Earnest Hemingway

4 Pages 967 Words

In “A Clean Well-Lighted Place”, Earnest Hemingway focuses on the pain of old age suffered by a man that we meet in a café late one night. Through the use of dialogue, Hemingway creates three characters that symbolize the stages of life: birth, living, and death. Additionally, the tone of the story is created in three ways. First, he contrasts light and dark to show the difference between the difference between this man and the young people around him. Secondly, he uses the old man’s deafness as an image of his separation from the rest of the world. Lastly, Hemingway uses the image of “nada” or nothing. Hemingway’s tone and choice of language leaves the reader feeling that they too cannot escape from the doldrums of the “dead” years of their own life. Through the language of dialogue, three characters emerge creating a symbolic illustration of the progression of life. The young waiter states, “ I have confidence, I am all confidence”(258). He displays his eagerness to conquer the world. When we are young, we live for today, for ourselves, without regard for what the future may hold. Tomorrow is a dream; tomorrow is something left to the old. However, in all his confidence he lacks patience and understanding, which can only come with the experience of life. Because of this lack of experience, he is not capable of compassion for the old man “You have youth confidence and a job” the older waiter replies (258). The older waiter symbolizes the “living” stage of life. He is filled with despair, but not yet completely devoid of hope. He is uncertain of what the rest of his life may bring, but a modicum of hope still exists. The old waiter has the omniscient view of the three progressions of life. He has lived beyond his “birth” stage, is teetering in the “living” stage, and through the unfolding life of the old man, is painfully aware of the future. Is it fear of growing old, the loneliness, or despair, whi...