Hello all, I just wanted to let you know that I did not include a conclusion in my rough draft because I wanted to get feedback from everyone before I write it. Also, I wanted to think about what I wrote a little bit more so I can figure out how I want to conclude my paper.
Hopefully the format comes out on here, I know how to do block quotes and MLA format, so no need to correct me on that since this is just my rough draft and I don't know if the format will come out right. Thanks for you help!
Megan Smith
Hopefully the format comes out on here, I know how to do block quotes and MLA format, so no need to correct me on that since this is just my rough draft and I don't know if the format will come out right. Thanks for you help!
Megan Smith
English Composition II
Essay #5: Rough Draft
July 22, 2011
Taking Refuge in Ritual
More often than not, when reading a story, the reader is often reminded of another story and can tie the two together. In Ernest Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" the elderly man and the older waiter handle their despair in a routine manner which helps shed light as to why the main female character in Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" begins to handle her unfortunate situation in a somewhat ritualistic manner. The elderly man and the older waiter find that the café is a peaceful place that helps them deal with their anguish, while the main female character in Gilman's story takes refuge in her writing and the wallpaper to forget about her illness and her inferiority in her marriage. Although the older characters in Hemingway’s story have rituals, the younger waiter quickly discredits them, similar to how John fails to acknowledge Charlotte’s rituals.
In Ernest Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” the older waiter seems to have a personality that allows the reader to relate to in a number of different situations. The older waiter treats the elderly deaf man in the café with respect while still being curious about his suicide attempt. As the story progresses we realize that the older waiter finds comfort in the café and it is a place of refuge, a safe haven for him, since it is a unique setting that attracts a specific type of person. When closing up the café for the night, the younger waiter sees rushed and anxious to leave, but the older waiter attempts to explain him that he has his youth and confidence, and it should not be taken for granted. The older waiter explains the importance that the café has to him:
I am one of those who like to stay late at the café. With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night…. It is not only a question of youth and confidence although those things are very beautiful. Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the café…. This is a clean and pleasant café. It is well lighted (Hemingway 98).
The older waiter is patient with the fact that other people, such as the younger waiter, may not have the same appreciation and viewpoint as he does in regards to the café. The café is a place of refuge for the older waiter; it is his job to have the café available to others during the night, since some people may be looking for a clean, well-lighted place.
After examining how the older waiter takes refuge in the café in Hemingway’s story, it allows the reader to shed light on how Charlotte takes refuge in her writing in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Charlotte takes to writing in order to find an escape from her reality; it is a refuge from having to deal with her nervous depression and her overbearing husband. When understanding how the older waiter in Hemingway’s story looks at his job at the café, the reader is able to better understand how writing is Charlotte’s way to escape and feel safe in a way that only few understand. Charlotte states that, “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do? I did write for a while in spite of them” (Gilman 729). After reading a critique of Hemingway’s story by Charles A. Allen, the reader is able to see that the older waiter uses the café as a gateway for protection, “a defense against the black night” (Allen 155). This is just as Charlotte does with her writing, it is used as a gateway to unlock her confidence and it is a defense against the darkness of her nervous depression.
Although the older waiter in Hemingway’s story takes refuge in the café, the character of the elderly deaf man seems to find a ritualistic aspect in coming to the café. As stated early in the story, the elderly man was a good client, who frequented the café often. The two waiters could obviously tell that the elderly man was drunk, and they were concerned that if he were to drink anymore he would leave without paying. The elderly man turned his late night drinks at the café into a sort of ritual; there were other places for the elderly man to go, but it was the clean, well-lighted café that attracted him. “The old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference” (Hemingway 96). The older waiter even understand the importance that this late night ritual has for the elderly man when the older waiter says to the younger waiter, “Why didn’t you let him stay and drink? It is not half-past two” (Hemingway 97). This ritual for the elderly man seems to be the a saving grace for him, especially in regards to his attempted suicide a week earlier.
