Loneliness and Alienation

In “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” Hemingway successfully captures the essence of loneliness, and the terrible impact it can have on various people’s lives. He focuses on the differing attitudes of the older and younger waiter towards the old man. It is apparent that because of the generation gap between the two waiters, they cannot see eye-to-eye on the importance of the café to the old man and to others.

Hemingway expresses the theme of loneliness and alienation through the images of lightness and darkness. The lighting of the café represents a haven for those who fear the darkness or the unknown. Because the old man is deaf, he is already separated from the world on one level. To add to his suffering, he has also lost his wife. He and the older waiter prefer the “clean, well-lighted café” to bodegas because it provides them an escape from their worlds of pain. Bars are normally dirty and dimly lit, inviting in the darkness, reminding the old man and the older waiter of the “nothing” that consumes them. They stay up through the night because, “[They are] lonely (35).” Unlike the younger waiter, they have nothing to go home to other than an empty bed. When Hemingway first introduces the old man, he is sitting, “in the shadow of the leaves of the tree…against the electric light (1).” Although the man finds comfort in the lighting of the café, I feel as though he sits in the shadows of the tree because they hide his old age, and the suffering he is experiencing.

The younger waiter represents a generation that is utterly self-consumed and living for the present. He has a wife, a job, and above all, youth. When talking about the old man to the older waiter, he cannot understand why a man with so much money would try to kill himself. He implies that the only thing that truly measures one’s happiness or success is money. When the older waiter asks the young man why the old man attempted suicide, he says it was nothing. The older waiter questions how he knew it was nothing, and the young man responds with, “He has plenty of money (7).” The younger waiter does not see past the material world. He cannot sympathize with the old man because he has not experienced his pain. The younger waiter represents those who discard the old as being an annoyance and inconvenience when he says to the older waiter, “An old man is a nasty thing (42)….”He should have killed himself last week (17).”

The older waiter recognizes the differences between him and his counterpart. He realizes that the younger waiter will not be able to understand the full capacity of loneliness until he has experienced it. He says to the young man, “We are of two different kinds….It is not only a question of youth and confidence …Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the café (71).” The older waiter stays up through the night just like the old man because he too, prefers the light. He was not afraid of the darkness, he simply could not handle the emptiness in his life—“it was a nothing that he knew too well (76).” Both he and the old man realize that there is nothing waiting for them in their futures other than more pain, loneliness, and alienation. The old man tries to temporarily suppress his pain by drinking his nights away. He cannot rest peacefully without the pain of loneliness eating away at him. We see at the beginning of the story that he tried to escape the pain by committing suicide but was prevented from doing so by his niece.

The older waiter understands loneliness and the terrible toll it can take upon people. He wants the café to be a refuge for the lonely, and be there when they need help. The café represents a place where people can come to escape and provide them an antidote to their suffering. The older waiter rises above his status, and in his own quiet way is a representative of a higher being that is there to serve when needed. The older waiter suffers just as the old man does, however, he does not let it drive him to the point of suicide. “After all,” he says at the end, “it is probably only insomnia (85).” (747)

Short Stories

Having already read part of “A & P” in Ms. Garagiola’s class last year, I liked having the opportunity to finish the whole story. John Updike does a remarkable job in painting very vivid pictures for the reader. “…the kind of girl other girls think is very “striking” and “attractive” but never quite makes it…(2) and “the whole store was like a pinball machine and I didn’t know which tunnel they’d come out of (11)” are just a couple of the descriptions that I found very witty, which stayed with me after reading the story. Updike describes not only the people but also the grocery store so well that he makes ordinary objects seem very interesting. I liked that he told the story through Sammy’s eyes; the reader is able to take a look into the mind of Sammy. We notice first what catches his eyes first—like when the girls walk in, he notices her legs and the bathing suits; it brings in an interesting perspective. It was interesting to see the different reactions of the people in the grocery store to the girls. Sammy and his friend couldn’t keep their eyes off the girls. The women in the store, however, had a very different perspective. They were not happy, and their reactions could certainly be mistaken for jealously. I think that one of the reasons that Sammy quit his job was because when the girls left the A & P, I think he realized that there are so many other interesting things that go on in the world other than working in a grocery store. I got the sense that Sammy was very bored with his job; once the girls walked in, that was all he could pay attention to. When the “queen” of the three girls stood her ground when the manager was telling her she was not properly dressed, I think at that moment, Sammy finally worked up the courage to quit his job and move onto something more interesting.

In “Revelation,” I was taken aback when Mary Grace suddenly threw the book at Mrs. Turnpike and then proceeded to try and bite her. My first reaction was utter astonishment; I did not pick up any clues before the incident occurred that might have foreshadowed it. There was one question in class that I thought was interesting, but ran out of time before an answer could be given, which was “Do you think Mrs. Turnpike is a changed woman?” One aspect that was apparent in the story was that she thought of herself as a giving woman who was thankful for what she has; however, I think that when she gives to charity, she is just going through the motions without putting any sincerity behind it. I think that she believes that if God sees her giving back to the community, then she will automatically go to Heaven. She is helping those who are less fortunate for the sole reason that she hopes that it will benefit herself. I do not think her “revelation” will change her. Initially, I think that she will try to be really good and not judge people as harshly as she did in the waiting room, but after a week or so I think she will return to her previous behavior.

