A Clean Well-Lighted Place

I chose to read and write about Hemingway's "A Clean Well-Lighted Place". Here is a summary of what happens. Two waiters in a Spanish cafй are waiting one night for their last customer, an old man, to leave. As they wait, they talk about the old man's recent suicide attempt. The younger waiter is impatient to leave and tells the dead old man he wishes the suicide attempt had been successful. The young waiter has a wife waiting in bed for him and is unsympathetic when the older waiter says that the old man once had a wife. The old man finally leaves when the younger waiter refuses to serve him anymore.

The older waiter argues that they should have allowed their customer to stay, that being in the cafй is not the same as drinking at home. He explains that he is also one of those "who likes to stay late at a cafй . . . . With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night." He does not want to close, since there may be someone else who needs the cafй. When the young waiter says there are bodegas open all night, the other points out that the bright atmosphere of the cafйs makes it different.

After the younger waiter goes home, the older one asks himself why he needs a clean, pleasant, quite, well-lighted place. The answer is that he requires some such semblance of order because of "a nothing that he knew too well." He begins a mocking prayer: "Our nada who art in nada as it is in nada." He then finds himself at a bodega which is a poor substitute for a clean, well-lighted cafй. He goes home to lie awake until daylight may finally bring him some sleep: "After all, he said to himself, it is probably only insomnia. Many must have it."

I think the characters of the story were depicted very well. The old man reminded me of a usual old man that has nothing to do besides sit around and get drunk. I liked how Hemingway used an age gap between characters, to show a difference in the way they acted. It's like it showed the evolutionary path that happens. First you're an impatient young man, and then you grow older and slow down to appreciate life. Finally you're old enough where life doesn't matter.

You can see things like this in real life. When you are younger, say teens to early twenties, people tend to try to act superior or invincible. The world evolves around them. Just like the young waiter, in the story, young people are impatient. Especially just waiting for some "old man". The young waiter doesn't want to wait; he has more important things to do. He's tired, his wife's in bed, getting this old man to leave. His entire motivations have to do with himself. He doesn't see the old man as anything as an obstacle. He doesn't see him as a person. He wished him dead.

The older waiter sees it much different. He has been around and understands that all the old man wants is a clean well-lighted place to drink his brandy. He knows the difference between and nice cafй and some old bodega. This reminds me of how separated older crowds are from the younger. There are clear differences in every day life. Think about the places that you may eat or drink and how they have changed over the years of getting older. When I was a little younger, I'm not too old, I liked going to crowded bars, or clubs, to have fun. As that phase wore away, I'm more interested in a more laid back atmosphere. The older I get the more that will change. I rarely see the old man in bars I'm at. This story reminds me of that, an old man just wanting a drink in a nice, relaxing place. Same with restaurants, you always know the old people spots compared to the younger, more hip places. Bob Evans - old, and Hooters young. Although plenty of older men love Hooters, and should, hopefully you see my point.

The older waiter himself is on the transformation of young to old. He tells the young waiter that the old man had a wife too, one day. This reminds me of myself in a way. A lot of times you tend to take things directly from the surface, rather than to see the entire picture. In the story the younger waiter doesn't recognize the fact that someday, long ago, the old man was much like himself. In my life I see this. When I would do something stupid and get caught, my dad would say "I was your age once". It never really set in until later that he was my age once. He has always been older so that's how he always has been seen. In the story it's the same way. The young waiter doesn't recognize that the old man was probably the same way, seeing through old people. The old man should say that to the young waiter. He used to be young and married and happy, but times change.

The old man recently attempted suicide. That says a lot about his character. To me, suicide means that someone is fed up with life. There is no reason to go on. In this story it seems that the old man is fed up. Maybe it's the boredom of life. Hemingway uses nada a lot in this story. Nada shows