Ernest Hemmingway's A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

Hemmingway’s short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” begins with an old man drinking brandy in a Spanish café late at night, into the early hours of the morning. A young waiter is upset, wishing that the old man would leave so that he and the older waiter could close the café and go home. However, the older waiter realizes that the old man must be lonely, especially since he had attempted to hang himself the week before. When the old man finally leaves the waiters close the café, with the younger waiter going home to his family and the older waiter wandering the streets to find his own clean, well-lit place.
The older waiter strongly identifies with old man because it is a feeling that he also deals with. He understands the old man’s need