Nada

"A Clean, Well-lighted place" and "Soldier's Home" both focus on the effects of a lonely existence and a sense of nothingness. In each their is a deep contrast which explains the process to this nothingness. Similarly the two paintings depict a contrast which exemplifies the loneliness of the set-apart individuals. Both include a single focus around ordinary people in desolate environments. In "Morning Sun" there is a lone woman, in a seemingly vulnerable position looking out eagerly into a bright shining morning from the shadowy confines of her bedroom which like the old man in "A Clean, Well-lighted place" is a place of comfort like the cafe. Also like the old waiter, she seems to yearn the "confidence" and youthfulness the young waiter exhibited yet is too timid or too experienced to reach for anything that vast. Within the confines of the room everything is white and stark, with the only real color being the woman's dress, and the buildings of the world beyond the window. Similarly in "Sunday" there is a lone individual, a man, who unlike "Morning Sun" is obviously older and experienced. Within an already bland picture, he is the blandest thing to look at, garbed in black and white, with small accents of red. This small addition of color reminds me of the lost dreams of both the soldier, and the old waiter, as they have learned the nothingness in life through experience. They still hold onto shreds of youthful invincibility. The Old man has lost all semblance of this feeling and thus feels no real reason to live, he above all understands the nothingness of the world as he is nothing. The man in "Sunday" looks as if he is brooding over thoughts and these thoughts are taking a toll on him as he is like the woman in "Morning light" is in a vulnerable position. This vulnerability and thought is very similar to the stories we read in class as the characters realize their own vulnerability throughout.