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Concepts: loneliness, the meaning of life, emptiness, time

A clean, well-lightened place is a short story written by Ernest Hemingway. This story takes place in a café, and there are three characters: a younger waitress, an older waitress, and an old man. The two waitressed are found commenting on the life of the old man as it is said that he attempted to commit suicide, and how his life has come about getting drunk every day. In the story, Hemingway uses the comparison of material things such as a bar and a cafe to represent the meaning of life. As well as the age differences and the disability of the old man.

The ages of the character represent different understandings of life; therefore, they all represent different life perspectives. The younger waitress represents someone who does not live the moment and is always in a hurry. The younger waitress is insensitive and indifferent to the old man. This is demonstrated by his insatiateness, tone of speech, and word usage towards the old man “you should have killed yourself last week”. The older waitress finds beauty in little things, whom oftentimes people don’t find importance in. He sees beauty in the café, just as he sees beauty in the light and cleanness of the space. The older waitress understands the old man and why he is staying in the cafe at that time. Unlike the young waiter, he is unmarried and lonely which helps him to better comprehend the old man’s situation. The old man is completely helpless, although he is very wealthy and has a family member that takes good care of him. It looks like he’s living an unhappy and meaningless life. I infer that the suffering would be from the death of his wife, but that information is unknown to the reader.

There is a contrast between the young and old waitress. Most likely the older waitress lived a similar life as the young waitress; impatient and not really present in the moment. Life passed by him too quickly, with no time for him to realize and now he’s found lonely and with no purpose, as he probably sees the old man as a mirror of his future self. The last line of the story left me wondering what Hemingway meant with “it’s probably insomnia. Many must have it”. I believe that the waitress’s trouble sleeping is due to his constant thought of his purpose in life. He is trying to comprehend what his destiny is as he is filled with nothingness which he calls “nada”. Besides being lonely, the older waitress feels as if life is passing by too quickly, seeing his potential diminish and his youth. As he sees happiness unreachable.

Questions:

1. What makes life worth
   living?
2. Do you think the young waiter would have told the old man “you should have killed yourself last week” if he had not been deaf?