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在海明威著名的短篇小说《一个干净明亮的地方》和《印第安人营地》中，主人公们穿越漫漫长夜，迎来白天。他们从迷雾中出发，在电灯灯光的引导下，到达了“黑暗的最深处”。当自然光标志着新的一天来临时，他们或会在昨晚的阴影下继续前行，或会试图将其彻底抛弃在黑暗之中。
已有的研究大都提到了两篇短篇小说人物与生命中重要的相遇时刻，及其潜在的永久性价值，但却很少有人指出这两段经历的镜像相似特点。霍夫曼将《印第安营地》中年轻的尼克·亚当“在这次经历中所见的虚无”阐释为“无可争辩的事实性死亡”和“人性的脆弱”；他也进一步将尼克·亚当类比为另一篇文章中的“青年侍者”。但是他并未考虑到这两篇小说故事情节的平行走势，从而对其关键的因果做一个更全面理解。本文将沿着两篇小说发展的轨迹进行回溯，理清二者之间重要的相似关系，并探究通过其中一个故事，我们可以看到哪些在另一篇当中恰好被忽视的因素，以对一些疑点进行解释。
黑暗之中：灯光下的相遇
在《印第安营地》这篇小说中，尼克和他的父亲最初被包围在雾气弥漫的黑暗里。从雪茄、灯笼到灯泡……光线不断增加，逐渐引导他们走向最终目的地，即那间被电灯灯光照亮的棚屋。在房子里，一对印第安夫妇看上去是完全暴露在尼克和他父亲的面前：妻子正承受着巨大的痛苦，而丈夫身体残疾，但事实是，此时在灯光之下，尼克、他的父亲还有读者们都只能了解到事件的表象。与此同时，我们可以对《一个干净明亮的地方》中老人的光影作一个更深层的解读。两个服务员之间的对话向我们提供了这位孤独老人的生世背景，从一定程度上让老人看上去不再那么神秘，从而也对他的内在世界进行了大致的勾勒。虽然在故事的前半部分，海明威并没有特别区分两位服务员，两人的身份也在过去的几十年间引起了评论界的许多争议，但综合来看，应该是那位年长一些的服务员最终摒弃了“与年轻侍者的同盟”，转而与老人统一战线。与年轻服务员不同，在这里老人和年长侍者更有可能被卷入绝望，他们“缺乏感情、缺乏生命迹象、缺乏活下去的意义以及信心”。因此绝望也最可能与“虚无”这种感觉产生交互作用，将后者推向其“最可怕的一面”，那就是死亡。不过好在他们三人暂时都处在光线充足、干净的氛围里。光是黑暗之中的电灯提供的，但它仍可以让人从混乱中逃脱，并避开使人产生消极感的黑暗环境。总而言之，在《一个干净明亮的地方》中，夜晚的灯光发挥了如下重要作用：对老人而言，它减缓了压死他的最后一根稻草所施加的力量；而对于年长的服务员来说，灯光是他与老人建立起内在联系的因素之一，因为他能透过灯光注意到绝望和“虚无”。即使老人和年轻的服务员都相继离开去到另一个地方，室内的灯也被关上，“虚无”之印象仍在年长侍者的脑海中挥之不去，且变本加厉。在他最后的独白中，突如其来的“虚无”在他近乎癫狂的困惑中变得一发不可收拾，把故事推至高潮。年长的侍者沉浸在“虚无”中，无法自拔，但他也并没有胡说八道。他很清楚“虚无不是一个孤岛，而是一个具有普遍性的现象”。他口中那些生活在“虚无”之中但无法察觉的人，指的便是那些与他相对的“年轻服务员式的人物”。因此，在夜晚的尽头，我们可以注意到老服务员正在将他对那位老人和他自己处境的思考扩展到更深远的领域里去。
另一边的《印第安人营地》中，像老服务员这样的“发声者”却是不存在的。尼克·亚当斯太年轻，无法理解他认知之外的状况；对于他的医生父亲而言，手术比人的精神情况更为重要；而在场的其余的人则都显得冷酷无情。从一开始就没有人注意到印第安丈夫在灯光之下的心理状况是怎样的，因此他最后的死亡显得格外的突兀。虽然许多学者都认同亚当医生后来的猜想：印第安丈夫是因为无法继续忍受妻子分娩过程的痛苦哀嚎，才起了自杀之念，造成这样一个悲惨的结局；有些学者也意识到了无处不在的“虚无”的作用。在灯光的照耀下，“虚无”和它与“绝望”的交互曾有三次展现在亚当父子的面前。头两次没有被他们注意到，而那时候印第安丈夫也还没死，他周围的环境明亮却又混乱。这里和《干净明亮的地方》相似，此处的灯光吊着印第安丈夫的最后一口气；但与之不同的是，在混沌的环境不断加深丈夫绝望的同时，他周边的人却没有表现出他们的同理心。