A Clean Well-Lighted Place Response

Every person in the world, whether you have encountered them on the street, at a restaurant, or at a cafe, will suffer the same fate in the end: death. Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” depicts a tale of two waiters who were working late at night in a cafe, and their responses to the final customer—a lonely, deaf old man getting drunk. As I delved further into the story, I was able to understand the deeper meanings of Hemingway’s characters and the overall significance of the narrative. One of my reactions to Hemingway’s short story was its characters. The younger waiter, who is seemingly inconsiderable of others, wishes that the old man would leave while the older waiter is more sympathetic towards the old man, and defends the old man. My initial reaction to the character of the younger waiter was that he was very impolite and egocentric—only wishing to leave because the old man staying behind was wasting his valuable free time. Without fully grasping the old man’s situation, the younger waiter says “I'm sleepy now. I never get into bed before three o’clock. He should have killed himself last week” (Hemingway 152). The younger waiter wishes, the old man
had killed himself for his selfish reasons without fully understanding the older man’s situation. Reading that generated an angry reaction from me as this type of response is very inconsiderate and rude. The older waiter is more understanding of the deaf old man and is indifferent about the situation of staying late at work because he relates to his despair. Arguing with the younger waiter, the older waiter says “We are of two different kinds. It is not only a question of youth and confidence although those things are very beautiful. Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be someone who needs the cafe” (Hemingway 152). The older waiter is shown to be the polar opposite of the younger waiter. He is never in a rush to close up because he is sympathetic towards those who are in despair and are in need of the cafe. As I was reading this short story, I sided with the older waiter more as he was shown to be very understanding and empathetic. The older waiter reminded me of the virtues that my parents taught me during my childhood—to be understanding of others and to show sympathy. I also understood the motivations and actions behind the younger waiter. As a person who is also young, I value my free time highly, and I can also be very insensitive towards those who waste my time. The younger waiter’s actions reminded me of my childhood during my visit to my grandfather’s house. My grandfather, who values his time with me clearly more than I did at the time, would force me to stay over at his home after school. I treated my grandparents with disrespect and contempt as I felt like they were wasting my time when I could spend it playing video games otherwise. Having read this story, I reflected on my childhood during my experience with staying over at my grandparents’ home and felt a sense of regret as my grandmother passed away. Reading the story over a few times, there were many deeper meanings behind the two waiters in the story. The younger waiter was critical towards the old man and the reason why he attempted suicide. He claims that there was no reason for the old man to attempt suicide because “he has plenty of money” (Hemingway 152). My initial reaction to this was that the younger waiter held disdain towards the old man because he was wasting his valuable time with sorrow that was unjustified. However, as I read over the story again and began to analyze its characters, I realized that the younger waiter’s motivations and mindset held a more sophisticated interpretation. The younger waiter’s disregard and unsympathetic reactions to the old man’s despair and suffering represent his fear and denial of mortality. The reasoning behind the old man’s attempt at suicide, regardless of his wealth, cannot be comprehended by the younger waiter. The younger waiter had an arrogant mindset that he’s untouchable to the problems of morality, but the old man is proof that his invincibility is an illusion—an illusion that not even great wealth can save. Most of the disdain from the waiter stems from the fact that the old man represents the inevitability of what he will become in the future. The older waiter is the moral backbone of the story. He understands why the old man would want to stay late at the cafe. He recognizes parts of himself in the old man, and is sympathetic to his situation. The waiter’s usage of the term “nada,” meaning “nothing,” was somewhat confusing to me at first. As I read the story again, I realized the significance of the older waiter’s usage of this word. The older waiter, like the old man, realizes the nothingness of life. His sympathy and understanding of the old man’s suicide attempt are based on the fact that life is nothing, and is meaningless. The older waiter he goes as far as to dismiss religion by mocking the Lord’s Prayer: “Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada.” (Hemingway 152) The older waiter is at the stage in his life where he cannot find an escape from the reality of life. There is no solace in the nothingness and meaninglessness of life when the only end to life is death. “Nada” represents the older waiter’s outlook on life. Life has no purpose other than death. Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” left me with mixed reactions.
The message that Hemingway attempts to convey was that the only end to life is death. Hemingway’s grim message is to simply tell readers that the death comes to us all, and that we must accept it as the older waiter did. My initial reaction is that the younger waiter was disrespectful and egotistical, who had no regard for others, but I soon realized that his opinions and motivations were fueled by his hatred and denial of the fact that he and the old man were the same. The significance of the “Nada” is Hemingway’s representation and commentary that life is meaningless and futile. No matter how we live our lives, whether we are wealthy or not or how loved we are by our partners, we all meet the same fate in the
end.