Place For People Like The Old Man example essay topic

374 words
The short story "A Clean Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway consists of a dialogue that takes place between two waiters at a caf'e, where they work. It is late and there is one customer, an old man, left in the caf'e. The old man staying so late bothers the younger of the two waiters. All he can think about is going home to his wife waiting in bed for him. The older waiter seems to be more empathetic to the plight of the old man. He understanding the need for a clean well-lighted place such as the one they provide.

The discussion between the two waiters reveals the differences in character, values, and the need for a clean well-lighted place. The young waiter only thinks about himself and the fact that the old man is causing him to be at work late. He is young and has not yet learned the importance of providing a clean well-lighted place for people like the old man. He has a immature look at aging this apparent when he makes the comment"; I wouldn't want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing". He seems oblivious to that fact that everyone inevitably ages and faces the same destitute life in the end.

On the other hand, the older waiter seems to identify with and understand the old man and his need for the caf'e. He wants to be able to provide such a place, "each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the caf'e". He appears to put himself in the old man's shoes realizing that everyone ends up the same, trying to distract themselves away from the pointlessness and darkness that is life. At the end of the story the older waiter reveals that fact that he too faces the same problem as the old man. The importance of a clean well-lighted place in this story is that it provides refuge from the darkness that is reality and life. The light represents anything that a person uses to distract themselves from the desperation that everyone eventually ends up facing.