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A Clean Well-Lighted Place

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“A Clean Well-Lighted Place” Analysis
“A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, by Ernest Hemmingway, is a story of two waiters working late one night in “A Clean, Well-Lighted” cafe. The image of the café is central to the story; we get a feeling that outside this place the world is chaos. The story opens with two waiters discussing an old man who frequents the café where they work. He constantly stays late into the night drinking. One of the waiters, a younger man, expresses his dislike of the old man while the older waiter sympathizes and relates to the old man. The younger waiter wants the old man to go home while the older waiter doesn’t seem to care one way or another. This story is a tale of despair and loneliness and how different people deal with it.
The older waiter defends the old man him because he can relate to his despair. Loneliness and old age are the common bonds that the older waiter shares with the old man. In time he will be old, unable to work and feel lonely because his lack friends. The old man seems to think there is no meaning to his life. It is like he has given up. There is no good or bad; no right or wrong, the only thing that may matter is making what time he has left somewhat bearable. The fact that he gets drunk every night and stays late at the café shows he has nothing better to do with his last bit of time. Depression puts a negative spin on everything, including the way you see yourself, the situations you encounter, and your expectations for the future. Many people turn to alcohol during a time of depression. I believe that is why the old man spends so much time at the drinking in the café. Many alcoholics drink to “self-medicate” in order to cope . Alcohol serves as an anesthetic in "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," allowing the old man to dull the pain of what he sees as a meaningless existence.

Both men feel that light chases away the darkness, keeps away that feeling of insecurity and dread that tends to creep up on us at night when we are surrounded by darkness. Nothing can offer comfort to us and the huge emptiness is overwhelming. In this story Hemmingway suggests the only the light of a pleasant well-lighted café, and the numbing effect of liquor can push away the realization that life is emptiness, that a man’s life means nothing and his existence doesn’t signify anything.
As we age, time can mean different things depending on our feelings toward mortality. The young waiter fails to understand the value of time as you get older, saying "[an hour] means more to me than to him," demonstrating his belief that time can be measured by what is accomplished with each hour, rather than the preciousness of the number remaining. The older waiter also grasps the appeal of a clean, well-lighted place to a lonely person. The young waiter thinks it shouldn't matter to the old man if he is sitting in a café or bar or even drinking alone at home. But bars are darker, louder and intended for groups of people. To be alone in a dark bar increases the feeling of loneliness. When alone in a clean, will-lighted place, a solitary person can feel part of the community. "You do not understand," said the older waiter. "This is a clean and pleasant café. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves."
The dialog between the two waiters establishes a difference between the two that is very distinct. The younger waiter is eager to get home, he has a wife that he loves, a warm bed to go to, and he has time on his side. He has the ignorance that only a younger man who has not yet experienced the world has about him. He cannot see past the liquor that the old deaf man drinks to see that he is good and different from the other patrons that come to visit their cafe. And he cannot distinguish between the clean, well lit cafe and the dark bodegas that stay open all night with vagrants. The older waiter defends the old man because he understands, being older himself, and similar to the old man, he says, "Not always. This old man is clean. He drinks without spilling. Even now, drunk. Look at him."
The older waiter is very similar to the old man. He understands the loneliness that the old man feels. He says "We are two different kinds." "It is not only a question of youth and confidence, although those things are very beautiful. Each night, I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafe." “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway is a powerful yet somewhat depressing story of the meaning of like. At one time or another, all of us have asked what our purpose is. The older waiter represents all that do not understand their purpose. One’s life is nothingness if it is without propose. This doesn’t mean that life has to be meaningless, rather that one must find what the purpose of life is. One has to set standards for oneself and conform to them with dignity, and not allowing despair into your life.

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