A Clean, Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway

In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” the narrator describes the importance of the cafe compared to all the other places that are open to convey the idea of loneliness and despair. Through the use of imagery, symbolism, point of view and, allegory Ernest Hemingway establishes a connection between the older waiter and the deaf guy, as he illustrates the significance the well-lit cafe brings to their lonely night. As the waiters discuss their thoughts on being open so late, the older waiter claims to be one of those who enjoy the aura of the cafe being open so late compared to other places. “With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night.“ The role the cafe plays to diminish loneliness and despair does not go unrecognized by the older waiter and deaf guy who find their escape in that clean well-lit cafe. Loneliness screams louder at night for those who walk through it by themselves. They look to find comfort in a well-lit place with a calm and pleasant aura. The feeling displayed between the old deaf man and older waiter does not register with the younger waiter who does not understand the search of finding peace found in the cafe. The younger waiter has a wife to go home to as the older deaf man and older waiter have nothing and that is their escape from their dark loneliness, the cafe. Since it is clear that Ernest Hemingway has established that the old deaf man

The younger waiter believes he has “no regard for those who have to work.” On the contrary the older waiter also doesn’t belong to a family and attempts to explain “he stays up because he likes it” “it’s clean and well lighted” the light acting as a metaphorical parallel to the comfort the café offers in his otherwise dark life. Seeing as the older waiter understands him he does his best to make the customer feel he belongs and build a relationship with him. He realises that not everyone shares the same perspective realising “it’s not only a question of youth” but in this case a question of lack of relationships allowing sympathy and explaining his actions.

The young waiter has a harsh view of him as well because on occasion the old man has been so drunk he walks out on his bill. The younger waiter has a different respect for time, it’s precious to him and he values it. “I wish he would go home. I never get to bed before three o’clock. What kind of hour is that to go to bed?” “He stays up because he likes it.” “He’s lonely, I’m not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me.” “He had a wife once too” (153). The older you get, the more time wears down on you, and you begin to now, greater than ever, feel your mortality. This theme is used to help the reader understand the older mans pain and that no matter how young and confident someone is, they will eventually grow old and die.

Existentialism is a philosophy that puts emphasis on the existence of a person’s freedom or life. In a human point of view, it means to believe in oneself, not a group or religion. (33)

However as before, Hemingway once again chose to interchange titles for this character throughout the story, referring to him as three titles: “the older waiter… the unhurried waiter… the waiter” (Hemingway). As the text progresses, Hemingway titles this character three different names, but in the end lands on “the waiter” (Hemingway). In doing so, Hemingway further proves these characters are all the same person. They are all the same waiter, but further they are all the same representative of society as it moves through time and grows in awareness of the importance and key items in life. Since the age and compliance to the theory of nothingness are directly correlated in the story, the older waiter is still not completely compliant to the belief in a void of purpose or value in the things in life. However the older waiter tells the younger, “‘I am of those who like to stay late at the café,’ the older waiter said. ‘With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night.’” (Hemingway). Although the older waiter does not completely comply to the belief, he is intrigued and an active participant in it, causing him to have the desire to remain at the cafe for a while longer. Hemingway chooses to use the cafe to represent the cleanness and openness of the belief in nothingness, and therefore

(Existentialism: We as humans have some control over our own destinies. We may not be able to choose our situations (like where and when and what colour we are born) but we can choose how we live our lives and what we do with them. For instance, when Winston has to face the fact that John is leaving in 3 months and he is only leaving in 10 years,

The older waiter is much more understanding of the old man’s situation. He knows what it feels like to be lonely. He knows the desire to stay in the light that staves off the darkness, a darkness that brings thoughts of how lonely you really are. There is an emptiness in him can only be filled with the cleanliness and light of the café. He feels that this is the same for the old man.

