A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. by Ernest Hemingway Essay

In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, Hemingway uses themes of depression and life as nothingness by using symbols, and imagery. Two waiters in a Spanish café are waiting late one night for their last customer to leave. As they wait, they talk about the old, deaf man sitting at the bar. It is revealed that he has recently attempted suicide. The younger waiter in the café is very agitated and wants the old man to go home. He says, “I wish the suicide attempt had been successful. The younger waiter says that he has a wife waiting for him at home, and is very unsympathetic. The older waiter sympathizes and tells the young waiter that the old man had once had a wife as well. The old man eventually leaves when the young waiter denied him any further drinks. The old man explains that drinking in the café is completely different than drinking at home. He describes the old man as, “One of those who like to stay late at the café… with all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night.” He is reluctant to close because there could be a lot of people that may need the café. The older waiter points out that the bright atmosphere of the café is different than that of a pub. After the younger waiter leaves, the older one asks himself why he needs a clean, well-lighted place. The answer is that he needs a contrast of order because of “a nothing that

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

There is an apparent unity seen between the old man and the older waiter. Opposite from the young waiter, the older waiter and old man seem devastatingly lonely and worn out by life. While the young waiter is rude and insistently talks down to the old man, the older waiter defends him. He too understands and appreciates a clean, well-lighted café opposed to a bar or bodega. The older men understand each other without there being any communication between them. In the final line the reader is able to truly understand the older waiters view of his own morality, “He disliked bars and bodegas. A clean, well-lighted café was a very different thing. Now, without thinking further, he went home to his room. He would lie in the bed and finally,

In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” experience characterizes the older waiter because he empathizes with those around him, thereby proving that enduring hardships encourages greater acceptance of others. By explaining how he is different from the young waiter, the older waiter clarifies why he disagrees with the young waiter’s decision to force the deaf customer to leave: “I have never had confidence and I’m not young. … I am of those who like to stay late at the cafe. … With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night” (Hemingway 9). Without the overconfidence of the young waiter, the older waiter has humility, a trait that allows him to develop empathy through his life experience. Also, the waiter is older, so he persevered through more difficult situations than the young waiter. Since he undergoes the same sleeplessness that the deaf man faces, the older waiter willingly sacrifices his time because he notices the importance of his job at the cafe to other people. Furthermore, the older waiter acknowledges the importance of the cafe to those like him when he describes that “[e]ach night [he is] reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafe. … This is a clean and pleasant cafe. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves” (Hemingway 9). Unlike

There are three main characters in this short story. A young waiter, an older waiter and a lonely old man. The younger waiter can describe himself as “not old and happy” (Hemingway). Unlike the other two main characters, he is not searching for the meaning of life. Life is good for him at the moment so, he cannot sympathize with the older men. Unlike the young waiter the older gentlemen are not as lucky. Hemingway demonstrates this in his short story.

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.

Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” like all of his other stories, is based around a famous code of behavior. The philosophical premises that are demonstrated in Hemingway’s code of behavior tell people to accept that there are no guidelines or rules in life, face reality and see things exactly as they are, no matter how difficult, contain their despair and self-pity by sheer willpower, don’t make trouble for others, and instead of judging others, people should view the unenlightened with irony and pity. By analyzing “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” the reader can find different examples of this code of behavior within Hemingway’s writing.

In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” The setting begins at a cafe well into the late hours of night. The perceived protagonist, in my opinion, is an older aged gentlemen waiter that works at the late night cafe whilst the antagonist is the younger gentleman waiter. During the introduction of this story, the younger waiter is serving a deaf elderly man scotch. Without a doubt, it's made obvious that the elderly gentlemen has spent countless nights within the four walls of the cafe. Furthermore, it’s evident that the younger waiter is less than fond of the elderly man. In one section of dialogue the younger waiter was speaking to the older waiter on the issue of the elderly man; "He'll stay all night,"..."I'm sleepy now. I never get into bed before three o'clock. He should have killed himself last week” (Hemingway). Clearly, this young man

