Passage analysis on Ernest Hemingway, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

Passage Analysis of Ernest Hemmingway’s “A Clean Well-lighted Place”
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Passage Analysis of Ernest Hemmingway’s “A Clean Well-lighted Place”
The short story by Hemmingway explores the themes of despair, emptiness and the struggle to understand the meaning of life. In the selected passage, Hemmingway proves this through the three characters in the bar. The passage presents a young waiter who is determined to get home after work because it is very late at night, but an old and deaf man who stands in his way by continuously asking for more drinks. The young waiter then complains to his older colleague stating that he wished the old man would have gone through with killing himself earlier on. In the passage, Hemmingway uses themes and symbolism to show how various people of different generations deal with life with all its challenges.
The theme of despair is evident in the passage. The old blind man in the story is proof of this fact since he tried to take his own life. The young waiter makes this clear when he tells his older workmate, “He should have killed himself” (Hemmingway 1933). By this attempt to commit suicide, it shows that the old man was in despair and had lost hope in life. Seemingly, he has nothing to live for or a future to dream about that is why he felt the need to take his own life. The theme of despair is also seen when the same old man stays very late in the bar, determined to drink until very late hours when everyone else is gone home. This fact also proves that the old man was disturbed and dissatisfied with life and saw no meaning to it. Through this character, the author shows that despair can take away a person’s peace and joy and leave them longing for death.
Moreover, this despair also leads to the feeling of emptiness as seen in the old man’s case. In the passage, it is quite evident that all he cares about is his drink and getting drunk without considering that he is keeping the waiters late or that his family could be needing him. This shows the level of emptiness and despair in him, which he hopes to deal with through being drunk.
The passage also explores the challenge faced by people of different generations in finding meaning in life. In this case, the old man and the old waiter are used to showing that life...