A Clean, Well-Lighted Place: Accepting the Nothing According to the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of nothing is, “not anything, no single thing.” Nothing, in Ernest Hemingway’s A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, is established as an inescapable stage of a person’s life and is a concept in which could only be understood with age. Hemingway presents the idea of nothingness through three characters, all differing in their age; the old man, the young waiter, and the old waiter. The author has the three men at varying ages in order to represent the different stages in a person’s life and to reveal how unlike their perspectives are at that point in their lives. The clean, well-lighted place where the story takes place in holds a specific importance …show more content…
When the old man was in the café later than usual, the young waiter grew impatient because he had a wife waiting for him at home and he wanted to go to bed. As he was waiting for the old man to finish, the young waiter was criticizing him for taking to long. He says, “I wouldn’t want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing,” (Hemingway), which reveals the perspective of a younger person. He believes he is the most important person of the three men because he has ‘everything’. In reality, he is missing the ability to grasp the concept of nothing, which is the reason why he is seen as a person who is full of himself. This is also displayed when the older waiter asked, “What is an hour,” and he replies by saying, “More to me than to him,” (Hemingway). Since he is the youngest of the men, he believes he is of more importance because he has more of a life to live. He has his youth, his confidence, and a wife to come home to while the other two men no longer have their youth or confidence, nor do they have a person to return to. Hemingway is suggesting the idea of how younger people do not have the adequate mindset or tools in order to understand the concept of nothingness. As seen by the young waiter, everything is of value and everything is important, but according to Hemingway and the message presented by the old …show more content…
As he watches the young waiter grow increasingly agitated with the old man, he tries to calm him down because he understands the reason why the old man needs the clean, well-lighted place; to escape the nothingness, which follows him around. After the two waiters clean up and close the café, the old waiter reluctantly walks to a bodega. On the way to his next destination, the old waiter internalizes the thought of how everything “was a nothing he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too,” (Hemingway). This how the author conveys the old waiter’s acknowledgement of the nothingness. He is in between being young and being old but he is different from the young waiter in terms of being able to recognize the nothing and he is different from the old man in terms of being able to accept the nothing. As the old waiter sits in the bodega, the clean, well-lighted place still lingers in his mind. He is the keeper of the clean, well-lighted café, meaning he is the one who has the ability to control the café and its conditions. Hemingway subtly alludes to the idea of how the meaning of the world comes from the meaning that is imposed upon it by man. Since the old waiter’s age is in between the young waiter and the old man, his perspective and thoughts reflect the same idea; he understands the concept of nothing, which is something the
Early on, Hemingway describes that he was “always hungry with the walking and the cold and the working” (22). While spending the day with his wife at the horse races, Hemingway wants to “go to a wonderful place and have a truly grand dinner” (47). The two of them head to Michaud’s, a finer restaurant. Though Hemingway debates whether he is truly hungry in the simple sense or in a deeper way, he decides that he is hungry in the simple sense, and they have a “wonderful meal” at Michaud’s (49). There is some sort of practicality of being hungry as Hemingway argues that “in Paris, then, you could live very well on almost nothing and by skipping meals occasionally and never buying any new clothes, you could save and have luxuries” (83), as though, it is more important to have “luxuries” than it is to have money for meals. This necessity for hunger, is characterized better through the methaporhical meaning in A Moveable
In Hemingway's short story there are three characters, two waiters and their customer. Of these three, two are older men who are experiencing extreme loneliness. The customer sits alone drinking his glasses of brandy slowly, and very carefully, peacefully becoming drunk. While he is meticulously drinking his alcohol, the two waiters talk about him. They discuss his suicide attempt of the week past. The younger waiter doesn't seem to understand why a man with money would try to end his life. Although the older waiter seems to have an insight into the customer's reason, he doesn't share this with the younger one. He seems to know why this deaf old man is so depressed, and sits there alone and silent. When the younger waiter rushes the customer, the older waiter objects. He knows what it is like to go home to emptiness at night, while the younger man goes home to his wife. The older waiter remarks on the differences between him and his younger companion when he says, "I have never had confidence and I am not young.&qu...
On the other hand, the younger waiter has a wife to go home to and is irritated at the old man because he will not leave. He even says to the old man, who is deaf, "You should have killed yourself last week" (1170). This cruel remark contrasts sharply with the older waiter's characteristics of compassion, friendliness, and tolerance.
Hemingway has created a situation where she is forced to depend on him because she is a young, immature, girl in an adult situation. It is when the American tells jig that “we will be fine afterward. Just like we were before, it is the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” that she realizes nothing will ever be the same no matter what he says. During one discussion she says “we could have everything” the man agrees, then she says “no we can’t it isn’t ours anymore and once they take it away, you can never get it back.” He says “But they haven’t taken it away” and her response is “we’ll wait and see.” The American doesn’t realize that at this point she has discovered that if he cannot love her and be happy while she is pregnant how he will ever truly love her as much as she loves him. According to Robert Barron many critics believe that the couple’s relationship has a bleak and ultimately poor ending (Barron). The older waiter in “A clean, Well-Lighted Place” is dealing with a similar situation when a wealthy old man who is a regular at the café he works at comes in after a failed suicide
We notice, right from the beginning of his life, that Ernest Hemingway was confronted to two opposite ways of thinking, the Manly way, and the Woman way. This will be an important point in his writing and in his personal life, he will show a great interest in this opposition of thinking. In this short story, Hemingway uses simple words, which turn out to become a complex analysis of the male and female minds. With this style of writing, he will show us how different the two sexes’ minds work, by confronting them to each other in a way that we can easily capture their different ways of working. The scene in which the characters are set in is simple, and by the use of the simplicity of the words and of the setting, he is able to put us in-front of this dilemma, he will put us in front of a situation, and we will see it in both sexes point of view, which will lead us to the fundamental question, why are our minds so different?