至此，我们可以将亚当医生归为“年轻服务员”一类的人物。他有自己的职业和对自己的信心，而且他的工作可以增强他的信心。通过他因欣喜若狂而变得扭曲的目光，他想要看到自己在儿子面前是一个自豪和自信的父亲，但是在全文中最为明亮的光线之下，大家却一起目睹了“以死亡形式呈现出来的虚无”。当印第安妻子的情况恶化，黑暗笼罩在印第安男人的脸上时，绝望便加快了它的步伐，将印第安丈夫完全推入这个毁灭性的状态中。因此在这篇小说里，“虚无”可能并没有找到它的“发声者”，但它以一种令人畏惧的方式呈现了出来，并且让那些“生活在虚无中却毫无知觉”的人多多少少感受到了它的存在。可以看到当尼克和他的父亲走向黎明时，“他（尼克父亲）所有手术之后的兴奋都消失了”，而尼克脑海中的一系列问题仍未得到解决。
在夜晚的光线下，两个服务员和亚当父子以不同的态度经历了一个有特殊意义的时刻。 带着前一夜遗留下的印记，他们踏上了两条不同的道路，并在自然光的照耀下迎接新的一天。
迎来白天：走入殊途
白天的自然光线进一步证实了“虚无”的普遍性。正如我们所看到的那样，当年长的服务员回到家，“虚无”的觉醒带走了他的睡眠，他也相信许多人会像他一样失眠。对于那些生活在“虚无”中并且感受到它的人来说，外面的晨光仍难以让他们摆脱它的存在。总的来看，在整个经历中，无论是自然光线还是人造光线，都只能起到抵御黑暗的作用，但对于“虚无”却无能为力。尽管如此，有的人仍然自我麻痹，否认“虚无”的普遍性。在自然光线下，“身处于充满生机的世界之中”，尼克开始否认自己死亡的可能。然而，在棚屋里，印第安丈夫仍在无尽的绝望中死去，陷进了“虚无”深渊的最底层，但尼克却永远将此事留在黑暗中，因为他更相信眼前即将到来的白昼中“永恒的”生命力。
总结
在本文中，我分析了两篇小说中共同的主题，着眼观察其故事进程中的对立冲突，以及它对主要人物的影响。其中，双向的对比始终贯穿了整个故事情节：光明对抗着黑暗，绝望对抗着信心，拥有对抗着“虚无”...... 当人物逐步确立自己立场时，一些人会试着去理解漫漫长夜里的经历带给了他们什么，但另一些人可能不会这么做。在这两个故事中，对白天的呈现相对较短，但白昼却似乎没有尽头。因此，年长的侍者可能会继续失眠，而尼克可能会在他的错觉中永生。然而，夜晚将再次毁灭白天的主宰。也许有一天，“年轻服务员们”引以为豪的自信心会被消磨成单纯的绝望。也许一夜之间，老服务员心中的“干净明亮的地方”会完全崩塌，让他完全陷入印第安丈夫般的境地。漫漫长夜的旅程在两篇故事中很长，却在人的一生中尤其短暂。即便如此，海明威对它的呈现使我们开始反省自身：这些“夜晚”将如何带领我们走向远方，而它的影响又将如何延伸到接下来的“白昼”里？
Long Night’s Journey into the Day: Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and “Indian Camp”
In Hemingway’s remarkable short fictions of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and “Indian Camp”, the protagonists accomplish their journey through long nights into the following days. Setting off in the shadow or the mist, they are then guided by artificial lights to their memorable encounters with “the very teeth of darkness” (Hoffman 172). When the natural light marks a new day, the characters either live with last night’s impression or attempt to discard it in the dark.
