A Clean Well Lighted Place: The Concept Of Light And Darkness
In Hemingway’s A Clean, Well-Lighted Place the concepts of darkness and light help one understand Hemingway’s code hero and theory of nothingness. The code hero drinks excessively. He has love affairs with numerous people. He evades death because death is the termination of everything. Therefore, this fear of death makes the dark a very difficult place for the characters of Hemingway’s novels.
The waiter in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place has the common characteristics of Hemingway’s hero. The waiter places a magnitude of importance on working. This is his reward that he obtains in life. This leads to his devotion to a physical pleasure, drinking. However, he does not appreciate careless drunks. He admires the old man who is drinking becau
Light also plays an important role in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. He is one of “those who need a light for the night.” He does not like to close the café because he feels that there are others out there who need a place like the café, which is well lighted. This fear of night obviously makes this waiter place an emphasis on light. Light diminishes the omnipresent threat since darkness is symbolic of death. Therefore, he does not like bars and bodegas because the light is not “very bright and pleasant” like the café is. The risk of death seems to be more nearby in the gloomier bodegas and bars. He does not think about sleep only until light begins to break through. Only then can he put aside his fear and rest.
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