Diction In Ernest Hemingway's A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
Tone, Style, and Diction in Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” Ernest Hemingway’s writing choices are famously in favor of clear and concise language, sharply contrasting those of William Faulkner, an author who is known to use many fluid descriptions, metaphors, and similes in order to emphasize certain ideas. Although both Faulkner and Hemingway choose to describe more than just what is plainly written, they differ immensely in presentation. Faulkner adheres strictly to his own tradition of using powerful language to give his stories a strong tone, as if spoken by a descriptive storyteller. Hemingway on the other hand describes his stories impartially, avoiding bias towards one character or another, and instead telling things the way they are (or rather, the way he creates them to be). Hemingway’s tone, style, and diction in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is presented in a plain and unbiased fashion that allows its reader to capture exactly what Hemingway intends to say. Hemingway’s tone in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is
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Hemingway detracts from this clear form of writing by creating ambiguity as to who is speaking whenever dialogue appears. For example, in the following quote it is unclear whether both initial statements are made by the same waiter with a pause, or between the two waiters like a conversation: “’He had a wife once too.’ ‘A wife would be no good to him now.’ ‘You can’t tell. He might be better with a wife.’” (Hemingway 168). But aside from these vague discussions, what Hemingway describes is generally clear, almost as if he were speaking to the reader himself. Besides using clear English, Hemingway also uses Spanish in order to immerse his readers into the waiter’s thoughts and later the barman’s colloquial speech, exactly as imagined by Hemingway: “’Otro loco más’ said the barman and turned away.’” (Hemingway
Hemingway detracts from this clear form of writing by creating ambiguity as to who is speaking whenever dialogue appears. For example, in the following quote it is unclear whether both initial statements are made by the same waiter with a pause, or between the two waiters like a conversation: “’He had a wife once too.’ ‘A wife would be no good to him now.’ ‘You can’t tell. He might be better with a wife.’” (Hemingway 168). But aside from these vague discussions, what Hemingway describes is generally clear, almost as if he were speaking to the reader himself. Besides using clear English, Hemingway also uses Spanish in order to immerse his readers into the waiter’s thoughts and later the barman’s colloquial speech, exactly as imagined by Hemingway: “’Otro loco más’ said the barman and turned away.’” (Hemingway