After reading Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place", I can easily imagine an old man walking lonely deep in the night. That picture is lasting in my mind for so long, which do not easily go away. The story takes place at a cafe in a late night. When everyone has left, there is still an old deaf man drinking all alone. Through the story, Hemingway has used many symbols to emphasize his theme. Such as the "light" and the "dark night" are symbolizing life and death. Also, the title itself is a meaningful symbol; "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" represents living with dignity. By using these symbols, the author portrays three main characters in order to show people's loneliness and emptiness towards aging.

The three main characters in the story are the old man and the two waiters. Actually, the character of the old man is told by the conversation of the two waiters. Such as "Last week he tried to commit suicide."..."He was in despair."... "He has plenty of money." These conversations tell the background of the old man. But as a reader we do not know if it is true because it is told by the two waiters, not by the character himself. Through those conversations, it has showed p

death makes him struggling to seek the true meaning of life. When night comes, this emptiness goes further because the loneliness of the long dark night and the uncertainty of tomorrow.

thing." The first part of the story has been focused on these conversations between the two waiters, which have showed this young waiter's attitude of old people.

The whole story is in a dark tone because of the background of night. In this kind of deep night, people feel lost without the light that guide the way of life, just like those old people seek the meaning of life when death is waiting ahead. When facing the loneliness and emptiness towards aging, some are falling into despair and some are keeping seeking. As a human, when life goes on, they tend to seek the happiness and overcome the fear with strong dignity. And this dignity is the only real light in the heart.

symbolizing his meaning of life or his pleasure of life. In opposite, the "dark night" symbolizes death. And "clean" represents the perfection of his living or his dream. There are many ways of living and many different places to go at night. But the place that this old man wants must be "clean"; a bodega or a bar is not going to satisfy him. The point is he is getting too old, just like

this dark night. So he has lost his opportunities to seek for what he wants, because there is no clean and well-lighted place open late at night.

eople's curiosity and judgement on this old stranger. I find it interesting that when one waiter asks another about the old man's despair, and the other says it was nothing because the old man has plenty of money. Because people are in different ages and having different lives, they tend to feel and think

Some common words found in the essay are:
Clean Well-Lighted, Unsteadily Claims, clean well-lighted, dark night, deep night, Light Heart, late night, plenty money, meaning life, loneliness emptiness, despair plenty money, emptiness towards, despair plenty, dignity dignity, emptiness towards aging, loneliness emptiness towards,
Approximate Word count = 1149
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)