A Clean Well-Lighted Place ESSAY

Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His mother, Grace Hall, was an opera singer. His father, Clarence Edmonds Hemingway, was a doctor. In "A Clean Well Lighted Place," Hemingway really focuses on the older waiter who has realistic understanding of the word “nada.” Hemingway lived in a sad dark depressing miserable life. Lots of things got to him, quickly.In the short story, Hemingway is far from being complex. His story is straight to the point. Everything he says is very important and meaningful. The author Ernest Hemingway has lots of great description in what everything is talked about. In the story the shadows explains how Hemingway’s character is. Ernest Hemingway realizes that he has to do something to not make is live so miserable but at the end it comes to know hope.

Waking up everyday to the old man was just another dark depressing start. He had some ups and downs when he was married to his wife. But his wife died and now he lives very lonely and sad. Ever since his wife died he never likes being in his house because it just makes him more depressed. He thinks more about his wife when he’s at home. So the old man spends all his time at the café because he feels better and it’s a lighted place to him. But when he’s at home nothing makes him happy. The workers at the café want him to leave. So the old man walks to a different café. This applies to a realistic story because there are people now that feel like Ernest, that have to go through their wife or husband dying. When that happens you are always going to be depressed but what might be different is Ernest is depressed all day long. Most of the time it’s an on and off thing. Twenty eight years later Ernest Hemmingway ends up committing suicide.

The symbolism that is in the story is very important with lots of meaning. “It was late and every one had left the café except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. Darkness is trying to make the old man commit suicide but the lights are trying to save him. The shadow is what hides the old man, a balance of light and dark. Shadows follow you, as your own darkness stays with you. The younger doesn’t understand the meaning of the shadow. The old waiter is wise, more experienced in life and cares about the old man. He tries to educate the younger waiter. The shadows also symbolize how the old man feels.

A clean well lighted place has lots of good understanding concepts and really makes you think on what is happening. As the story relates to how people feel in real life, the old man getting drunk and doesn’t want to come home because he is depressed with no body home to socialize with, it doesn’t get better. Twenty-eight years later the old man ends up killing himself from depression. Which tells you that twenty-eight years of depression is a long time with a lot to deal with. The old man should of gotten some counseling or talked to someone. His life could of got better if he was willing to change but he wasn’t, the old man just really didn’t know what to do. To him his only option was suicide.