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Xinyue Sue

Professor Cooper

ENG1102

2-20-2016

Life as Nothingness

“A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” one of Hemingway’s shortest stories, has been a subject of considerable critical analysis with much of it focusing on the theme of nada, or nothingness. The theme of nada is shown by the characters which being obsessed with death and the meaningless of life. The man is regarded as being insignificant in the great sea of nothingness. The story was written during a time when religion, various philosophical stances and politics had failed for so many. Also, modern life had developed into moral anarchy and spiritual emptiness. However, the characters search for hope even though it is not long-term but only temporary (Ernest 20). Still, does the effort of men lead towards death? The nada in the story is considered a metaphor for these modern complexities of life. The older waiter’s nothingness indicates the lack of light while the younger waiter shows that not everyone is aware of nothingness.

            What is important to Hemingway’s characters is how to respond to the concept of the meaningless universe. The dilemma is characterized by contrasting the two waiters where the young one is cynical, selfish, lacks empathy and is inexperienced at life issues and does not know the reality.  “I have confidence. I am all confidence,” the younger one tells the older waiter who replies that everything will last until life disappoints someone (154). Only the youthful confidence allows him to ignore the fact that everything is meaningless, and we are all heading towards death. The older waiter is portrayed as being wise and knowing the true nature of the world and clearly seeing the difference between cafes and bodegas, between day and night. He acts as a symbol of the Hemingway code that recognizes the efforts of men leading towards death. Therefore, the old man keeps the café open for someone old or someone who is bruised in the dark and needs it.

The café represents hope as bad as it may sound. The despair of the old man led him to try to commit suicide, but instead he went to the café to drink his brandy with dignity. The old man represents dignity as he drinks without spilling. However, the café is symbolic in indicating a temporal refuge as the old man believes that “the café is the only a refuge from meaningless but not escape since it will eventually be closed and all must go home” (154). The older waiter also finds the bodega where he wanders “very bright and pleasant,” even though the bar was unpolished. He uses the place as a temporary refuge from the chaotic, outside, dark world. In the same way, the hope found in religion is nothingness as well as seen in the parody of prayer when the older waiter states, “it was all a nothing and man was nothing too” (154). They believe that religion does not give the much-needed hope that is required.

“A Clean Well-Lighted Place” dramatizes the quest of the modern man to find dignity amidst the lack of good old values. A person has to escape the troubles and the chaotic dark world even though there is no permanent haven but simply a temporal escape (Wei-wen 2). Religion is still critical to the lives of people as it gives them hope to feed the void. Therefore, an individual’s responsibility is to find a clean, lighted place or create one for himself. This would give hope to despair even though it is only short lived. Creating awareness only in absence may be an ironic paradox but tries to explain the fact that man is insignificant in the chaos of this world (Wei-wen 5).

The complexities of life are challenging to the human nature bringing instabilities in both mind and thoughts. Hemmingway’s characters portray both ignorance and free spirit in the youth and strong beliefs and concerns in the older generation. It is true that the older generation is more experienced in handling life issues, but at the same time, they should also learn from the younger generations who bring fullness through having a free-spirited mind and character. Hemmingway talks about finding hope through creating your own clean, lighted place but disregards the fact that the young, as seen in the young waiter, act the way they do in a bid to free themselves from life stressors. It is known to all that we are heading towards death, but this does not mean that one should be worried about life. As far as I am concerned, too many worries bring stress and discomfort in life. The younger waiter talks about having self-confidence since he is still young with a life full of opportunities ahead. However, this is not to say that the wise sayings of the old should be ignored. Rather, it should be understood that there are many different ways of creating hope during life stressing activities.

Works Cited

Ernest Hemingway. "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." Backpack Literature: An Introduction to                                                                                          Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, 5th. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York:  Pearson. 2016.18-23. Print.

Wei-wen, M. I. "Interpreting Hemingway’s A Clean, Well-Lighted Place From the Perspective

               of Cognitive Poetics." Foreign Language and Literature 5 (2010): 006. Print.

 

 

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