A clean,

well-
lighted
place
By: Ernest hemingway

(short story ANALYSIS)

Background of the Author

 Ernest Miller Hemingway; one of the most renowned author and journalist of this
era, was born on the 21st of July 1899 in Oak Park, Chicago, USA. Born to a
simple family, Hemingway worked his way from a reporter for The Kansas City
Star then a volunteer for an ambulance unit in World War-I, a journalist in
Chicago to a Nobel prize awarded writer who inspired wide range of authors and
writers. An institute in himself Hemingway was awarded Nobel Prize for his
contribution to literature in 1954.
 His writing style became an inspiration for many crime and pulp fiction novels. He
wrote in a very distinctive minimalist way. Writing short stories, Hemingway knew
how to get the most from the least. With his tightly written prose, he was a master
of narration and a brilliant writer. He was not in favor of using emotions. He
believed it was easy and useless to do so. Instead he formed sculptures to
portray the ‘original feeling’.
 His first books include ‘Three stories and Ten Poems’ (1923), ‘In Our Time’
(1924) and ‘The Torrents of Spring’ although his first serious novel and without a
doubt the reason of his establishing fame was ‘The Sun also Rises’ (1926) which
was later recognized as his greatest work piece. Other major works include
‘Death in the Afternoon’, The Green Hills of Africa’ and ‘To Have and Have Not’.
 Though a successful writer, Hemingway never disowned his past. He shared his
life experiences on various occasions. He remembered his mother dressing him
up as a little girl and the sorry incident of his father taking his own life in 1928. He
used his life experiences as inspirations for many of his books. When the United
States entered the First World War, Ernest Hemingway volunteered to work in an
ambulance unit in the Italian army. His first duty was to visit an explosion site
where his unit had to salvage the remains of female workers. He described this
unpleasant incident in his book ‘Death in the Afternoon’. Another book ‘A farewell
to Arms’ was inspired by a love affair he had with a nurse during his stay at the
hospital.
 After returning home from the war, Hemingway became a reporter for the
American and Canadian newspapers. He was then sent to Europe to cover
happenings such as the Greece Revolution. In 1921, he moved to Paris where
he worked as an article writer for the ‘Toronto Star’.
 Hemingway received the Nobel Prize in 1954. Although he always thought this
was given to him in pity due to his obituary notices. Hemingway started going into
depression with the deaths of some of his close friends. He was also seriously
 injured in two successive plane crashes. He received third degree burns while at
a fishing expedition shortly after his recovery from the plane crash. Hemingway
went through a lot of hurt and depression during the 1950s till his death. Later the
doctors believed he had a genetic disease in which a person is prone to suicide
due to inherent depression. During his last years his behavior is said to resemble
his father’s before he had committed suicide. In 1961 Ernest Hemingway
committed suicide.
 Hemingway’ distinct influence on literature can be witnessed in continuous
tributes and recognitions that followed his demise.

Literary Analysis

Plot
An old man sits alone at night in a café. He is deaf and likes when the
night grows still. Two waiters watch the old man carefully because they know he
won’t pay if he gets too drunk. One waiter tells the other that the old man tried to
kill himself because he was in despair. The other waiter asks why he felt despair,
and the first waiter says the reason was “nothing” because the man has a lot of
money.
The waiters look at the empty tables and the old man, who sits in the
shadow of a tree. They see a couple walk by, a soldier with a girl. One of the
waiters says the soldier had better be careful about being out because the
guards just went by. The old man taps his glass against its saucer and asks the
younger waiter for a brandy. The younger waiter tells him he’ll get drunk, then
goes back and tells the older waiter that the old man will stay all night. The
younger waiter says he never goes to bed earlier than 3 a.m. and that the old
man should have killed himself. He takes the old man his brandy. As he pours it,
he tells the old man that he should have killed himself, but the old man just
indicates that he wants more brandy in the glass.
The younger waiter tells the older waiter that the old man is drunk, then
asks again why he tried to kill himself. The older waiter says he doesn’t know.
The younger waiter asks how he did it. The older waiter says he tried to hang
himself and his niece found him and got him down. The younger waiter asks why
she got him down, and the older waiter says they were concerned about his soul.
The waiters speculate on how much money the old man has and decide he’s
probably age eighty.
The younger waiter says he wishes the old man would leave so that he
can go home and go to bed with his wife. The older waiter says that the old man
was married at one time. The younger waiter says a wife wouldn’t do him any
good, but the older waiter disagrees. The younger waiter points out that the old
man has his niece, then says he doesn’t want to be an old man. The older waiter
points out that the old man is clean and drinks neatly. The younger waiter says
again that he wishes the old man would leave.
The old man indicates that he wants another brandy, but the younger
waiter tells him they’re closing. The old man pays and walks away. The older
waiter asks the younger waiter why he didn’t let him drink more because it’s not
even 3 a.m. yet, and the younger waiter says he wants to go home. The older
waiter says an hour doesn’t make much difference. The younger waiter says that
the old man can just drink at home, but the older waiter says it’s different. The
younger waiter agrees.
The older waiter jokingly asks if the younger waiter is afraid to go home
early. The younger waiter says he has confidence. The older waiter points out
that he also has youth and a job, whereas the older waiter has only a job. The
older waiter says that he likes to stay at cafés very late with the others who are
reluctant to go home and who need light during the nighttime. The younger waiter
says he wants to go home, and the older waiter remarks that they are very
different. The older waiter says he doesn’t like to close the café in case someone
needs it. The younger waiter says there are bars to go to, but the older waiter
says that the café is clean and well lit. They wish each other good night.
The older waiter continues thinking to himself about how important it is for
a café to be clean and well lit. He thinks that music is never good to have at a
café and that standing at a bar isn’t good either. He wonders what he’s afraid of,
deciding it’s not fear but just a familiar nothing. He says two prayers but
substitutes “nada” (Spanish for “nothing”) for most of the words. When he arrives
at a bar, he orders a drink and tells the bartender that the bar isn’t clean. The
bartender offers another drink, but the waiter leaves. He doesn’t like bars,
preferring cafés. He knows that he will now go home and fall asleep when the
sun comes up. He thinks he just has insomnia, a common problem.

