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ANSWERSTOQUESTIONS1·Whatbesidestheinsomniamakestheoldwaiterreluctanttogotobed?Ifwejustfromthesurfacetoanswerthisquestion,wecanpickupsomeopinionfromthestory:e.g.“Iamthosewholiketostaylateatthecafé,”theolderwaitersaid.“Withallthosewhodonotwanttogotobed.Withallthosewhoneedalightforthenight.”[page158Para.14]“…EachnightIamreluctanttocloseupbecausetheremaybesomeonewhoneedsthecafé.”[page158]However,ifweanalysesdeeply,wewillrealizethatinsomniaisjustasymbolismofthestory.Whenyouaresleeplessinthenight,youwillkeepawakethroughthehourofdarkness,andthiswillmakeyoufeellonelyandevenworse,thedespair.Thereisnotonlyaboutinsomniabutaboutloneliness,thedarknessoflife,thesegregationfromtheworld,andthenothingness.Andthosedesperatefeelingsarethemostimportantthingtomaketheoldwaiterandtheoldmanrefusetogotobed·commentontheolderwaiter’smeditationwiththenadarefrain.Nadameansnothing.ItisaSpanishword.Andfromthisrefrain,wecanknowthatnothingcannotbedealwithbymanorgod.Itisthesenselessnessofeachheart.Thereisnomeaninginlife.Nothingistheexperienceofone’sownexistence,andthethoroughunderstandingoflife.·Whydoestheoldwaitersowellunderstandtheoldman’sneedforacafé?Theoldwaiterisamiddle-ageman.Thoughheisn’tasoldastheoldman,hesuffersthewarandlife,andhealsohastheinsomnialikemanyothermen(perhapsincludingtheoldman).Healsofeelsthelonelinessandnothingnessinhislife.Sohecanunderstandtheoldman’sfeelingaboutthelife,andhecanevenrelateandseehisfutureintheoldman.Thisiswhytheoldwaitersowellunderstandstheoldman’sneedforacafé.Thecaféisapeacefulplacewheretheoldmancanescapefromthelonelinessandnothingnessanddesperationinthelife.·Whatdoesthecaférepresentfortheoldmanandtheoldwaiter?Thecaféisacleanandwell-lightedplaceinthestory.Itisanidealizedspace.Sittinginthecafé,theywillfeelpeacefulandcomfortable.Thecaféisaplacewheretheoldmanandtheoldwaitercanescapefromloneliness.Thecaféislighted,becauselightcanchasesawaythedark.Thecaféisclean,whichmakesthemfeelcomfortableandpeaceful.2·DifferentattitudestowardstheoldmanTheyoungwaiter:Theyoungwaiterisselfishandimpatient.Helooksdownupontheoldman.Hethinkstheoldmanisnasty.Heiseasilyangryandimpolitetotheoldmanbecausehewantstogobackhomeandsleepsearly.Hedoesn’tunderstandtheoldman.Heevenwantstheoldmantosuicide.e.g.“I’msleepynow,Inevergetintobedbeforethreeo’clock.Heshouldhavekilledhimselflastweek.”[page155]“Iwouldn’twanttobethatold.Anoldmanisanastything.”[page157para.6]Theoldwaiter:Theoldwaitershowshissympathyfortheoldman,whichistotallydifferentwiththeyoungerwaiter.Heknowstheimportanceofacleanandwell-lightedplaceforthosewhoneedaplacetoescapefromlonelinessandnothingness.Heknowstheoldman’ssufferingsandwassympathizedwithhim.Hedoesn’tthinkitisbadthattheoldmanstaysinthecafélate.Herespectstheoldman.e.g.“Notalways.Thisoldmanisclean.Hedrinkswithoutspilling.Evennow,drunk.”[page157]·Whoseattitudeisclosertothatoftheauthor?Ithinktheoldwaiter’sattitudeisclosertotheauthor’sattitude.Theyoungwaiterisignorance.Hedoesn’tunderstandtheoldman’smindsohecan’tstandfortheattitudeoftheauthor.Andtheoldwaiterissympathizedwiththeoldmanandheunderstandswhattheoldmansuffers.Heknowsthelonelinessandnothingness;heknowsthelossanddespairinthelife.Sotheoldwaiter’sattitudeabouttheoldmanisclosertotheauthor‘sattitude.·Howdoestheauthormakehisownfeelingclearlytous?EventhoughHemingwaydoesn’teditoriallystatehisownfeelings,wecanknowclearlyfromhisstory.Wecananalyzefromthedescriptionoftheoldman.e.g.“notalways.Thisoldmanisclean.Hedrinkswithoutspilling.Evennow,drunk.”[page157]Averyoldmanwalkingunsteadilybutwithdignity.[page157]3·ThestyleofthestoryInthisshortstory,wecanseeaveryHemingway’swritingstyle.Firstly,youcanhardlyfindanycomplicatedwords,phrasesorsentences.Hemingwayuseseasyandsimplewordasmanyaspossible.Hetriestocutoutanyunnecessarywords.Thewholestoryiseasytoreadbutnottounderstand.e.g.Itwaslateandeveryonehasleftthecaféexceptanoldmanwhosatintheshadowtheleavesofthetreemadeagainsttheelectriclight.[firstparagraph]Secondly,thestoryconsistsofalotofdialogues.Andthesedialoguesarecolloquialandloose.e.g.“Hewasindespair.”“Whatabout?”“Nothing.”[page155]Thirdly,thedialogueisdeviatedfromordinaryconversationorder.e.g.“Hemustbeeightyyearsold.”“AnywayIshouldsayhewaseighty.”“Iwishhewouldgohome.Inevergettobedbeforethreeo’clock.Whatkindofhouristhattogotobed?”(Thesethreedialoguesactuallyaresaidbytheyoungwaiter.)·Whatrepetitionofwordsorphrasesseemparticularlyeffective?Theword“café”appearsabout9times.Theword“nothing”appealsabout8timesandthe“Nada”appealsabout23times.“Light”appeals5times.“Cleanandpleasant”appeals3times.And“lighted(includingwell-lighted)”appealsabouttwice.Ithinkthesewords’andphrases’repetitionsareveryeffective.Theyhaveadeepsymbolisminthestory.Forexample:Caféstandsforapeacefulplaceintheirheart,wherecangivethemcomfort.Andthroughthisrepetitionwewillpaymoreattentiontothiswordandthinkaboutitsprofoundmeaningandsymbolism.Anotherexample:inthestory,HemingwayusetheSpanishwordNada,thisisnotonlytoshowtheauthorwasgoodatSpanish,butalsotodrawreadersattention.Andmakesreaderthinkaboutthisword.·WhydoyouthinkHemingwayf