A Clean, Well-Lighted Place笔记整理
In this story, Hemingway does not tell the reader in direct words what his intention of writing the story is, but several ways are employed to let readers guess the implicitly expressed theme.
Initially, the title of the short story is repeated several times in different parts of the story as in the beginning, in the middle and also in the end. The name "place" is also referred to by the specific term "cafe", which is the exact place where the story happens and is used to form a constrast with other drinking places such as bars, bodegas, etc. The place is not only clean, but also pleasant, well-lighted and in order. And the old waiter wonders that if he can stand before a bar with dignity. The old waiter with such thoughts and words stand in analogy to the old man who is a customer in the cafe. Therefore, the old waiter can understand the old customer who seems to be rich but prefers to stay up in the cafe very late until it has to be closed. The two have the same problem:although they have a home, they have no one to understand the loneliness of old age and such frustration is further intensified by the society's neglect of their needs. It can be imagined that home to them is dark, lonely, dismal, and disorderly place. But in spite of all these, old people maintain their dignity like the old man. When the old waiter goes to a bar where there is a shining steam pressure coffee machine, which can be interpreted as a symbol of mordern life style contrasted with the pleasant simplicity of the cafe where he works, he stays only for a short while for he dislikes bars and bodegas. All he prefers is a clean, well-lighted cafe.
Additionally, several contrasts are formed in the story to develop the theme. The first contrast is between the old waiter and young waiter. They have different attitudes towards the old customer: the former shares the same feeling with the old customer while the latter waits anxiously to close the place because at home there is his wife waiting for him. Then the young waiter has some hope or expectancy in life while the only thing that awaits these two old men is loneliness. The second contrast is the cafe and the bar. The former is clean, well-lighted, orderly and pleasant while the latter is a noisy, hot, and more crowded place, where everything is "different". In a clean and well-lighted cafe, the old man is taken good care of even sitting under the shadow of a tree, while in a bar the barman is cold, impersonal, only interested in selling drinks. Is it really too late at night for a friendly conversation?
Thirdly, although he does not state the theme in a direct and explicit way, the author expresses the idea in a number of places by using some words, phrases, or sentence fragments such as "he's lonely, I am not lonely" and "after all, he said to himself, it's probably only insomnia. Many must have it."
Whether in explicit or implicit terms, the theme of a story can be understood or interpreted in various ways. Hemingway's hero is "old" but "dignified", "destroyed" but "not defeated". These characters created by him are an invaluable treasure in Amercian literature.
