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Dark Vs. Light In

“A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Essay, Research Paper


Dark Against Light in ?A Clean, Well-Lighted Place?


The main character in ?A Clean, Well- Lighted Place,?


written by Ernest Hemingway, is the old man. The old man, who


remains nameless throughout the short story, comes to the caf?


for the light it provides him against the dark night. He stays


late into the night, and sits ?In the shadow the leaves of the


tree made against the electric light.? The old man is deaf and


finds comfort in the ?difference? he feels inside the quiet caf?.


The old man struggles with old age and the feeling of nothingness


which is representative of the darkness outside of the caf?.


The well-lit caf? represents order and cleanliness. Outside


in the dark, a young soldier and a girl hurry along the streets.


Apparently, the couple intend to go off alone. They symbolize


the excitement that can go on in the night between two people.


The old man is around eighty years old, and does not have a wife.


He doesn?t experience this type of relationship in the dark.


Rather, he finds company in the clean, well-lighted caf?.


Although the only other two people in the caf? at the late hour


are the two waiters, the old man finds it content.


The two waiters comment that although he is ?A good client


they knew that if he became too drunk he would leave without


paying.? The younger of the two waiters wants to go home. He


has a wife and claims he never gets ?into bed before three


o?clock.? He treats the deaf old man as if he were dumb. He


speaks to him ?with that omission of syntax stupid people employ


when talking to drunken people or foreigners.? The young waiter


knows that the old man tried to commit suicide last week, but


feels no remorse for him. He is too preoccupied with closing the


caf? to get home. It is not important to the young waiter that


the old man has a clean place to stay. Unlike the old man, the


young waiter says he has ?confidence.? ??You have youth,


confidence, and a job,? the older waiter said. ?You have


everything.?? He has no reason to hide from the dark. He like


the soldier and girl, can find excitement in the dark. He is not


lonely like the old man. The young waiter resents the old man


because he does not want to sit in the caf? all night as he


watches him get drunker and drunker. When the older waiter


questions what the matter of one hour is to the younger waiter,


the younger waiter responds that an hour is ?More to me than


him.? The young waiter says to the older waiter that the old man


can ?Buy a bottle and drink at home.? But then later agrees with


the older waiter that it is not the same.


The older waiter, on the other hand, feels sympathetic


towards the deaf old man. He is not as old as the old man, but


can comprehend with the aging process. He is not youthful like


the younger waiter. He knows that the old man is lonely. That


his wife has died and his niece looks after him. The older


waiter understands that even though the old man has plenty of


money he is alone in the world. He realizes that it is impo

rtant


to keep a clean, well-lit caf? open for people like the old man


who can not sleep. The older waiter recognizes the difference in


his caf? and that of a dark bar or bodega. He knows that ?Light


was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order.? He is


?reluctant to close up because there may be someone who needs the


caf?.? The reader finds out at the end of the story that the


waiter is like the old man in need of light and cleanness, when


he goes to a bar after closing and comments that although ?The


light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished.?


The waiter blames it on insomnia, but he like the old man is


alone. In a way, the company of the old man is good for him just


as it is to the old man. He admits to the younger waiter ?I am


of those who like to stay late at the caf?,…With all those who


need a light for the night.? He also, tells the younger waiter


that he lacks everything but work. Similar to the old man, he


lacks youth and confidence.


One characteristic that neither the old man nor the older


waiter lack is dignity. Even though the old man is drunk when he


leaves the caf?, he still walks down the street in a


distinguished manner. Likewise, the older waiter comments that


you can not stand before a bar with dignity even though ?that is


all that is provided for these hours.? For both the old man and


the older waiter life held nothing, nada. The light, the


pleasantness, and cleanliness of a late night caf? is the only


sense of being for the two men. They are both alone. And


although at night they find themselves alone, it also brings a


peacefulness and consolation from the busy day. The light that


they find in the night brings them a strong sense of relief from


what they are missing in the dark. Both of the men are older and


know the reality of darkness. The youthful young waiter lacks


experience which does not intimidate him from the dark. The


order of the light keeps the two others up, and away from the


loneliness. The dark holds nothingness, while the light is


inviting and being.


Regardless of the old man?s pursuit of light, he sits in the


shadows created by the leaves. Almost as if he is an outsider or


onlooker of the light. In this aspect, he is slightly similar to


the younger waiter who awaits the darkness of his wife and their


bed. It is as if the old man is stuck in the middle: he longs


for the brightness of the electric light, but he can not


completely pull himself from the darkness of the shadow. The


shadow stands for a shelter from the complete light or darkness.


It is a middle ground for him to be guarded in.


At the end of the short story, the older waiter blames it


all on insomnia. He claims ?Many must have it.? Like the old


man, the older waiter and many others who have experienced the


nothingness of darkness, long for the light and cleanness of a


caf? open late at night. Maybe it is insomnia. Whatever the


case, it is like an illness which the victim suffers from the


fear of nothingness and of being alone that comes with old age.

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