A Clean Well Lighted Place Symbolism

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Like most enjoyable short stories, “A Clean, Well- Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway makes good use of symbolism. While it can be argued that there are many important symbols in this particular story, one seems to stand out from the rest. This symbol helps enhance the novel by providing a deeper meaning to the text, and helps readers figure out Hemingway’s message in the story.

In the story, the cafe is described as being “clean and pleasant”, and is a place that the old man does not want to leave. The night outside the cafe represents “chaos, loneliness, old age, and impending death” (Kennedy, Gioia 240). This contrast, between the night and the cafe and the old man’s willingness to stay in the cafe is the first symbol of the story. Early in the story, the two waiters mention that the old man tried to commit suicide because he “was in despair about nothing”. However, it is clear that the old man was suffering from something intangible.

The younger waiter is impatient to get home to his wife, who is waiting for him. Here, Hemingway makes it very easy for readers to imagine the old man in this waiter’s place a few decades earlier. The old man would have had …show more content…
In his conversation with the younger waiter, he states that he “lacks everything but work”, thus stating that he does not have the vigor and confidence of a younger person. In addition, he has lost his faith in religion, which is something that he has believed in for his entire life. It is suggested here that the older waiter’s job is one of the only things that keeps him going as it gives him a sense of purpose in life. Because of this, he enjoys staying in the cafe for as long as possible much like the old man, albeit for different reasons. When he has to leave the cafe, his only source of motivation is gone and he is forced to accept the emptiness of his life until he returns to his
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