Character Analysis in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
The way that Hemingway incorporates characters and setting is exceptional. In A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, we are introduced initially to a setting that is quite common and casual in our society. A place that is cozy, inviting, almost like home--the cafe. There are only three characters in this story that have any significance and that motivate the plot, the older waiter, the younger waiter, and the drunk old man. Each of the characters in this well-crafted short story mean something entirely different and contain some similarities. With all of the differences in the characters and some similarities between characters, we begin to see a blooming of what the major theme that A Clean, Well-Lighted Place centers around--living in a world of nothing, and struggling with what your purpose is.
Usually when you are a young age, you tend to only worry about yourself and only care for what is happening to you. This is the central premise for the young waiter. The young waiter is completely inconsiderate, insensitive, and rude towards the drunk old man. He consistently demeans the drunk old man saying things like "he should have killed himself last week" or "I wouldn't want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing." He treats the old man as more of a possession because he is in his cafe than a person that contains any ounce of human emotion. The young waiter is very selfish and pessimistic towards what human life is about, the old waiter even points this out to him by saying "you have youth, confidence, and a job...you have everything." The young waiter is very selfish when it comes to this, he forgets how much he has and how good his life actually is compared to people who in some way are struggling with something or still trying to find the meaning of their life even though they are closer to death than life.
The older waiter is polar opposite of what the young waiter stands for. In various parts of the story you can truly see the older waiter connecting and relating to the drunk old man. He shows compassion and a degree of understanding because at some point in his life the older waiter has felt what the old man is feeling now--loneliness and a reluctance to leave a place where he feels the most comfort in. Both the old waiter and the drunk old man share loneliness, and when both are in the cafe at the same time they find something that is lacking in their life,someone who shares what they are going through in that exact moment and it is only in the cafe where both of their lives have true meaning and existence.
The drunk old man is an example of the times that are taking place in his life and in the real world at the same time. The drunk old man, it can be said, is going through some what of a midlife crisis. The life that he is living right now is unfulfilled, he can't find the meaning in his life to keep going outside of the cafe. That is the reason he spends so many long nights in the cafe because like the older waiter says "he likes staying up late". The drunk old man also represents the struggle to find himself after a world that was shaped by war, a lot of what Hemingway writes is influenced by the world after World War I and how that war traumatically shaped how the United States would function after something so major. It left us with an ultimatum--pick up the pieces, or dwell in pain and despair.
"Usually when you are a young age, you tend to only worry about yourself and only care for what is happening to you. This is the central premise for the young waiter. The young waiter is completely inconsiderate, insensitive, and rude towards the drunk old man. He consistently demeans the drunk old man saying things like "he should have killed himself last week" or "I wouldn't want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing.'" For me, Dayeton, that is the sad piece of the story. Ultimately, humans don't want to be isolated and alone. I regret that I may have been like that young waiter at points in my life. Great story. So simple in language, yet so complex in feeling.
ReplyDelete