A Clean Well Lighted Place

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Recommended: Hemingway as a writer

Within the short story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway, I believe there is a deeper connection between the old man and the older more mature waiter. These characters being an old deaf man and a waiter tending to him on a routine night. We are introduced to our characters during a night not unlike any other between the hours of 1:30 AM and 3:00 AM, this is known in some cultures as “The Witching hour”. This is the time it is believed that spirits become most active. Two waiters, a younger and older, tend to the old man for he is a wealthy regular to their cafe. The younger of the two wants to go home to his wife and feels the old man is a nuisance he should not have to bother with. The older tries to keep him calm enough to finish the night without any one of them being treated unfairly. Their conversation strikes up many good questions. The old man has a history of loneliness as well as depression. We know this due to the older of the two waiter’s telling of these grim details to the younger waiter. But how did he know these things? Could there be any reason other than town gossip for him to have this information? I believe so. …show more content…

And the older of the two waiters could be the embodiment of the old man in his favorite version of himself, calm and collected. This would explain why the waiter is so defensive of the young waiter’s rude comments and his deep understanding of the old man and his life’s details. The story points out many similarities between the old man and the older waiter’s personality. They both enjoy well-lighted cafes over bars, the nighttime when no one else is awake and bothering them, and they both exhibit the same

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