Abstract The short story “A Clean and Well-lighted Place” is one of Hemingway’s early works。 It is a classical story with nihilism。 But it also applies to the critic methods of existentialism。 From the perspective of existentialism, the arrangement of the plot and the characterization in “A Clean and Well-lighted Place” satisfy the three principles of existentialism---existence precedes essence, absurd world and freedom of choice。 In “A Clean and Well-lighted Place” people is confused with the existence and the loss of faith, which is also an extremely important issue in existential philosophy: how to face the spiritual crisis in life and find the courage to survive。 Through analyzing the main characters’ awareness of death, their understanding of the absurd world and their attitudes towards existence, this thesis is intended to disclose Hemingway’s humanism by interpreting nihilism in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” from the viewpoint of existentialism。77030

Keywords: a clean and well-lighted place; Hemingway；nihilism；existentialism

摘要短篇小说《一个干净明亮的地方》是海明威早期作品之一，它是海明威虚无zhuyi创作的典范。但其实本作品同样适用于存在zhuyi角度的批评方法。从存在zhuyi角度出发，《一个干净明亮的地方》中的情节设置和人物塑造满足了存在先于本质、世界是荒诞的和自由选择的存在zhuyi基本元素。小说中人们对存在的困惑，信仰的迷失，也是存在zhuyi哲学观下的一个极其重要的问题：人类应如何面对生活中的精神危机，找到生存的勇气。本文从存在zhuyi视角对《一个干净明亮的地方》中的虚无zhuyi进行分析，重点解析了小说中不同人物的死亡意识，对于世界是荒诞的不同理解以及他们对于存在的态度，揭示了海明威在作品中所体现出的人道zhuyi精神。

毕业论文关键词：一个干净明亮的地方；海明威；虚无zhuyi；存在zhuyi

Contents

1。 Introduction 1

2。 Literature Review 2

3。 A Brief Introduction to Existentialism and Nihilism 4

3。1 Existentialism 4

3。2Nihilism 5

4。 An Interpretation of Nihilism in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” from the Viewpoint of Existentialism 7

4。1 Awareness of death 7

4。2 Absurd world 8

4。3 Attitude towards existence 9

5。Conclusion 11

Works Cited 12

1。 Introduction

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) is a well-known American novelist, short story writer and journalist in modern times, and one of the most successful and influential authors in the twentieth century。 He was won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954 for his novella--The Old Man and the Sea。 Hemingway has his own unique writing style, and his works play an important role in American literature。 The language in his stories is simple but expressive。 He persisted in writing with true materials which are people and things he knew。 He became one of the most famous writers in the world because of some of his early works。 And his writing style and language have a great influence on those of his age and those of the following years。 As J。 Donald Adams，a famous critic once remarked that nobody writing today excels him in economy of narrative。论文网

In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, characters’ reaction towards the environment reflects the influence of the First World War。 After the war, American people’s dream for a wonderful world was broken and they became numb and negative。 Hemingway had once participated in the WWI with his democratic ideal。 But after witnessing those massacres in Europe and suffering kinds of difficulties, he found himself cheated by those “democracy”, “honor”, and “sacrifice” banners, and he was so disappointed with the society and life。 Lots of his works reflected the damage that the war brings to human beings and described the loss of beliefs of the generation after the First World War。 At that time of 1920s, many American writers were just like Hemingway, feeling lost and disappointed about the “American Dream” and the reality。 The inspiration of his many works stems from his early experiences including “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”。