a clean well-lighted place

Aclean,well-lightedplace•Stylisticminimalism•Thedignityofthemovementofanicebergisduetoonlyone-eighthofitbeingabovewater.•Theimmensepoweroftheunsaid•Hemingway’sEconomyofStyle•“AClean,Well-LightedPlace”isarguablynotonlyoneofHemingway’sbestshortstoriesbutalsoastorythatclearlydemonstratesthetechniquesofHemingway’ssignaturewritingstyle.Hemingwayisknownforhiseconomicprose—hiswritingisminimalistandsparse,withfewadverbsoradjectives.Heincludesonlyessentialinformation,oftenomittingbackgroundinformation,transitions,anddialoguetagssuchas“hesaid”or“shesaid.Heoftenusespronounswithoutclearantecedents,suchasusingtheworditwithoutclarifyingwhatitrefersto.Hemingwayappliesthe“icebergprinciple”tohisstories:onlythetipofthestoryisvisibleonthepage,whiletherestisleftunderwater—unsaid.Hemingwayalsorarelyspecifieswhichwaiterisspeakinginthestorybecausehehasdeemedsuchclarificationunnecessary.Theessentialelementisthattwowaitersarediscussingadrunkoldman—therestcanbeomittedaccordingtoHemingway’seconomyofstyle.Whentheolderwaitercontemplatestheideaofnothingness,Hemingwayloadsthesentenceswithvaguepronouns,neverclarifyingwhattheyreferto:“Itwasallanothing....Itwasonlythat....Somelivedinit...”Althoughtheselinesaresomewhatconfusing,theconfusionisthepoint.Thisnothingnesscan’tbedefinedclearly,nomatterhowmanywordsareused.Hemingwayusesfewerwordsandletstheeffectofhisstylespeakforitself.•“Togivelighttothemthatsitinthedarknessandintheshadowofdeath,toguideourfeetintothewayofpeace.”TheHolyBible•Howisanclean,well-lightedcafédifferentfromabarorabodega?•Whyisaclean,well-lightedcafésoimportanttoanoldman?•Mainidea•Howadesperateoldmancountersdarknessandchaoswithcleanness,light,andorderandsurviveswithdignity.•Theme•Graceunderpressure•Dignityinfaceofadversity•ComfortsagainstnothingnessCharacterList•TheOldMan-Adeafmanwholikestodrinkatthecafélateintothenight.Theoldmanlikestheshadowsoftheleavesonthewell-litcaféterrace.Rumorhasitthathetriedtohanghimself,hewasoncemarried,hehasalotofmoney,andhisniecetakescareofhim.Heoftengetsdrunkatthecaféandleaveswithoutpaying.•TheOlderWaiter•Acompassionatemanwhounderstandswhytheoldmanmaywanttostaylateatthecafé.Theolderwaiterenjoysstayinglateatcafésaswell.Hethinksit’sveryimportantforacafétobecleanandwelllit,andheseesthecaféasarefugefromdespair.Ratherthanadmitthatheislonely,hetellshimselfthathehasinsomnia.•TheYoungerWaiter•Animpatientyoungmanwhocaresonlyaboutgettinghometohiswife.Theyoungerwaiterisusuallyirritatedwiththeoldmanbecausehemuststaylateandservehimdrinks.Hedoesnotseemtocarewhytheoldmanstayssolong.Hisonlyconcernisleavingasquicklyaspossible.Analysisofmajorcharacters•TheOlderWaiter•Liketheoldman,theolderwaiterlikestostaylateatcafés,andheunderstandsonadeeplevelwhytheyarebothreluctanttogohomeatnight.Hetriestoexplainittotheyoungerwaiterbysaying,“Hestaysupbecausehelikesit,”buttheyoungerwaiterdismissesthisandsaysthattheoldmanislonely.Indeed,boththeoldmanandtheolderwaiterarelonely.Theoldmanlivesalonewithonlyaniecetolookafterhim,andweneverlearnwhathappenedtohiswife.Hedrinksalonelateintothenight,gettingdrunkincafés.Theolderwaiter,too,islonely.Helivesaloneandmakesahabitofstayingoutlateratherthangoinghometobed.Butthereismoretotheolderwaiter’s“insomnia,”ashecallsit,thanjustloneliness.Anunnamed,unspecifiedmalaiseseemstogriphim.Thismalaiseisnot“afearordread,”astheolderwaiterclarifiestohimself,butanoverwhelmingfeelingofnothingness—anexistentialangstabouthisplaceintheuniverseandanuncertaintyaboutthemeaningoflife.Whereasotherpeoplefindmeaningandcomfortinreligion,theolderwaiterdismissesreligionas“nada”—nothing.Theolderwaiterfindssolaceonlyinclean,well-litcafés.There,lifeseemstomakesense.•Theolderwaiterrecognizeshimselfintheoldmanandseeshisownfuture.Hestandsupfortheoldmanagainsttheyoungerwaiter’scriticisms,pointingoutthattheoldmanmightbenefitfromawifeandiscleanandneatwhenhedrinks.Theolderwaiterhasnorealreasontotaketheoldman’sside.Infact,theoldmansometimesleavesthecaféwithoutpaying.Butthepossiblereasonforhissupportbecomesclearwhentheyoungerwaitertellstheolderwaiterthathetalkslikeanoldmantoo.Theolderwaiterisawarethatheisnotyoungorconfident,andheknowsthathemayonedaybejustliketheoldman—unwanted,alone,andindespair.Ultimately,theolderwaiterisreluctanttoclosethecaféasmuchfortheoldman’ssakeasforhisownbecausesomedayhe’llneedsomeonetokeepacaféopenlateforhim.•TheYoungerWaiter•Brashandinsensitive,theyoungerwaitercan’tseebeyondhimself.Hereadilyadmitsthatheisn’tlonelyandiseagertoreturnhomewherehiswifeiswaitingforhim.Hedoesn’tseemtocarethatotherscan’tsaythesameanddoesn’trecognizethatthecaféisarefugeforthosewhoarelonely.Theyoungerwaiterisimmatureandsaysrudethingstotheoldmanbecausehewantstoclosethecaféearly.Heseemsunawarethathewon’tbeyoungforeverorthathemayneedaplacetofindsolacelaterinlifetoo.Unliketheolderwaiter,whothinksdeeply—perhapstoodeeply—aboutlifeandthosewhostruggletofaceit,theyoungerwaiterdemonstratesadismissiveattitudetowardhumanlifeingeneral.Forexample,hesaystheoldmanshouldhavejustgoneaheadandkilledhimselfandsaysthathe“wouldn’twanttobethatold.”Hehimsel