A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
The young waiter wants to hurry home to his wife; the older waiter is more thoughtful. He muses on youth and observes that he is now one "of those who like to stay late in the cafe," likening himself to the old man. He mentions the importance to some people of having "a clean, well-lighted place" in which they can spend time.
After the young waiter leaves, the older waiter reflects on the emptiness of his own life and returns to his home and his insomnia. James Joyce once remarked: Indeed, it is one of the best short stories ever written From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The younger waiter refuses to offer the old man another drink, saying that he wants to go home to his wife who is waiting in bed for him. He has something to live for; he has a wife so he has love in his life , self-confidence, and a job, all of those contributing to his positive outlook on life.
This all indicates that he is not lonely like the middle-aged waiter, who rebukes his colleague and says that they should have offered another drink to the old man.
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The younger waiter is also brash and does not seem to care that others the old man and the older waiter do not have someone to come back to at the end of the day. He does not understand that, in comparison to the old man and the older waiter, he is lucky, and thus has little compassion for the lonely people. Further, the older waiter comes off as more mature, but also more pessimistic than the younger one. It was not fear or dread. It was all a nothing and a man was nothing, too.
Jun 03, Luke rated it it was amazing Shelves: I don't know why I don't read more Hemingway. I'm left stunned every time I finish his work.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
The depths he manages to explore with his economy of words is legendary and he's done it again here, maybe better than he has in any other of his short stories. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. What an existential masterpiece, with so many philosophical layers.
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This is pure genius. Jul 08, Monica Piquero rated it it was amazing. The image of despair, loneliness, youth, old age, humility and reflection. Came through in such short pages. Hemingway kudos to you oh depressed, existencialist lost soul.
Who brought through his writtings new meanings and stages to despair. No matter how small it maybe a push to continue a days work, in this world of nothingness as you call it. Jan 19, Michael de Percy rated it it was amazing Shelves: I've always had a nagging thought that short stories were a cop-out for an author of novels - a bit like a media article compared to a journal article or a monograph for an academic. This particular short story seems to have been popular for its treatment of the Lord's Prayer, but I am spellbound by Hemingway's ability to shake loose a raft of emotions in such a short space.
Maybe it is his self-centredness I identify with - I am not sure - but I seem to be able to identify with all of the chara I've always had a nagging thought that short stories were a cop-out for an author of novels - a bit like a media article compared to a journal article or a monograph for an academic. Maybe it is his self-centredness I identify with - I am not sure - but I seem to be able to identify with all of the characters, torn from the feeling of working with the public in a dull job,to being grateful for a job, to being old and not wanting to be in a popular place but to drink one's poison in a "clean well lighted place", then to hopelessness with a sense of resignation, then dignity and contentment all in one.
Doing all of that in a short story is nothing short of remarkable, and consequently, I have changed my mind about short stories generally. Apr 02, Jenna rated it really liked it.
I loathe people like that. In the day time the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference. The extreme minimalism could not be better suited than to this really short story, which is read in few minutes, but for now, at least, remains with me. They're so inexperienced, and that leads to the arrogance of thinking they know everything, and have gone through everything already. Nov 07, Beatriz rated it it was amazing. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed.
I like to read this story with my Introduction to Literature students and then ask them which character they identify with best; the old drunk man, the older waiter, or the young waiter. I think the character you pick is fairly telling about your time and place in life. I tend towards the younger waiter--I always feel like I can't wait to go away from work in order to live my real life.
But I love the treatment given to the older waiter in the end, when he goes away from the diner in quiet refle I like to read this story with my Introduction to Literature students and then ask them which character they identify with best; the old drunk man, the older waiter, or the young waiter. But I love the treatment given to the older waiter in the end, when he goes away from the diner in quiet reflection, and he tries to uncover the meaning of life, "Nada ya nada Feb 11, Jessica Robinson rated it it was amazing.
This will have me looking at those late-night tables who come in moments before we close a bit differently from now on.
Aug 20, Timothy Morrow rated it liked it. Deep and meaningful, Hemingway writes a great short story that has many questions and indeed a lot to think about Jul 24, Rao Javed rated it it was ok Shelves: Well there is nothing in this story that is praiseworthy or anything unique. Its just story about nothingness and how there is nothing in this world. The text level was fine, then concept was just very lame and didn't develop at all and characters were few and fine and there is nothing nice about this story.
Oct 21, Nada Saleh rated it it was amazing. It's the best short story I've read so far. Nov 07, Beatriz rated it it was amazing. A very brief but powerful short story. I think it speaks about loneliness. Probably about other things too, but I haven't re-read it enough. Oct 10, Yousra Ouail rated it it was amazing. Jan 17, Metatron rated it liked it. That's the one word which popped into my head as soon as I met the young waiter in the story. Arrogance leads to so many unpleasant flaws: I loathe people like that. Like the young, arrogant, pretentious waiter.
Rumours had it that the deaf old man attempted suicide the week before the story took place, and the young wait Arrogance. Rumours had it that the deaf old man attempted suicide the week before the story took place, and the young waiter, in his arrogance and intolerance, stressed to the old man who had no ability to defend himself: What kind of sick, contaminated mindset does that young waiter have? It's just the sheer arrogance of the young. He has a wife, a job, confidence and youth. These assets, these "everything-s" he has led him to arrogance; this arrogance led him to the inability of basic human compassion and empathy.
He doesn't care about why the old man tried to kill himself, he's just exasperated by him because he stays late at night drinking at the bar and keeps the young waiter from going home early, and because of that, he says twice he should have killed himself. He says old men are "a nasty thing", disregarding the fact his colleague is an "old man" himself. That youthful arrogance of thinking being young is everything leads to the downfall of many men.
They're so inexperienced, and that leads to the arrogance of thinking they know everything, and have gone through everything already. This young waiter is also shallow; he believes the deaf old man tried to kill himself because of "despair", but he was really despaired about nothing because " he has a lot of money. I loathe people like this. Like this arrogant, shallow young waiter.
His older colleague instead realises one thing: That's why he tried to kill himself. His wife is gone.
He is alone even though his niece takes care of him. It's a sad thing. Broke my heart when I felt the old man was just lonely, sad and all the young waiter could say was " Ah, if only you had killed yourself! Both in time and in metaphor. By isolating himself, by being unhurried; in this case the old man. He takes his time in the bar, to drink, and is unhurried because he has no one to wait for him.
Instead the young waiter does have everything, he does not have nothing; and so he is less sensitive, less wise and is hurried because he has someone to wait for him at night. The older waiter is lonely too, and thus he's more sensitive, wiser and unhurried too.
Genuinely understanding of the deaf old man. This story focuses on "nothing" there is no point, really , with characters who stand for "nothing", and the story's plot is "nothing". Specially when considering the fact Hemingway put a shotgun to his mouth in And before the time he killed himself, when he was seriously ill, he was terribly sad because of loneliness.
Was he the deaf old man? Mar 19, Ireisha rated it it was amazing Shelves: It rips my heart with few, simple words. Photos Add Image Add an image Do you have any images for this title? Edit Cast Credited cast: The Younger Waiter Ronald Benjamin The Old Customer Brian Ablett The Bartender Rest of cast listed alphabetically: Barfly 1 Annette Ciaravino Barfly 4 Gaspare Ciaravino Barfly 5 John Cronk Barfly 2 Leonardo De Pompa Edit Storyline The film begins with two waiters conversing with each other while they wait for the last customer of the night to leave.