Omar Aba
Mrs. S. Aiken
English 1102-50
September 9, 09

Setting in “A Clean, Well-lighted Place”

Ernest Hemingway story “A Clean, Well lighted-Placed”, takes place at a café where two waiters (old and young) argue about a lonely old man who gets drunk every night and stay late at the café. Furthermore, the young and impatient waiter cannot understand that the old man and the older waiter like to stay really late at the café; “A Clean and Well-Lighted Café” for those who cannot sleep at night.

Setting takes a key role in Hemingway’s “A Clean, Well-lighted Place”. Along the story, Hemingway does not give much information about the main character, or plot. However Hemingway’s empty blank, are filled by the understanding of the different settings. Therefore, in “A clean, Well-lighted Place” Hemingway use setting as the third character that does not talk, but sometimes tell even more that the main characters.

Hemingway story stars at the Café. As the title explains the café is clean, with appropriate lighting. The story state that it is late at night and the place is empty “except an old man who sat in the shadow” (96). Meanwhile, the two waiters are talking about the old man who tried to commit suicide no long ago. Furthermore, the Café as the first setting gives many information about the old man. The setting tells that the old man wants to be alone and does not want to be bather, since he is setting in the shadow outside the café. The old man sitting in the shadow also illustrates his sense of darkness and death, now that he tried to commit suicide.

For instance, the young waiter does not comprehend why the old man cannot go drink at his house. He does not understand the important of a well-lighted and clean Café where the old man can escape from loneliness. Essentially, the light of the Café represent and escape of the darkness of “the nada”. As the older waiter illustrated, “this is a clean Café. It is well lighted. The light is very good and also, now, there are shadows of the leaves” (Hemingway 98).

Consequently, after the older waiter lives the Café he goes drink to a bar. This second setting reveals that the old waiter and the old man have the same fear of going home. However, the old waiter knows that the bar is not as pleasant as the Café. As the narrator explains, “He disliked bars and bodegas. A clean, well-lighted Café was a very different thing” (Hemingway 99). The second setting also tells a lot about the plot, and the old waiter. In fact, the dislike and the contras of the second setting explain why the older waiter feel sympathy for those who need a lighted cafe in the night, in contrast with a bar, which may not be lighted or clean and therefore it will only increase the fear of loneliness.

Finally, the story does not tell a lot about the old waiter home, however the setting speck from itself. The story state that old waiter home is actually a room, could be an apartment, or maybe a motel. Either way, the place is lonely and depressing. Therefore, the setting affirm the depression and loneliness of the old waiter, what in result foreshadow that he soon may be the old man in the café.

Setting takes a key role in Hemingway’s short story “A Clean, Well-lighted Place”. Essentially, Hemingway use setting as the third character that does not talk, but sometimes tell even more that the main characters. In addition, this story could have taken place in a different setting, however the Café seems the more appropriate place for this story since it has the elements of charming, inspiration, and mysterious.


Work Cited
Ernest Hemingway. “A Clean, Well-lighted Place.” Literature The Human Experience. Richard Abcarian, Marvin Klotz. Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 96-99.