A Clean, Well-lighted Place Essay

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.

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

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.

In the novel A Clean Well- Lighted Place, by Hemingway, he described a old man, who visits a store known as the cafe as the Code Hero. This old man doesn’t have anything but he’s niece to take care of him. Due to his old age, he is weak but that doesn’t stop him by going

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 can buy a bottle and drink at home” (4). The old waiter, assuming he’s had experience with drinking at home alone before replies with, “It’s not the same” (5). If the old man was to drink at home alone, this would only increase his negative feelings since he’s not surrounded by people and not in a “clean well-lighted place.” He is at home alone with his thoughts and not experiencing the escapism he truly needs. At the end of their conversation, the young waiter gloats, “I have confidence. I am all confidence” (5). The old waiter responds with, “You have youth, confidence, and a job” (5). The young waiter is completely ignorant to the fact that one day, he won’t be young anymore and things could eventually turn sour. He will be old and may even be lonely and full of despair like the old man. The old waiter, however, has already come to terms with his fate. He says, “I am of those who like to stay late at the café” (5). Seeing the old man reminds the old waiter of who he really is and what his life has become.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is my favorite Hemingway story, so I wrote a parody mocking Hemingway’s masterful dialogue in the piece and other Hemingway characteristics. I took a careful look at the story and remembered a quote by Hemingway describing his writing process at a café in France. The quote reads “It was a pleasant cafe, warm and clean and friendly, and I hung up my old water-proof on the coat rack to dry and put my worn and weathered felt hat on the rack above the bench and ordered a cafe au lait. The waiter brought it and I took out a notebook from the pocket of the coat and a pencil and started to write”. This quote inspired the old man in my parody to be Hemingway at his favorite café engaged in his writing process. The story of my parody is essentially a story of an elderly Hemingway seated late in his favorite cafe writing while the two waiters gather the courage to ask him to leave.

At the beginning of the story, the two waiters talk about the deaf man attempting to kill himself again. When the older waiter asks why the old man tried to commit suicide, the young waiter says, “He was in despair.” Then, when the old waiter asks why was the old man was in despair, the young waiter assumes the old man had nothing to be despaired about, that “he has plenty of money.” The old man comes to the café and gets drunk on a regular basis. The old man liked going to the café because it was clean, well-lighted place to stay. It was a way to get away from his home and away from “the darkness.” The old waiter understood what the old man was going through, for he was going through the same issues. The old waiter tries to explain the issues the old man is going through to the young waiter, but the young waiter has no sympathy for him whatsoever. The young waiter had “everything” a young person could have. After the young man ran off the old man, he told the old waiter “there are bodegas open all night long.” The old waiter went on to explain to the young waiter that a bodega is not the same as a café, because the café is “clean and pleasant.” The two old men felt that life was meaningless and nothing. The old waiter connects with old man on that level. Not only does the old waiter feel that life is full of

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.

A clean well lighted place by Ernest Hemingway has a few themes that stand out clearly but the one theme that stands out to me is despair. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, despair means to lose all hope or confidence. In the story, the older waiter and the old deaf man somehow share a common bond of despair. Both men are of age and like to be out, late at night, alone. Asides from the story alone, the theme of the story can be brought out by the setting. The setting contributes to the story’s theme in different ways. The setting contributes to the mood of the story, to the structure of the story, and to the lesson of the story. The café represents salvation for despair which is shown through the setting of the

Words like cozy, calm, and memories can be used to describe my special place. A special place depends on the individual you are referring to. To me a special place allows the person to be happy and sad at the same place. This is where all realms of memories are made, allowing the individual to be able to reflect on them when entering that special atmosphere. In the warm summers I sit in our lawn with my dog as the cool wind blows, a feeling falls over me thinking about why I love my home and property so much and that I'm so very thankful to have it. I zone out for hours thinking about all the time that I have spent there with my family and friends. While I never regret any of the memories I have made, I cherish all of them and hold them close to my heart.