The pervading metaphor in this story, is, predictably, the clean, well-lighted place.  To Hemingway, it was much more than the physical darkness that frightened him—it was the symbolic darkness of reality.  Hemingway was a modernist, a realist, and a philosopher.  He believed the ultimate purpose of life was to discover such a clean, well-lighted place to escape from the darkness of the world—the dark truth that life is without truth or meaning

So light represents any device man uses to distract himself from the darkness.  The story’s image of the lighted café in the sea of dark nothingness perfectly symbolizes Hemingway’s nihilistic view of a world with no hope, no solace, no escape save that man creates for himself.

Hemingway’s theme in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is a theme that runs through all of his literature: there is no God, no meaning to this world, and man must consequently find something to distract himself from his horrible truth.  For the older waiter, a clean, well-lighted café is such an escape.  This is an artificial light, made by man for man, yet it is the only way to step out of the darkness of reality: that life is filled with nothing meaningful. 

This completely nihilistic worldview glorifies individuals, like the veteran waiter and the elderly drinker, who find a method of coping with life’s hardships in a graceful, dignified manner.  Though the old man is drunk, he isn’t rude or unruly, but polite and well behaved.  Despite the obvious hardships in his life (since he attempts suicide), he doesn’t lose his cool, but stays in control of himself, exhibiting grace under pressure.  Such grace, Hemingway asserts, should be the goal of every individual.

1) Waiter #1: “He was in despair.”

2) Waiter #1: “You should have killed yourself last week.”

3) Waiter #1: “I’m not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me.”

4) Waiter #2: “He had a wife once too.”

5) Old Man: “Another brandy.”

6) Waiter #1: “I am all confidence.”

7) Waiter #2: “I have never had confidence and I am not young.”

8) Waiter #2: “Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the café.”

9) Waiter #2: “This is a clean and pleasant café.  It is well lighted.”

10) Waiter #2: “Our nada….”

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