Much as the characters’ chance acquaintances with the moment in their life, and the potentially everlasting value of both stories are generally acknowledged in the previous studies (Bennette; Adair; Tylor; Daiker),only few may notice the mirror of the experiences. Hoffman has his slight mention of Nick Adam in “Indian Camp”, about his “youthful encounter with nada”, as “incontrovertible fact of death”, and as “human frailty” (Hoffman 178). He also furthers on to suggest Nick as comparable to the “young waiter figure” (Hoffman 179). Yet he does not take accounts of the parallel trends that occur in the stories to have a more exhaustive understanding of the essential cause and effect. The current study will retrace along the journeys, to cast light on their echoes that may bear enough significance, and to discuss how one’s narrative comes to the revelation of the mystery of the other where such moments happen to be missed.
In the night: Encounters under the lights
Initially in the “Indian Camp”, Nick and his father are wrapped by the misty and dark surroundings. The increase of lights from cigar, to the lantern, and to the lamp, guide them toward their final destination, where the manmade light shines through the shanty. Inside the house, seemingly the Indian wife and husband are fully exposed to Nick and his father: One in her overwhelming labor pain, and the other physicallydisabled. Under the light Nick and the doctor, along with the readers only have learnedthe appearance of the targets. However, we may address the light and shadow that accompany the old man in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”at a more rhetoric level. The conversations between the two waiters provide clues about the old man in solitude, gradually ridding the mystical silhouette off, hence illuminating the inner realm of him. Although in the first half of the story Hemingway does not discriminate the two waiters, which arouses relentless controversy over the decades (MacDonald; Bennette; Lodge), with the shared knowledge, consequently the older waiter shifts his “alliance with the young waiter” to the old man (Lodge 291). Contrary to the young waiter, the older waiter realizes that the old man and he are more likely to be involved in despair, which is “in opposition to ‘confidence’ characterized by a lack of feeling…The lack of life after death…Or anything to live for” (Bennette 71). Despair may interplay with the sense of “nada”, pushing the latter of which to its “fearsome face”, death (Hoffman 174). Fortunately, theyare temporarily surrounded by the well-lighted and clean atmosphere. However artificial it is, it has enabled a fine escape from the daily pandemonium, and avoided darkness that will also enhance the negative feeling. Altogether the light of the night in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” has played its paramount roles as the following: For the old man, it holds back the last straw that may break his back; and for the older waiter, he receives a sight on despair and“nada”, hencethe light serves as one of the elements to establish his inner connection with the old man. Even when the old man and the young waiter both leave for another place, and the light is switched off, the older waiter continues to carry this image with him. And the sense intensifies afterward. In his monologue,a sudden rush of “nada” in its ecstatic bewilderment builds to climax of the story, in which the older waiter completely immerses himself. Yet the older waiter is not talking nonsense. He understands that “nada is not an individual state but one with grave universal implication”of “all nothing” (Hoffman 173). He remarks on those who live within “nada” but hardly feels it, which possibly points to the “young waiter figures” of the other kind. Toward the dead of the night, we notice the older waiter’s intention to extend his contemplation on the old man and himself, to a broader context.
