Essay Response to "A Clean Well Lighted Place" - Ernest Hemingway

Picture this. Three men in a café; two waiters and an old drunk man. You'd think they'd have something in common, but it turns out they are very different. The genius, Ernest Hemingway, wrote this short story, "A Clean Well Lighted Place." This short story is basically about an old man at a café who stays there drinking for the longest time, and these two waiters: an old one, and a misunderstood young one. One main idea of this short story compares the two waiters differences even though they are café waiters. One other important aspect of this story is the meaning of a clean well lighted place is and why the old man always comes to this particular café.






To begin with, there's the old waiter and the young waiter. They are serving a somewhat drunk old man. The two waiters have several differences. The old one is very wise and calm with everything, and the young waiter isn’t the same. Both waiters serve drinks to the old man at the café, but only the old waiter has some interest in serving him. For instance, the younger waiter quotes, “He should have killed himself last week.” The importance of this statement is that the younger waiter feels that the old man at the bar is a waste of time. This piece of text is also a repeated phrase. Second of all, at the beginning, one waiter says, “he tried to commit suicide.” This means that the old man is either depressed or he may be psychologically disturbed. But, the young waiter says, “He has plenty of money.” This means that the young waiter thinks money is important and worth living for. Later in the story, the young waiter complains that the old man won’t leave from the café, and he quotes, “I never get to bed before three o’clock.” The younger waiter says this because he is sleepy and has no intention of serving drinks to the old man over and over. On the other hand, the old waiter is more reasoning than the younger waiter. This is proved by the short discussion between the younger and older waiter. “And what do you lack?” “Everything but work.” “You have everything I have.” This older waiter is very sensible and therefore, is proven to be the greater one. The last difference among both waiters is their wife. The younger waiter quotes, “He’s lonely, I’m not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me.” The younger waiter has a wife, which makes him happy. Meanwhile, the old waiter does not have a wife. When the younger waiter complains that he has a wife waiting for him, he does not care about the drunk old man. He thinks his own time is more valuable, and he does not respect the old man. These quotes and their importance’s show that the old waiter and the young waiter are diverse in several ways.






Even though both waiters are very different, it is still important to understand what “A Clean Well Lighted Place” really means. There is a reason why the old man only came to that particular café and why he sits in the shadow of the leaves. First of all, during the beginning of the story, one waiter says, “he tried to commit suicide.” This means that the old man may be depressed, so he comes to the café/bar to drink and probably to get his mind off things. Second of all, the old man who comes to the café, sat in the shadow of the leaves, which is shows that this café is clean and well lighted; and it is a repeated phrase. This quote, "you do not understand, this is a clean and pleasant café. It is well lighted. Seeing that the light is very good and now there are shadows of the leaves." This says that the old man drinks here because it is a clean café. It is well lighted and shows the shadow of the leaves. When the old waiter goes to another café, he says the table needs polishing. Still, he declares that this café is better than the others and it is well lighted.






Now, by analyzing this story, I can understand that the old waiter and the young are both different, and also what a Clean Well Lighted Place means. Sometimes we might think what is special about a drunk person in a bar, but this story really relates to the author Hemingway's life, and shows that when you have nothing to go home to, you go to "A Clean Well Lighted Place."