A Clean Well Lighted Place
- A Clean, Well-Lighted Place - a Clean, Well-Lighted Place Intro and Thesis: "A Clean,...
- A Clean Well Lighted Place - A Clean Well Lighted Place A Clean,...
- A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,Hemingway - A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,Hemingway The story "A...
- A Clean, Well Lighted Hemmingway - A Clean, Well Lighted Hemmingway In 1933, Ernest Hemmingway wrote A...
- Theme For A Clean, Well Lighted Place - Theme For A Clean, Well Lighted Place A Clean Well...
Submitted by Breeder22z on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
- Category: Biographies
- Words: 675
- Pages: 3
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A Clean Well Lighted Place
Ernest Hemingway wrote the short story, "A Clean, Well Lighted Place", in 1933. One theme throughout the story is a desire to be loved and how each individual replaces the love that is not there. Another theme in the story, which is mentioned in the title, is the importance of light. Light is associated with being happy. Each character exudes a quality that points toward a lack of love. The old man, who stays at the café late at night, in the electric light, to drink away his loneliness, is the most obvious example of this, someone who lacks love. The waiters at the café discuss what they know about the old man, "He tried to commit suicide", one of the waiters says. This is a key line, why would the old man do such a thing, they say he had lots of money and therefore the waiters decide there is no logical explanation of why the old man would consider suicide. However as displayed in "The Rocking Horse Winner", money does not replace love. We learn that the old man does not have a wife and that only his niece watches over him. The attention he gets from his niece however is not replacing the man's wife, this is why he must stay up late and drink and also why he tried to commit suicide. At night the darkness makes the old man feel even more lonely, and so he goes to where there is light, even though it is artificial, to avoid being lonely. The young waiter also has lonely feelings, he does not like to stay up late and work because he misses his family and wishes to be with them. The young waiter does not need the artificial light in the evening because he has a family and a wife and therefore is not lonely. However he is not perfect, he makes an ironic statement about the old man saying, "He has no regard for those who work". The young waiter is quick to point out the old man's insensitive behavior, but is reluctant to realize his own insensitivity. The old man wishes to relax late in the evening as does the other waiter, however the young waiter...
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