The story of “A clean well lighted place “by Ernest Hemingway is a story which is characterized by nothingness and the author entirely focuses on giving the reader to concentrate wholly on the meaning of the story. The story explains the typical life of an old man in his ordinary chores (Hemmingway). The story states that in a rational world which is mainly characterized by the presence of nothingness, there are specific possible actions which could take place.
The theme of the story is nothing or nothingness. This is the depiction of the story, the oblivion and the steps which we make against its existence. The story explains how the confrontation of a world which is meaningless. The story further discusses on the life of a person who rejects the old values, someone who exists alone and the way such an individual is supposed to meet with the woes of the world (Hemmingway). The story poses a question of how a person who lives a solitary life can avoid the darkness of the world as well as the nothingness of their life. The nothingness that is haunting the old man is also plaguing the waiter at the Spanish café who insists on the old man leaving yet the older waiter is also faced with the problem of nothingness and realizes that he needs the lighting in the restaurant so that he can cope with his nothingness (Hemmingway).
A clean, well-lighted place” is one of the most minimalist pieces of art and it presents a functional expression of essentialism. The story shows an exemplary balance and control of the themes, characters as well as the style and the settings and this serves well in developing the issue of nothingness in the story.
Work Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. A clean well-lighted place. Creative Education, 1990.