As the elderly man made a ritual of getting late night drinks at the café, it sheds light on how Charlotte develops a fondness for the wallpaper of the room and begins a ritual of following the pattern. In regards to this, Charlotte states that:
I start, we’ll say, at the bottom, down in the corner over there where it has not been touched, and I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow that pointless pattern to some sort of a conclusion. I know a little of the principle of design, and I know this thing was not arranged on any laws of radiation, or alternation, or repetition, or symmetry, or anything else that I ever heard of (Gilman 733).
This statement by Charlotte shows how she has created a ritual of following the pattern, similar to how the elderly man gets drunk on a regular basis at the café. Each character finds some happiness in this ritual, even though they are each suffering in some way. In the critique of Hemingway’s story it is stated that, “It may lead one in a long search for soothing rituals and the peace and serenity of clean, well-lighted places” (Allen 155). Charlotte has been suffering from her nervous depression for some time, and has attempted to find some peace with both writing and resting, but after her long search, she is able to find this soothing ritual of following the pattern of the wallpaper.
In order to best understand the older waiter and the elderly man, it is tough to ignore the only other character in the café, the younger waiter. There are numerous characteristics that set this third character apart from the others, and it is vital that the reader understand why the younger waiter is different from the other two, in order to have the greatest appreciation and understanding for the older waiter and elderly man. Although the most obvious difference between the older characters and the younger waiter is age; the younger waiter even seems anxious and disrespectful when it comes to kicking out the elderly man and closing up the café to get home to his wife. A prime example that shows the extent that the younger waiter was selfish was when he decided to cut off the elderly man from drinks, he states, “‘Finished,’ he said, speaking with that omission of syntax stupid people employ when talking to drunken people or foreigners. ‘No more tonight. Close now’” (Hemingway 97). The younger waiter does not understand that the café is a place for the elderly man to come and escape his reality; he discredits the old man and refers to him as being “a nasty thing” (Hemingway 97). The younger waiter also disrespects the older waiter, because he is only concerned with closing the café and getting home to his wife. When the older waiter begins to explain why the café has such great importance to him, the younger waiter tells him, “Come on. Stop talking nonsense and lock up” (Hemingway 98). When looking at the contrasting views of the younger waiter, the reader is able to develop a deeper understanding as to why the older waiter and elderly man find refuge in the café.
Just as the younger waiter discredits and disregards the older waiter and elderly man, it sheds light as to how John plays a similar role in Charlotte’s life. John is overly controlling of Charlotte and as Charlotte says, “John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures” (Gilman 729). John is the contrasting character in Gilman’s story; he seems to be a polar opposite of Charlotte, which allows the reader to develop a deeper understanding of Charlotte’s character. As Charlotte begins to take refuge in her writing, she must hide her writing from John, since he would surely disapprove, “There comes John, and I must put this away – he hates to have me write a word” (Gilman 731). This is similar to the older waiter and elderly man, who both take refuge in the café, the younger waiter does not understand why the café is so important to them, and it is almost a waste of time trying to explain. In Hemingway’s story the younger waiter did not understand the rituals of the elderly man and determined that it was just nonsense, which is identical to when John did not understand or appreciate Charlotte’s ritual of following the wallpaper. In Hemingway’s story, “The anxiety and defense pattern is apparent… but perhaps anxiety as the invisible enemy is most clearly defined” (Allen 155). Since the opposing characters in each story did not understand the rituals of the main characters, it created an anxiety. The older waiter and elderly man felt as if they did not fit in, just as Charlotte felt that she was not like everyone else; because the opposing characters were not understanding, it created an anxiety for the older characters and Charlotte.
Works Cited
Allen, Charles A. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway. “Short Story Criticism.” Ed. Jenny Cromie. Vol. 40. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. P. 155. Web. 20 July 2011.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “The Yellow Wallpaper. (1892)” Literature: The Human Experience. 2007. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Hemingway, Ernest. “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. (1933)” Literature: The Human Experience. 2007. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
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