This bothers the girl because “that’s all [they] do. look at things and try new drinks.” This shows that the girl is tired of doing the same thing and wants to do something different, like having a baby and a family, instead of fooling around all the time. She wants to stop being a girl and become a woman. Hemingway then presents the reader with two contrasting hills.
Ernest Hemingway is known as one of the best writers of our time. He has a unique writing style in which he manipulates the English language to use the minimum amount of words and maximize the impression on the reader. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is a prime example of this. Here, Ernest Hemingway uses his writing style to reinforce the theme of “Nada”. The setting is simple, the characters are plain, and the dialogues among them are short and to the point. It is with the absence of similes and metaphors that the reader is able to appreciate the work for what it is.
... from one friend to another. The quality, the control Hemingway had in weaving his theme through his story is the work of a true master. Philosophy is never an easy subject to tackle, with it’s complex theoretical basis, it’s seeming unending list of unanswered questions, and the frustration and sadness it can bring forward. Applauding Hemingway for his attempt at divulging into his own philosophy would be an understatement and, for the most part, would mean little to the author. He comes across as this mythical figure, who’s intellect was far superior to most, but who’s own faults brought him back down to humanity, revealing that he is far more similar to most humans, a thought that, almost certainly, would have terrified him to no end.
Through the characters' dialogue, Hemingway explores the emptiness generated by pleasure-seeking actions. Throughout the beginning of the story, Hemingway describes the trivial topics that the two characters discuss. The debate about the life-changing issue of the woman's ...
In 1933, Ernest Hemmingway wrote A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. It's a story of two waiters working late one night in a cafe. Their last customer, a lonely old man getting drunk, is their last customer. The younger waiter wishes the customer would leave while the other waiter is indifferent because he isn't in so much of a hurry. I had a definite, differentiated response to this piece of literature because in my occupation I can relate to both cafe workers.
..., Well-Lighted Place”, represent the opinions and views of one typical person, in one ordinary life. The theme of a world of nothingness is overwhelming to the human brain, and almost inconceivable, and everything we do in this life is simply designed to help us take our mind off of death; suicide is the ultimate escape from “despair” over “nothing” (494). Hemingway’s brilliant transitions in time explain how life eventually grows worse with age, and humans will succumb to suicide, drunkenness, or something comforting and safe, much like a clean, well-lighted cafe. Further, Hemingway has shown the world that man has created many bogus ways to cope with the insurmountable fear of nothingness, namely religion. People can try to kid their selves into feeling soulful, genuine, or meaningful, but there is no need to “fear for [the human] soul”, as it is non-existent.
Earnest Hemingway’s work gives a glimpse of how people deal with their problems in society. He conveys his own characteristics through his simple and “iceberg” writing style, his male characters’ constant urge to prove their masculinity.
He could be described as very close-minded to anyone else 's opinions, he is a man of self-assurance. "I have confidence. I am all confidence" (Hemingway 202) He expresses in the story. This man has a family, stability, his job, and everything to look forward to. Although he contains the inability to connect with others in the story due to the lack of experience. When the older waiter said "what is an hour" he replied "more to me than him" (202) This quote shows his lack of empathy for one who does not feel worth in themself, he rushes out with no worries about anyone else 's problems. The younger waiter 's mentality consists of selfish views that since he has all he needs in life and happiness within himself that other 's lives are less important, with less meaning. He approaches the old man sitting and calling for another brandy exclaiming "You should have killed yourself last week" (201). This quote is ironic because the man could not hear the bold statement made by the younger waiter, but highlights the mentality of his that once you lose the materialistic qualities of life, it 's over. The younger waiter shows a more fatalism perspective, with expressing that everything happens for a reason and that the man was supposed to kill himself that night. Hermingway successfully created a character with opposite views to better express the
In a symbolic reading, the opening paragraph describes the crisis that exists in the marriage of the couple. In other words, the description of the bad weather, of the "empty square"[1](l.10) and of their isolation, reflects this conflict and also sets the negative mood. In fact, since the beginning, Ernest Hemingway insists on the isolation of the couple that "does not know any of the people they passed" (ll.1-2) and are "only two Americans"(l.1). Here it is interesting to notice that they are isolated from the outside world but also from each other. There is no communication and they have no contact, they are distant from each other.
There are many conflicts in this story, however when I think the conflicts between youth and old; the conflict between go home to sleep and stay outside; the conflict between “a clean, well lighted coffer shop” and bar or bodegas, those are the most interested parts for me. Through Hemingway’s simple and easy dialogs, I realize being old and lonely are universal problems. We can only understand them how it feels until we are old. Hemingway doesn’t give us any solution, and he doesn’t blame the world is unfair to the old men either. He knows this is a progress that everyone will go through it, not matter he is rich or poor.