Abstract

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), a Nobel Prize winner, was one of the best-known American writers of the twentieth century. He was typically regarded as the spokesman for the Lost Generation. His writing style, the particular type of hero in his novels and his life attitudes have been recognized and imitated by English-speaking countries and the world as a whole.

Almost all of Hemingway’s stories follow the theme of nothingness. And many critics have come at his nothingness thought. But they tend to relate nothingness to the feelings of despair and disillusionment of ideals. Few researchers try to analyze the nothingness thoughts from the positive perspective and see the coincidence between nothingness and being in Hemingway’s works.

 “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is written in 1933, a story which best illustrates his thoughts of nothingness among all his masterpieces. The plot is based on the association between the old man and the two waiters. It points out that nothingness is ubiquitous in human’s life, and the essence of which is actually the experience of one’s own being and the only way to resist nothingness is to keep a clean and well-lighted place in the mind，to recognize the reasons for being in the nothingness. 

   Hemingway lives in a world dominated by nothingness. The cruel war leaves him wound and disillusionment of dreams, but also trains him to be enduring and unbending. His life is full of ups and downs. Although he shot himself to being nothing, his rational call for “courage in the violent and dreadful world” and “grace under pressure" in his story is indeed an inspiration for all of the people at that time and nowadays. He himself is the miraculous epitome of being in the world of nothingness.

Keywords: Ernest Hemingway; A Clean, Well-lighted Place; Nothingness; Being 

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-6

2. Nothingness as one part of the theme-7

2.1 Plot of the story-7

2.2 Life in nothingness-7

2.2.1 The Origin of Nada-8

2.3 Character’s attitudes towards nothingness-9

3. Being as another part of the theme-10

3.1 Struggle over nothingness-10

3.2 Life with being-11

4. Being in nothingness as the theme-12

5. The Background of the Author and the Novel-13

5.1 The General Introduction of Hemingway-13

5.2 The Lost Generation-15

5.3 Existentialism and Nihilism-16

6. Conclusion-17

Bibliography-18