Nothingness in 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.

Sadness, frustration, or discontent, however it’s put, there is an obvious difference with the characters in, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway, and their ideas of mortality and old age. The short story shows the concept of “nothingness,” displayed through a very depressing view on life. This suggesting that all people, even those who are happy and content, will eventually end up lonely, drunk, or unhappy. By allowing a reader to view this from three diverse perspectives, Hemingway is able to render how someone’s attitude of their own life can go from one extreme to another. Allowing suicide as a final option to surface for some.

How does Ernest Hemingway develop the theme of self-governance in the short story A Way You’ll Never Be?

In Night, by Elie Wiesel, silence allows the atrocities of the world to prevail; additionally, the absence of God through times of suffering, lack of resistance from the Jewish victims and Elie’s reluctance to aid his father are actions that demonstrate the lasting impact of silence upon others. Initially, thirteen year old Elie has a strong passion for religion and studies many Jewish texts; however, when he is deported to Birkenau, he witnesses that God takes no action when the babies are being “thrown into the flames” (Wiesel 32). Consequently, Elie starts to question his faith: “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” (33).

After succeeding through hardships we gain the knowledge of our own strength. Although, I believe strife, in ways, always succeeds as well, seeing that without the success of strife, our strength teaches us nothing. We all would like to believe that strength always triumphs over strife, but in reality we wouldn’t gain that strength without the strife. In Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, he is faced with many hardships. He is forced into concentration camps and treated inhumanely, and his strength is constantly tested. Elie struggles with his mental, physical, and even spiritual health; especially during his trip to the final concentration camp. Although Elie loses so much during the holocaust, including his own family, he gains a dominating trait, strength.

Love is an unexplainable emotion that exceeds the boundaries of all. In Earnest Hemingway 's "A Farewell to Arms" two character 's share a climactic endeavor through pain and suffrage finding their way back to each other no matter what. Hemingway expresses love as a necessity in one 's life, and even through gruesome terror and war it can never be broken. The story resonates with it 's readers on a personal and realistic level, being that it is written with some truth behind it; Hemingway 's style of writing portrays the definition of unexpected reality.

Sleep is the most highly thought of means of recreation for a soldier (45). This ultimately represents a yearning for the simplicity of the pre-modern. The complacency that one was birthed into in previous centuries is, in the military, presented as conscious lifestyle choice. On the matter of preference of placement within the military structure, Rico’s recruitment officer speaks dismissively of a “that” “being what you think would make you happy.” (28). The allure of the military lifestyle is not having to be concerned with one’s own happiness. Happiness is portioned out according to the decisions of men like Rico’s placement officer whom “you could relax and take it easy with” (32). That this easiness and happiness is built upon faith in a Chinese Legalism and a utilitarian calculus is un-concerning to Rico. That same placement officer has quotas and his first duty is to those quotas, people will suffer because of that. Similarly, the method through which complexity and moral ambiguity is avoided has caused suffering. The suffering of the Temporary Third Lieutenant on the HMS Chesapeake (154) is the price paid for a rigid and easy to understand law of behavior that expects no field philosophizing. Rico as emblematic of the military man in general, does not what to think, does not want to know, and does not want to ask. This shown to not be as we would expect a discipline required of him but instead a favor granted

Night is a memoir written by Elie Wiesel in which he writes about the journey of his life from living in a small town of Sighet to living in concentration camp. Some of the key events that Elie Wiesel documents in Night in order to show the horrors he experienced during the holocaust were loss of his innocence; the change in him overtime; and the reason for him to write this book.

One of the points that is consistently brought up in Toni Morrison’s Paradise is that of the all black town “Ruby”. Paradise uses the setting of Oklahoma to discuss how many black towns are shaped by past history and religion. While the town in this novel is fictional, there have been real all black towns in the United States, and it seems that these towns influenced many aspects of the town Ruby, which is why it is so easy to imagine that the story could actually be real. Many authors have written in general about the novel, and specifically about the town within it.

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

In life, many people seek to find their purpose; people want to know who they are and what they need to do in order to live their life to the fullest. It is guaranteed that finding one’s purpose in life is not going to be easy, however everyone has the capability to do so. There are going to be obstacles that will hinder one from finding one’s identity and purpose in life, but it is up to each individual to find ways to overcome these obstacles, and the absurdity of life in general. Throughout The Stranger, Invisible Man, and Harrison Bergeron, existentialism is a common theme, and it plays a big role in certain characters finding their identity and their purpose in life. Existentialism is centered around the ideology that one’s purpose in life is found through an individual making their own choices and taking responsibility for their actions. It is important to remember that everyone has their own set of ideologies, and by keeping an open mind about different people having different ideologies, it will be easier to find one’s self in the process.

Ernest Hemingway's short story, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," first published in 1933, is written in his characteristic terse style. It is the story of two waiters having a conversation in a café, just before closing up and going home for the night. They cannot leave because they still have a customer. One is anxious to get home to his wife, while the other sympathizes with the old man sitting at the table. Without realizing it, they are discussing the meaning of life.

  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

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.