There are many parallels that can be drawn between “Revelation” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Both stories have a main character—Mrs. Turnpike and the grandmother—who categorizes people by their social status. All Mrs. Turnpike does while she is in the waiting room is judge those around her, referring to one woman as “white trash.” The grandmother, when talking to the Misfit mentions how he probably isn’t from “common blood.” Both characters like to talk a lot. There is also a theme of violence in both stories—Mary Grace attacking Mrs. Turnpike and the grandmother and her family being murdered. Both stories begin with a lot of description, which leads to a surprising turn of events and a sad ending for the characters. In both stories, I was left at the end wishing that Mrs. Turnpike and the Misfit would turn into good characters but O’Conner never made that happen. O’Conner states in her Excerpt from “On Her Own Work” that, “violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality (pg. 398).” In both stories I was hoping that everyone would have a happy ending that is so common in the movies but instead I was left with a sadness for the characters. One other parallel is that the characters in both stories are heavily into their religion. Mrs. Turnpike constantly thinks about how God could have made her into a less fortunate woman, but because she gives to the poor and has a good heart, she was blessed. The Misfit talks about Jesus and raising the dead. I think that Christianity prevails throughout the stories because O’Conner herself, was, “a devout Roman Catholic (pg. 357).” (829)

Thoughts

The first time I read through “A Rose for Emily” I was very surprised to find that Emily had killed Homer Baron; I had not taken note of all of the foreshadowing clues throughout the story that led to the climactic ending. I remembered reading that she was mentally ill but had not realized how sick she really was until the ending. I feel as though Faulkner purposely hid the clues so that he could hopefully surprise the reader at the end. I remember reading about Emily buying arsenic, the house’s strange smell, and Homer’s mysterious disappearance, but Faulkner strategically placed all of these key clues so that I was not able to connect the dots before the ending. After reading through the story a second time however, I was able to see just how many clues Faulkner had given the reader.

By the end of “Everyday Use,” I pitied Dee. The way she treated Mama and Maggie, her own family, was so disrespectful. I was very pleased to see that Mama finally stood up for Maggie at the end of the story and put Dee in her place by refusing to give her the quilts. It was obvious that Dee only wanted to use the quilts for materialistic purposes. She said herself that the quilts could be worth a lot of money. In the story, it said that every time Dee took a picture of her family, she would make sure the house was in it too. I came away with the feeling that Dee liked to show people where she came from, but not in a proud manner. I think that she wanted to commend herself on how far she has come on her own—torn down, lower class house to flashy, high money objects. She automatically places herself on a pedestal high above Mama and Maggie, and has no shame in putting down her family.

In “Teenage Wasteland,” it was apparent that Donny had problems. The problems began once Amanda was born, which Daisy tells us; Daisy says that the baby was a lot to handle, and she couldn't give Donny as much attention as she did before Amanda was born. I think the underlying reason that Donny had so many problems—drinking, smoking, cutting class, etc. was due to the fact that he was trying to get back at his mother and show her how he felt when he was growing up. Donny ended up taking it to the extreme however, by running away, but I think that he wanted Daisy to feel the pain that he felt when he was younger.

I thought Cal was one of the more interesting characters in “Teenage Wasteland.” I find it odd that he came so well recommended by Donny’s school, because every time Donny was at Cal’s house, it seemed the only thing they were doing was messing around. As the story moves on, Cal and Donny become closer, while Donny and his mother grow further apart. I thought it was interesting that Cal had already been divorced at his young age, because his wife was too “controlling.” I think that Cal sees a little bit of himself in Donny and tries to live through him. I think Cal feels as though he was being suppressed for so long under his wife that when he saw a young boy (Donny) going through the same thing, he wanted to save him (Donny) from the pain that he (Cal) went through. At the end of the story, when Daisy finally listens to her heart and stands up to Donny, I think Cal believes that he has lost the game. I think his goal was to completely separate Daisy and Donny, so when Daisy finally takes control of the situation, Cal thinks Donny is a lost cause and gives up on him by saying Donny is emotionally ill.

One thing that I have constantly seen throughout the stories that we have read this week is that many of the characters wish they led different lives. So many of them—Daisy, Mama, Donny, Mr. Kapasi, Mrs. Das—wish they could change themselves, or those around them. Both Daisy and Mama are self-conscious and wish their lives turned out differently. Daisy is constantly second guessing herself and never follows what her heart tells her. She does not like the way she looks and worries too much about what others think about her. Mama, in the beginning of “Everyday Use,” talks about how she wishes she were skinnier and more feminine. Donny wishes that he could get his mom to trust him and pretty much just stay out of his life. Mr. Kapasi fantasizes about his future with Mrs. Das, and how he would rather be with her than his own wife. Finally, Mrs. Das confesses that she doesn’t even love her husband and children anymore. She wishes that she could leave them and start over with her life. No one is happy with the way they live. I think the purpose of making the characters appear this way is to have the reader sympathize with them. (853)