英语小说导读-海明威之-a-clean-well-lighted-place的课后练习

ANSWERSTOQUESTIONS

1

·Whatbesidestheinsomniamakestheoldwaiterreluctanttogotobed?

Ifwejustfromthesurfacetoanswerthisquestion,wecanpickupsomeopinionfromthestory:

e.g.“Iamthosewholiketostaylateatthecafé,”theolderwaitersaid.“Withallthosewhodonotwanttogotobed.Withallthosewhoneedalightforthenight.”[page158Para.14]

“…EachnightIamreluctanttocloseupbecausetheremaybesomeonewhoneedsthecafé.”[page158]

However,ifweanalysesdeeply,wewillrealizethatinsomniaisjustasymbolismofthestory.Whenyouaresleeplessinthenight,youwillkeepawakethroughthehourofdarkness,andthiswillmakeyoufeellonelyandevenworse,thedespair.Thereisnotonlyaboutinsomniabutaboutloneliness,thedarknessoflife,thesegregationfromtheworld,andthenothingness.Andthosedesperatefeelingsarethemostimportantthingtomaketheoldwaiterandtheoldmanrefusetogotobed

·commentontheolderwaiter’smeditationwiththenadarefrain.

Nadameansnothing.ItisaSpanishword.Andfromthisrefrain,wecanknowthatnothingcannotbedealwithbymanorgod.Itisthesenselessnessofeachheart.Thereisnomeaninginlife.Nothingistheexperienceofone’sownexistence,andthethoroughunderstandingoflife.

·Whydoestheoldwaitersowellunderstandtheoldman’sneedforacafé?

Theoldwaiterisamiddle-ageman.Thoughheisn’tasoldastheoldman,hesuffersthewarandlife,andhealsohastheinsomnialikemanyothermen(perhapsincludingtheoldman).Healsofeelsthelonelinessandnothingnessinhislife.Sohecanunderstandtheoldman’sfeelingaboutthelife,andhecanevenrelateandseehisfutureintheoldman.Thisiswhytheoldwaitersowellunderstandstheoldman’sneedforacafé.Thecaféisapeacefulplacewheretheoldmancanescapefromthelonelinessandnothingnessanddesperationinthelife.

·Whatdoesthecaférepresentfortheoldmanandtheoldwaiter?

Thecaféisacleanandwell-lightedplaceinthestory.Itisanidealizedspace.Sittinginthecafé,theywillfeelpeacefulandcomfortable.Thecaféisaplacewheretheoldmanandtheoldwaitercan

3

·Thestyleofthestory

Inthisshortstory,wecanseeaveryHemingway’swritingstyle.

Firstly,youcanhardlyfindanycomplicatedwords,phrasesorsentences.Hemingwayuseseasyandsimplewordasmanyaspossible.Hetriestocutoutanyunnecessarywords.Thewholestoryiseasytoreadbutnottounderstand.

e.g.Itwaslateandeveryonehasleftthecaféexceptanoldmanwhosatintheshadowtheleavesofthetreemadeagainsttheelectriclight.[firstparagraph]

Secondly,thestoryconsistsofalotofdialogues.Andthesedialoguesarecolloquialandloose.

e.g.“Hewasindespair.”

“Whatabout?”

“Nothing.”[page155]

Thirdly,thedialogueisdeviatedfromordinaryconversationorder.

e.g.“Hemustbeeightyyearsold.”

“AnywayIshouldsayhewaseighty.”

“Iwishhewouldgohome.Inevergettobedbeforethreeo’clock.Whatkindofhouristhattogotobed?”(Thesethreedialoguesactuallyaresaidbytheyoungwaiter.)

·Whatrepetitionofwordsorphrasesseemparticularlyeffective?

Theword“café”appearsabout9times.Theword“nothing”appealsabout8timesandthe“Nada”appealsabout23times.“Light”appeals5times.“Cleanandpleasant”appeals3times.And“lighted(includingwell-lighted)”appealsabouttwice.

