Comparative Reading of Hemingway's “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” and William Faulkner’s “The Bear”

Learning Points 

1. Students are encouraged to reflect on the essential literary components of both "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway and "The Bear" by William Faulkner through this comparison.

2. The essay also engages students by connecting the themes of the narrative to broader ones discovered in comparative studies.

3. In this essay, students are challenged to consider the tension between egotism and empathy.

OVERVIEW OF BOTH THE STORIES

Faulkner’s “The Bear”:

• Follows Ike McCaslin over a decade, focusing on his “coming of age.”
• Explores themes of humanity’s relationship with nature and personal growth.
• Written in a free-flowing, lyrical style with rich descriptions and imagery.
• Features a wide range of characters, including Ike, his grandfather, and fellow hunters.
• The wilderness serves as both a literal and symbolic setting, representing challenges, heritage, and survival.
• Raises questions about morality, inheritance, and human connection to land.

Hemingway’s “A Clean Well-Lighted Place”:

• Set in a single evening at a quiet café, with a simple, concise narrative.
• Centers on an old man, a young waiter, and an older waiter, focusing on their brief yet telling interactions.
• Minimalist style with sparse dialogue, creating a meditative, contemplative mood.
• Explores themes of loneliness, nihilism, and human need for solace.
• The well-lit café symbolizes a refuge from life’s darkness and emptiness.
• Emphasizes human resilience and the small, often unseen ways people cope with life’s existential questions.

Comparison:

• “The Bear” is expansive and action-packed, while “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” is minimalistic and introspective.
• Faulkner’s story addresses humanity’s bond with nature, while Hemingway’s focuses on internal struggles and finding peace in a chaotic world.
• Both stories depict the human experience, with Faulkner using nature as a grand setting and Hemingway emphasizing solitude in a confined space.

Introduction

Hemingway’s “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” and Faulkner’s “The Bear” indeed stand as two remarkable works in American literature, offering contrasting yet insightful explorations of human isolation, existentialism, and the relationship between humanity and nature. Both stories engage the reader through distinct narrative styles and structures, focusing on unique settings and symbolic devices that resonate deeply with modernist and naturalist themes.

Points of Similarities

In both Hemingway’s and Faulkner’s works, a minimalist style is present, though expressed in contrasting ways. They emphasize essential experiences, leaving gaps that allow the reader to interpret the underlying messages. Both stories tackle themes of loneliness and isolation, often through man’s confrontation with his inner self or with the natural world. For instance, in “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” the cafe symbolizes a refuge from life’s darkness, much like the wilderness in “The Bear,” which serves as a test of personal growth for Ike McCaslin, the protagonist.

Points of Differences

The narrative structure and stylistic approaches differ greatly. “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” is compact, with a straightforward, cyclical structure that follows two waiters discussing an elderly patron’s loneliness. This simplicity accentuates the repetitive, timeless quality of the characters' lives. In contrast, “The Bear” is layered and expansive, employing a multi-perspective structure interspersed with background on the land’s mythology and history, reflecting the complexity of Ike’s encounters with nature and with existential questions.

Structural perspective of the stories

Hemingway’s story utilizes brevity to create a resonant, minimalist narrative. The story is split into three parts: the initial dialogue, a deeper reflection on the older waiter’s solitude, and the concluding conversation. The structure emphasizes the repetitiveness of existence. Faulkner’s “The Bear,” however, unfolds in a segmented structure that mirrors the multiplicity of perspectives on the human-nature relationship. This complex arrangement allows the reader to appreciate the nuanced interplay between Ike’s moral reflections and his physical challenges in the wilderness, illustrating a layered examination of existence.

Rhetorical perspective of the stories 

Hemingway employs a restrained, minimalist style with understated dialogue, while Faulkner uses dense and vivid language to evoke the wilderness’s texture and complexity. In Hemingway’s story, phrases like “nada” (nothing) emphasize themes of existential despair, while in Faulkner’s story, symbolic language and shifting points of view invite readers to immerse in Ike’s transformative journey in the natural world. Hemingway’s simplicity thus reflects a sense of timeless solitude, while Faulkner’s lyrical complexity highlights the profundity of man’s interaction with nature.

Comparative Character Analysis

In “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” the characters reflect different attitudes toward loneliness. The old man finds solace in the cafe, the younger waiter is dismissive, and the older waiter sympathizes, understanding the refuge the cafe provides. In “The Bear,” Ike’s companions (Major de Spain, Boon Hogganbeck, Sam Fathers, and the symbolic Old Ben) reveal his moral and philosophical dilemmas as he confronts the wilderness and his responsibility to the land. While Hemingway’s story uses a small cast to capture existential reflections, Faulkner’s broad array of characters reveals the complexity of human and environmental interconnectedness.

Understanding Symbols & Motifs

In Hemingway’s story, key symbols include the cafe, representing solace against existential emptiness, and the older waiter’s insomnia, symbolizing spiritual unrest. Faulkner’s “The Bear” features Old Ben as a naturalistic symbol, representing the wilderness’s untamed spirit. The bear, along with other characters like the fierce hunting dog Lion, embodies the intense yet precarious bond between human and nature. While Hemingway’s symbols convey a stark, isolated human experience, Faulkner’s motifs reveal human struggles within the larger forces of nature and tradition.

Critical Conclusion 

Hemingway’s “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” is praised for its minimalist elegance, capturing themes of isolation and despair with simplicity. Faulkner’s “The Bear” offers a rich tapestry of perspectives on the human-nature relationship, probing the impact of human decisions on the natural world. Both stories have achieved lasting acclaim for their deep philosophical reflections on life’s essential struggles. Each work offers a timeless portrayal of human resilience, whether through quiet solitude or an immersive journey into nature, ensuring their place as significant explorations of the human spirit.

Ardhendu De

(Note: American author Ernest Hemingway first published "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" in Scribner's Magazine in 1933. It was also included in his collection Winner Take Nothing (1933).

The history of "The Bear"'s publications is convoluted. Its original version, which was first published in The Saturday Evening Post on May 9, 1942, is very different from the version in Go Down, Moses. In 1955, Big Woods, a collection of hunting tales by Faulkner, included a third version.

( "Was", "The Fire and the Hearth", "Pantaloon in Black", "The Old People", "The Bear", "Delta Autumn", "Go Down, Moses")

Ref:

1. R. Noble. (n.d.). Hemingway: A Revaluation. (1998).

2. Harnngton, & Abadie . (n.d.). Faulkner and the Short-Story.(1992).

3. IGNOU Study Guide

Farther Studies

1. Who is the protagonist in The Bear by William Faulkner?
2. Who kills old Ben in The Bear?
3. What does The Bear symbolize in The Bear by William Faulkner?
4. What is the theme of The Bear by William Faulkner?
5. What is William Faulkner The Bear about?
6. What is the plot in the story The Bear?
7. Is The Bear a short story?
8. How many sections are there in the story The Bear?
9. Who are the 3 characters in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place?
10. What type of character is the old man in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place?
11. Who is a symbolic character in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place?
12. Who is the antagonist in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place?