Characters

 The Old Man - A deaf man who likes to drink at the café late into the
night. The old man likes the shadows of the leaves on the well-lit café
terrace. Rumor has it that he tried to hang himself, he was once
married, he has a lot of money, and his niece takes care of him. He
often gets drunk at the café and leaves without paying.
  The Older Waiter - A compassionate man who understands why the
old man may want to stay late at the café. The older waiter enjoys
staying late at cafés as well. He thinks it’s very important for a café to
be clean and well lit, and he sees the café as a refuge from despair.
Rather than admit that he is lonely, he tells himself that he has
insomnia.
 The Younger Waiter - An impatient young man who cares only about
getting home to his wife. The younger waiter is usually irritated with the
old man because he must stay late and serve him drinks. He does not
seem to care why the old man stays so long. His only concern is
leaving as quickly as possible.

Settings
 The setting in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is a clean Spanish cafe,
where two unnamed waiters — one old and one young — are
discussing an old man (also unnamed) who comes every night, sits
alone, and drinks brandy until past closing time.

Motifs

 Loneliness
Loneliness pervades “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and suggests
that even though there are many people struggling with despair, everyone
must struggle alone. The deaf old man, with no wife and only a niece to
care for him, is visibly lonely. The younger waiter, frustrated that the old
man won’t go home, defines himself and the old man in opposites: “He’s
lonely. I’m not lonely.” Loneliness, for the younger waiter, is a key
difference between them, but he gives no thought to why the old man
might be lonely and doesn’t consider the possibility that he may one day
be lonely too. The older waiter, although he doesn’t say explicitly that he is
lonely, is so similar to the old man in his habit of sitting in cafés late at
night that we can assume that he too suffers from loneliness. The older
waiter goes home to his room and lies in bed alone, telling himself that he
merely suffers from sleeplessness. Even in this claim, however, he
instinctively reaches out for company, adding, “Many must have it.” The
thought that he is not alone in having insomnia or being lonely comforts
him.
 Theme

 Nothingness
 This is exactly what the story is about: nothingness and the steps we
take against it. When confronting a world that is meaningless, how is
someone who has rejected all of the old values, someone who is now
completely alone — how is that person supposed to face this barren
world? How is that person able to avoid the darkness of nada, or
nothingness?

Literary Device

 Symbolism

 The Café
The café represents the opposite of nothingness: its cleanliness and
good lighting suggest order and clarity, whereas nothingness is chaotic,
confusing, and dark. Because the café is so different from the nothingness
the older waiter describes, it serves as a natural refuge from the despair felt
by those who are acutely aware of the nothingness. In a clean, brightly lit
café, despair can be controlled and even temporarily forgotten. When the
older waiter describes the nothingness that is life, he says, “It was only that
and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order.” The it in the
sentence is never defined, but we can speculate about the waiter’s meaning:
although life and man are nothing, light, clealiness, and order can serve as
substance. They can help stave off the despair that comes from feeling
completely unanchored to anyone or anything. As long as a clean, well-
lighted café exists, despair can be kept in check.