Such “spokesman-like” figures in the “Indian Camp” are nonetheless absent. Nick Adams is too young to understand situations beyond his cognition. Meanwhile, in the first place for the doctor the surgery means more than people’s mental conditions. And the rest stay callous. What is the mindset of the Indian husband when he is brought to light remains unknown, hence his final death seems abrupt and confusing more than ever. Many critics tend to ascribe this melancholic consequence, in line with what the doctor later suggests, to the husband’s exhaustion of tolerance (Adair; Joseph). Yet some also take account of the underlying sense of “nada” (Hoffman 178). In its interaction with despair, “nada” may three timesmake itself apparent to the Adam’s under the electric light.The first and the second time it goes almost unnoticed in the light of the shanty, which casts on the wounded husband before he ends his life. His surroundings back then are well-lighted but chaotic. Similar to “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, the light here may hold the last breath to keep the husband alive. But unlike that story, the unclean context constantly deepens the husband’s despair, yet empathy from others does not occur under this circumstance. At least at this point we may categorize the doctor as the “young waiter figure” as well. He has his occupation. He has confidence. And his job may help to boost his confidence, as he foresees the promising appreciation of him from the medical magazines. Through his tinted lens of exhilaration after his success, he expects to see a “proud father”. But this time under the most accurate manmade light throughout the story, they “directly witness nada in its death mask” (Hoffman 180). When the condition of his wife worsens, and the dark covers the Indian man’s face, despair accelerates its pace to work the man into this devastating state.Hence here,“nada” may have no “spokesman” yet it manifests itself in a sensational way to try to get involved the ones who “lived in it but never felt it”.Though its “targets” may not come to thorough awareness of “nada”, admittedly, it has posed some impact on them. As Nick and his father walk their way through the dawn, “all his (the father’s) post-operative excitement gone”, while a series of questions from Nick remain unsolved.
Under the light of the nights, the waiters and the Adam’s encounter the special moment of their life with different attitudes. Accompanied by the aftereffects from the last nights’ events, they take on two diverged roads and embrace the new days in the natural light.
Into the day: Two diverged roads
The natural light during the daytime furthers on to confirm the universality of “nada”. As we see the awakening of the sense of “nada” murders sleep when the older waiter goes home (Wagner 214), and he supposes that many people must endure insomnia as he does. For those who live in “nada” and feel it, the brightening of morning light outside cannot drag them out of the realm of it. Overall, throughout the journey, light, be it natural or artificial, only functions as thekiller against darkness, but never “nada”. Nevertheless, people may still deny the universal existence of “nada” by self-deception. With the “impression of life going on all around him” in the real light (Lamb 74), Nick dismisses the idea of death. However, in the shanty, the Indian husband lies dead in endless despair. He has probably fallen into the deepest corner in the abyss of “nada”, but Nick tends to forever leave it to the dark, as he assumes the “permanent” liveliness.
Conclusion
In this paper,I have tried to find any clues in one story that may begin to unravel the mystery caused by the absence or vacancy of the other. I have also analyzed the shared themes with focus on the confrontation along the way, and how they influence the main characters. Throughout the journeys, there are always contrasts between the “two kinds”: Light against darkness, confidence against despair, everything against “nada”…As they gradually take their stance, some characters learn to make sense of the long night’s experiencebut others may fail after all. In both stories, the presentationof daytime is relatively short, yet it hardly ever seems to come to its end. Hence the insomnia may continue to spoil the older waiter’s sleep, and Nick may remain immortal in his illusion. However, night will come again to overthrow the domination of day. One day their confidence the “young waiter figures” are all proud of can be worn down to plain despair. Besides, overnight the “clean, well-lighted place” within the older waiter’s mind will crumble, therefore pushes him into the condition of that Indian husband. The long night’s journeys well manifesting themselvesare long in the stories and short throughout one’s lifetime. But to a large degree it has established the base for our introspection on human condition: How those “nights” carry us to get this far,and how it extends into the following “days”.