  Existentialism is a philosophy dealing with man's aloneness in the universe. Either there is no God or else God stands apart from man, leaving him free will to make his own choices. From this basic idea of man being alone in an uncertain and purposeless world, many related ideas have developed. One great worry of existentialist writers is that life is becoming too complicated and too impersonal. People become more and more involved with their work, which is taking them away from their friends, family, and culture. However, these provide the only "meaning" that life could possibly have. One author prominently known for his work with existential ideas was Franz

The old man who is the main character in Hemingway's story displays many different attributes and gives off a mysterious appearance when he is first described in the story. It is said by the younger waiter to the old waiter that this old man in particular tried to commit suicide in his home last week due to despair and loneliness in his life. The old man goes to this restaurant in particular because he considers it a second home where he can go and feel welcome. But the younger waiter doesn't have much patience or understanding of life as people approach the older age bracket. “The old man sitting in the shadow rapped on his saucer with his glass. The younger waiter went to him. “What do you want?” The old man looked at him. “Another Brandy,” he said. “You’ll be drunk,” the waiter said. ” (Hemingway 157). The reason why the waiter toward

In this story yet again a old man is alone; this time at a cafe where two servers are left to attend to their last customer. One server, an older man and the other a young man filled with self-proclaimed confidence. Throughout the story, the reader again discovers a lonely and dark backstory for the lone man. The man is said to have attempted suicide by trying hanging himself with a rope. When one server asks why the older one replys “he was in despair” and it was over “nothing”. As the story continues the two servers begin to distinguish themselves through their personalities. The young one: irritable and entitled. Stating an hour for him is far more important than an hour to the old man. (168) While the other is shown to be compassionate and understanding, defending the against the the young servers onslaught saying “This old man is clean. He drinks without spilling. Even now, drunk. Look at him,” (Kennedy Gioia Hemingway 169) to which the aggravated server replies with “I don’t want to look at him. I wish he would go home.” At this point the young server refuses to serve the old man and sends him on his way home where he walked away “unsteadily but with dignity”. The tone of the story then changes from the two servers combatting, to the older server being left with his thoughts and acceptance. The older server tells the younger one that he has “youth and confidence” and that that is “everything.” (Kennedy Gioia Hemingway 169) As their conversation ends the older server again relates to the lone gentleman saying he is also one “who need a light at night”; with that the two close up the shop as the older server explores his brain by himself showcasing Hemingway’s thoughts of depression as he walks to the

The existentialist is one who is concerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure of appearances and small talk which society employs to lie about what they think and feel. Existentialism is accepting the inevitability of death and living life for the moment without entertaining hope or falsities that distract one from living and accepting truth. The existentialist sees the simplicity in life and the absurdity of complicating it with pretences and lies, the existentialist is a naked man, he is one who becomes one with the rest of creation in accepting his fate on this earth and not hoping for anything more – he simply exists.

An essential theme in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway, is that of depression, and how realizing the fragility and inconsequentiality of humankind can lead to feelings of isolation and “nothingness.” When the old waiter thinks to himself, “[What he feared] was not a fear or dread. It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too.” , he divulges his true cynicism and his thoughts on the human condition.

Hemingway’s use of vivid style, such as juxtaposing shifts and explanatory dialogue, help reveal how people may be going through hard times ,but they deserve somewhere they do not have to think about those problems. Throughout “A Clean, well-lighted place,” shifts are used to illustrate how the characters feel and think of each other. One shift occurs when the story goes from seeing how the younger waiter feels about the old man “You should have killed yourself last week” to when the older waiter understands and relates to the old man “A clean, well-lighted place was a very different thing…. After all, he said to himself, it’s probably only insomnia” (Hemingway 9). The older waiter's feelings prove how he also goes to the cafe to escape his

The Merriam – Webster Dictionary defines existentialism as a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad (Merriam, 2011). In other words, an existentialist believes that our natures are the natures we make for ourselves, the meaning of our existence is that we just exist and there may or may not be a meaning for the existence, and we have to individually decide what is right or wrong and good or bad for ourselves. No one can answer any of those things for us. A good

Existentialism can be defined as a branch of philosophy that emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. It focuses on the question of human existence and the feeling that there is no purpose or explanation for existence. Although they never used the term existentialism in their works, Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are considered two of the first and significant philosophers to the existentialist movement. They focused on subjective human experience and were interested in the struggle to escape boredom and find meaning in life. Kierkegaard and Nietzsche also stressed the importance of making free choices and how these choices change the identity of the individual. Both Kierkegaard and Nietzsche felt that life is