The White Room Hemingway Analysis

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Hemingway Short Story Analysis Despite being written by a different author, the short story The White Room is very similar in style when compared to Hemingway’s own stories. Hemingway’s famous use of the concept of nada is emulated in The White Room, as is Hemingway’s constant portrayal of the setting as a symbol. In addition, The White Room’s dialogue syntax is also comparable to that of Hemingway’s. In both Hemingway’s A Clean, Well-Lighted Place and The White Room, the concept of nada is a significant part of the story. In A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, the older waiter muses on what he feared, thinking “It was not a fear or dread, It was a nothing that he knew too well.” Clearly, the older waiter is familiar with the meaninglessness of …show more content…

The concept of nada creates a darker mood for the stories by serving as the “antagonist” of the story for the older doctor and waiter to “fight” against. Although the waiter has the cafe to ward off the feelings of nothingness while the doctor has his medical skills to fight for the patient’s survival, both characters are forced to acknowledge their defeat in the end, creating the depressing tone that is characteristic of a Hemingway story. The settings of Hemingway’s A Clean, Well-Lighted Place and The White Room are a major symbol in both stories. In The White Room, the surgery room is described in a way that emphasizes the man’s impending death, using the …show more content…

In both Hemingway’s The End of Something and the story The White Room, the dialogue has purposefully shortened with abrupt endings to show the emotional detachment of the characters. In The End of Something, Nick’s conversations with Marjorie were often short with only the bare minimum being said to continue the conversation, often only saying, “I don’t know” in response to Marjorie’s questions. These abrupt answers serve to emphasize the dismissive attitude that Nick had towards Marjorie now that he had decided to break up their relationship. In a similar way, the older doctor in The White Room also took on a more dispassionate tone once he realized that their situation was hopeless, often repeating the phrase, “It’s over,” to emphasize the meaninglessness of the younger doctor’s continued efforts. This shortened dialogue in both stories acts as another way to emphasize Hemingway’s signature use of pessimistic tones in both his stories and The White