it,
can be extended into even "silence, the other side of speech." Against this
backdrop, Hemingway's writing may be understood as poetic rather than
dramatic, with restrained or even silent lyricism, rather than confessional lyricism.
Reticence or silence is a metaphor expressing a reaction to chaotic or relativistic
modern society. For this reason the old man in the story doesn't participate in
any conversation but says much by maintaining silence throughout the story.

7. Conclusion

With a major theme of nada and despair, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"
dramatizes the modern chaos and the existential quest for dignity in it. With the
contrast between the older waiter's acute awareness and the younger waiter's
ignorance, Hemingway emphasizes the understanding and compassion of the
older waiter so that this becomes an affirmative story which advocates that,
even in a world of chaos and nothingness, we must seek dignity and
interrelationship. Within the story, the four prominent linguistic choices are the
repetition of major theme-words, the generic references, free direct speech, and
 A Stylistic Study of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” 17

the highly-condensed, economical dialogue, all well-suited to expressing the

author's ideas. All these devices are interrelated and thus strike the reader with
definite artistic effect. Furthermore, they accentuate the theme of nada and
despair and thus the content and form are organically related.

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Department of English Language and Literature

Chungnam National University
220, Gung-Dong, Yuseong-Gu
Daejeon, 305-764, Korea
042-821-5336, [email protected]

Received: November 25, 2002

Revised version: December 4, 2002