A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway

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There is a common exercise to evaluate one’s outlook on life: take a glass, fill it halfway and ask yourself, “Is this glass half empty or half full?” Decide on either one depending on how you see it, either half empty (hopelessness) or half full (optimism). We all see the centered brim of water differently based on our own personal circumstances. The old man in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” would see the glass as half empty. Why? Emptiness is what fills his heart. There’s no gratification in having “plenty of money” and a family, but he finds indulgence in emptying a literal glass of brandy every night somewhere he finds safe, like the well-lit café (167). Even though the story is never clear about why this man is so distraught, the reader is able to understand how he is unable to leave the café. The same theme applies for the two waiters serving him – one has a life to live with his wife, and the other lacks confidence and is one to “stay late at the café”. One has found life, and the other has a lack of confidence and nothing to be proud of. Hemingway develops external symbolism through the setting in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” like purity and light/ darkness, and also a contrasting theme of lifelong fulfillment and temporary fulfillment.
This café, possibly somewhere in Spain, is described as a place where those “who do not want to go to bed” and those “who need a light for the night” are welcome (169). Instead of wallowing in pitiful circumstance at home, those who need hope are those that come to the café, as this place depicts a safe haven for the empty and gives hope to the hopeless, further exemplifying Hemingway’s contrast of faith and discouragement in the story. Even as the two waiters converse, the reader sees th...

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... short story and deliver a different outlook on life, which is one that each character seemed to have as “Hemingway’s style of writing brings a hard-bitten realism to American fiction” quotes an outside source. The modernism in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is the old man continually searching for fulfillment but only receiving temporary gratification, which is so prevalent in today’s society.

Works Cited

Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. ""A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"" Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 12th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 167-70. Print.

Bassett, Olena. "A Clean Well-Lighted Place." A Clean Well-Lighted Place: The Revelation of Nada. Lonestar College System, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

Thornhill, Matthew. "ENGL112." : Ernest Hemingway. Http://www.blogspot.com, 15 Feb. 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.

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