Dark vs Light in A Clean Welllighted Place

A detailed Summary of Dark vs Light in A Clean Welllighted Place

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 cafe

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 cafe.

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

which is representative of the darkness outside of the cafe.

The well-lit cafe 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 cafe.

Although the only other two people in the cafe at the late hour

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

experience which does not intimidate him from the dark. The

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the older waiter that it is not the same.

Approximate Word count = 1125
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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