Hemingway And nada :: essays research papers

Hemingway and " goose egg"In "The light of the world" written by Ernest Hemingway Steve Ketchel, aboxer symbolizes a Jesus figure for a cleaning woman called Alice. Alice, a 350 pound,unpleasant prostitute struggles with her current life. Her central being focusesat the tenet that she had a sexual relationship with Steve Ketchel. Thiswishful illusion arises from a coordination compound she has because of her ugly andunpleasant appearance. Nick Adams, the main Hemingway character, means thatAlice, although she has really given up her life, still has the chance to changeand live a happy life. Steven K. Hoffman would call this belief Alice has " secret code".Nada is a term used in Hemingways story "A clean well lighted place". StevenK. Hoffman interpreted the word in an Essay he wrote. The word nada translatedto English, basically means " slide fastener". But further it means much more than thesimple word nothing.Nada from the point of Alices view means that there is nothing behind ofher belief. That means that her life is not based on a concrete belief. She doesnot believe in any religion her religion is Ketchel. That arises from her placein society. In society she is ranked very low. A prostitute has nothing to sayin our society. And since she is that low she cant set her goals higher. Hergoals could be the goals Jesus talks about. Her goal in life was and still is tosleep with more and more guys. Back to nada it means that she has nothingnothing to believe in and nothing to live for.Alice lives in an illusion. It seems that she suppresses the fact that sheis a fat prostitute. How much lower can you accomplish? She suppresses her problemswith her dreams and illusions. The most important belief is that she had asexual relationship with Ketchel. That is her main belief. For a normal American,Jesus would the most important belief. Ketchel gives her the strength towithstand her complexes. Ketchel in other words symbolize s Jesus. That is ofcourse very sad. When comparing Jesus with Ketchel, you will not find anyconnecting. Ketchel is just a popular boxer among her friends and she knowsnothing more of him. For her Ketchel is more than just a man to have sex with.As said, for her Ketchel is Jesus. "There was never a man like that.", saidAlice.Alice did not succeed in her life. Not that it is over, but till now she didnot make herself happy. She is unhappy, she is a prostitute and the most