He thinks that religion does not help feeling depressed or lonely and both of these things you must face alone. All he needs is the café and to be able to provide this safe haven for other people who feel like him. When he is finished closing up the café, he returns home and thinks about how he doesn’t like bars and bodegas and prefers the “clean well-lighted” café because it “was a very different thing” (7). He knows he will go into his room and be up all night thinking until the sun would come up. Then, he would sleep. Hemingway writes, “After all, he said to himself, it’s probably only insomnia. Many must have it” (7). The ending of this story shows that the old waiter is in fact full of despair and loneliness. He tries to convince himself that it’s only insomnia and tries to feel less alone by saying that “many must have it.” Even though he acknowledges that he and the old man are extremely similar, it appears that the old waiter is not yet ready to admit that at the end of his life, he is feeling horrible and he does not know how to bring himself out of it. All he knows is the café since that’s where he seems

  While Hemingway's short story "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" is usually interpreted as an intensely poetic description of despair, it can with equal validity be seen instead as mankind's never ending yearning to find spiritual peace. Hemingway's short story displayed this emotional journey in many different ways. First, the title itself is a symbol for man's desire to find a state of tranquillity, safety, and comfort. Hemingway also showed this in the story's setting, which was used as a symbol for a sense of order, for it was late, the cafe was empty, and the men there were at ease. Finally, Hemingway showed this desire in the contrasting actions between the

Upon reading this internal monologue, one’s natural inclination may be to dismiss the older waiter, and perhaps by extension Hemingway, as merely depressed, or lonely, or haunted by some unspoken tragedy. However, such an interpretation of the above passage, and thus the story’s theme, would be an egregious oversimplification. Instead, it would be far more accurate to regard the older waiter’s worldview as something akin to existential nihilism, which is the belief that, essentially, life has no intrinsic meaning, that humanity’s very existence means nada. And as one comes to this realization, one truly grasps the theme of life’s meaninglessness that “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” exhibits.

In the story “A Clean, Well- Lighted Place” by Earnest Hemingway begins with the main character and his co-worker in a café. The two are analyzing, and discussing a deaf, drunk Oldman, who is their last customer of the day. As the deaf old man insists on having more whiskey, the main character informs the young waiter as to why and how the old man tried to commit suicide. They began to converse about the Oldman’s depressed life. The younger waiter is in a rush to go home to his wife, while the older waiter is patient and he stands up for the Oldman, being able to relate to him. Hemingway’s sentence structure and writing style represents the comparison and contrast between setting, people, and objects, along with emphasizing how it is to have and be nothing.

      Hemingway's second portrayal of symbolism that a reader may distinguish is the café itself.  The café represents a sanctuary of the evilness of the world.  The namesake of the short story is a clue for the reader to see that the café would represent some form of an asylum not only from the elements of nature, but also safety from evil.  An example of the usefulness of this sanctuary is how the deaf old man uses the café as a safe-haven to be to himself after the incident where he almost succeeded in committing suicide and enjoys the comfort the café gives.  The old waiter represents in the café the kindness and caring that the café should provide; whereas the younger waiter is more of a materialistic character.  He clearly displays shallowness and selfishness.  Arthur Waldhorn writes that the older waiter helps keep the light on a little longer at the café for those, who like himself, 'do not want to go to bed.' (P 28)  The younger waiter is a protagonist in attitude of the older waiter.  The philosophy of Nihilism is brought into this theme when the older man recites the Lord's Prayer but substitutes the word "nada" for every noun in it.  Nihilism is brought onto a larger scale because it is very evident that there is nothing to believe in, even as a

This story was written by Hemingway in 1933. It details an evening's interaction between two waiters, and their differing perspectives of life. Hemingway uses an old man as a patron to demonstrate the waiter's philosophies. Hemingway is also visible in the story as the old man, someone who society says should be content, but has a significant empty feeling inside. What follows is a line-by-line analysis, putting emphasis on the philosophies of the waiters.

Furthermore, the setting contributes to the structure of the story, like cartilages in a human body. The café can be viewed as a workplace and also as a place of peaceful socialization. Each person deals with despair differently. Having the setting at a café where it was mentioned that it was quiet help structure the story that it is neither a depressing story nor, a happy story. The two waiters who were gossiping about the old man mentioned that he had committed suicide but, he was saved. Being in a café is different than rather being in a bar or anywhere else. The café signifies a place for space or time, depending on the person. The old man is not trying to cure his despair but rather subdue it. The setting could have taken place anywhere but it also could have affected the structure of the story differently. For example, when the older waiter was out trying to kill time due to insomnia, he went to a bar but, it was not soothing; therefore, he went home. This proves how the setting was able to support its main structure of having a café rather than a different place.