Ithinkthesewords’andphrases’repetitionsareveryeffective.Theyhaveadeepsymbolisminthestory.Forexample:Caféstandsforapeacefulplaceintheirheart,wherecangivethemcomfort.Andthroughthisrepetitionwewillpaymoreattentiontothiswordandthinkaboutitsprofoundmeaningandsymbolism.Anotherexample:inthestory,HemingwayusetheSpanishwordNada,thisisnotonlytoshowtheauthorwasgoodatSpanish,butalsotodrawreadersattention.Andmakesreaderthinkaboutthisword.

·WhydoyouthinkHemingwayfavorsasimplevocabulary?

IthinkthatHemingwayusesasimplevocabularybecausethewordisnotthemostimportantthingtoshowforhim.Themostimportantthinginhismindistoconveyideasabouttheworld.Andhedoesn’twantreadersspendalotoftimetoreadthestory,hewantsthereadersspendmoretimetothinkaboutwhatistheprofoundthingthestorywantstotell,andhewantsreaderstounderstandthestoryexactlybutnotjustpayattentiontotheplot.Andtheextremeshortnessmakesthepointofthestorymorepowerful.

4Thepointofviewanditsappropriateness

Thepointofviewofthestoryisthethirdpersonnarrator.

Hemingwayusesthispointofviewinordertomakeusseewhat’shappeningbothinsideandoutsideofthecharacters’minds.Wegethintsofwhat’shappeningwiththeyoungerwaiterandtheoldman.Andwecangetacloselookattheinsideoftheoldwaiter’smind,wherethetruemeaningofthestoryisrevealed.

5Thesymbolismofinsomnia

Thiswordjustappealsattheendofthestory.Whenyouareinsomniac,youcannotsleepinthenight.Andyouwilltouchtheworldmorecloselyandfeellonelier.Inthestory,insomniaisnotonlyakindofdisease,butthefeelingofloneliness,thedarknessoflifeandthesegregationfromtheworld.Itisaboutfear,nothingandloss.

6Themainideaofthestory

Thestorytalksaboutloneliness,whichHemingwayconsiderstobetheprincipaltragedyofmodernlife.Nothingisalsoanimportantthemeofthestory.Fortheoldman,nadameanshopelessness,aimlessnessandmeaninglessnessoflife.Sohechoosessuicide.Fortheoldwaiter,heunderstandsthefeelingoftheoldmanandhassympathytohim.Hecanalsofeelnothinginhislife.Asfortheyoungwaiter,hehasyouth,confidenceandajob.Hedoesn’trealizeheisalsoinnothing.Heisunawareofwhathehas.Hislifeisanotherkindofmeaninglessness.

7Elementsofthesettingofthestoryandtheatmospherethatwasbuilt

·Thephysicalsetting

e.g.Itwaslateandeveryonehadleftthecaféexpectanoldmanwhosatintheshadowtheleavesofthetreemadeagainsttheelectriclight.Inthedaytimethestreetwasdusty,butatnightthedewsettledthedustandtheoldmanlikedtositlatebecausehewasdeafandnowatnightitwasquietandhefeltthedifference.[page154—page155]

Inthisparagraphwecanseethetime—fromdaytimetonight.Theplace—acafé,acleanandwell-lightedcafé.Anditmakesatmospherethatadifferentplacefromthedaytime.Nowtheplaceisquietandthegoodlightgivespeopleasenseofsecurityandpeace.However,italsomakespeoplealittleupsetandhopelessnessthattheoldmansitsintheshadow.

·Thementalsetting

e.g.Somelivedinitandneverfeltitbutheknewitallwasnadaypuesnadaynadaypuesdana.Ournadawhoartinnada,nadabethynamethykingdomnadathywillbenadainnadaasitisinnada.…hailnothingfullofnothing,nothingiswiththee.[page159]

Thisistheoldwaite