As the stream leading from the pond is the beginning of the river's life, the young waiter in "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" reflects Hemingway at the start of his writing career. The young waiter is impatient and confident. His impatience is expressed when he closes the cafe' early. This is the first time for this action. He takes it upon himself to speed the night along (263). Hemingway, too, was impatient, he wanted to explore places he had heard about, to experience new things, and find adventure in the river of life. In 1917, after trying to join the Army twelve times and being turned down due to poor eyesight, he signed up to be an

'I'll go with you and I'll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it's all perfectly natural.'

The first speaker is the young waiter who shows no compassion. Next is the older waiter who is beginning to show how much he understands the old mans needs.

As confidence flowed through the young waiter, it also flowed through young Hemingway. He went from writing columns for the high school paper, to writing columns for the Kansas City Star, with no formal training or experience. Hemingway's confidence in his ability to do the job, gained him the respect of the paper's editor. Hemingway's adventurous spirit had led him to try enlisting in the Army straight out of high school. As explained earlier, his poor vision would keep him from enlisting. Working for the City Star was the next best thing to feed his hunger for new experiences (Baker 9-10). With this position, the stream of Hemingway's life was starting to flow freely.

All of these things the waiter is thinking and feeling must be a reflection of how Hemingway felt about religion, as he was struggling to come to grips with his father's death by his own hand. Hemingway did not believe life went on after death (Baker 57-58). He felt the only way he was going to live on past his death, was through his writing (Baker 98). Another facet of this story that shows Hemingway felt let down by religion was, that the waiter and the old man would prefer to be in a cafe' alone. Instead of being with others in a church (Baker 57-58). As the river of life flows on, it gets deeper as it approaches the ocean.

'We are of two different kinds,' the older waiter said. He was now dressed to go home. 'It is not only a question of youth and confidence although those things are beautiful. Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafe'.'"(263)

This shows the understanding the older waiter has for lonely people, and that kind of understanding can only come from experience. Hemingway too understood lonely people. This story was written only a few short years after his father's suicide (Baker 28). The waiter also feels let down by religion; he finds no comfort in it. He feels that life is meaningless, and that when it is over it is just over. The unusual version of the Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary that run through the waiter's mind as he is walking, give an example of these feelings.

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Approximate Word count = 1830
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)