In a coffe shop, late at night, an old man sits under the leaves of a tree whose shadow is cast by the restaurant’s electric lighting. The two waiters look at him with concern. As he is the only customer in the establishment, none of the staff are allowed to leave until the old man has finished his cognac. After a while, the two waiters sit down at a table against the wall and wait for their shift to end.
Last week, the old man tried to commit suicide. «He was in despair», says the younger waiter. «What about?», aks the other waiter. «Nothing», answers his interlocutor.
With a glass of schnapps in his hand, the old man remains on the terrace, gazing into the distance. Usually, he stays up until early in the morning, sipping glass after glass. Still, this evening will be slightly different from the previous ones. This time, at least, the younger waiter will refuse to serve him another drink, and the old man will zigzag out of the coffe bar after paying the check.
A few minutes later, the restaurant’s blinds come down and the two waiters leave the premises. The eldest of them walks thoughtfully into a wine cellar. After having a beverage he doesn’t even like, he leaves the inn. He then goes home. At dawn, he lies in bed and sleeps.
Types of characters:
Character classification*
Role
Person
Description
Analysis
Protagonist- Deuteragonist-Tritagonist
The old man
He always goes to the same cafe at night to get drunk. He suffers from hearing loss, so sometimes he cannot hear the person who is speaking to him.
At first the protagonist is supposed to be him, but later the focus shifts mainly to the younger waiter.
Deuteragonist/Antagonist- Protagonist
The young waiter
As much as he wishes to get home and sleep, he cannot, because the old man will not stop drinking before three A.M.
As a young adult, his life is quite the opposite to that of the old man. In the story, the same can be said of his working relationship with his co-worker, that is, the other waiter at the cafe.
Deuteragonist/Antagonist- Protagonist
The elderly waiter
The cafe has become his favorite place to spend the day. In the evenings, he cherishes its quietness. Furthermore, he is grateful to be able to chat with his clients.
Unlike the young waiter, he’s a lot more serious. It appears that he has much in common with the old man in this regard. Still, certain differences can be discerned between his thoughts and those of this character. In addition, he gains importance at the end of the story.
Secondary
A girl and a soldier
Quickly, as they walk past the store, the girl sneaks up behind the recruit.
In the story, the two characters do not appear to have any significance. A closer look at this view might contradict it.
Secondary
The tavern employee
Embarrassed by the audacity of the person walking up to the bar, he offers the stranger a drink, while ignoring the sarcastic comments he hears behind him.
In this case, his engagement in the narrative is very limited, as his main purpose is to indirectly get entagled in the elderly waiter’s misfortune so that the latter may finish his monologue enthusiastically.
Tertiary
The old man’s niece
———–
She is mentioned in connection with an incident that occurred a few days ago.
Tertiary
The youngest waiter’s wife
———–
It is only revealed that she is waiting for her husband in the bedroom.
Tertiary
The old man’s wife
———–
It is inferred that she died some time ago.
*Terminology of Ancient Greece: ·Protagonist: main leading character. ·Deuteragonist: second leading character. ·Tritagonist: third leading character.
In ancient Greece, theater performances originally featured a single actor. Over time, this scenario gradually changed as Aeschylus and Sophocles introduced other leading parts. Thus, the triad of actors in Greek tragedy was established. This classification is also used nowadays in relation to other literary works. That said, it is worth noting that in Hemingway’s story, the distinction between “protagonist,” “deuteragonist,” and “tritagonist” is not clear at first, so the characters shift from one role to another.
Environments where the scene takes place:
a) The cafe:
«In the day time the street was dusty; but at night the dew settled the dust»
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 5.
and…
«…the tables were all empty except where the old man sat in the shadow of the leaves of the tree that moved slightly in the wind.»
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 5-6.
As far as we can tell, these are the only textual references given about the coffee shop’s terrace, which provide the most accurate description of its features. Furthermore, the author refers to the cleanliness and lighting of the place, but does not mention any significant details.
b) The tavern:
«The light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished,» the waiter said.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 10.
In this passage, the author makes a few observations about the hostelry. As a way of contrasting it with the tea room, he attributes to it a number of imaginary peculiarities, at least from the perspective of the elderly waiter.
Ideas covered in the book:
The play of light and shadow:
«A girl and a soldier went by in the street. The street light shone on the brass number on his collar.»
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 6.
Perhaps this is one of the few quotes that most aptly describes the symbolic significance of electric light. It should be noted that the street lamp, in this scene, is most likely part of the street lighting and does not belong to the owners of the coffee shop. Even so, it helps to portray the atmosphere that characterizes the cafe’s external façade.
«…now, there are shadows of the leaves»
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 9.
In Hemingway’s manuscript, this is the third time that this concept is emphasized: the intrinsic relationship between nature and light. Of course, there’s something special about this scene. In the story, the gloom of the evening fills the streets, while a faint light penetrates through pigeonholes, crevices and corners illuminating the stage.
Cleanliness and dirtiness:
Few comments mention the coffee bar’s “cleanliness,” which is otherwise highly praised. Although, to be honest, one could not really say that this was the case if one takes into account the following paragraph:
The waiter took the brandy bottle and another saucer from the counter inside the cafe and marched out to the old man’s table. He put down the saucer and poured the glass full of brandy. “You should have killed yourself last week,” he said to the deaf man. The old man motioned with his finger. “A little more,” he said. The waiter poured on into the glass so that the brandy slopped over and ran down the stem into the top saucer of the pile.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 6.
Several containers are wet, and the table is probably wet too. The elderly waiter, however, is determined to think otherwise. He might even refute any arguments in favor of a different assessment. It does not mean that the establishment does not have acceptable conditions in terms of hygiene. Nevertheless, the coffee shop´s employee has a somewhat idealized image of the place.
“Nothing” and the existential vacuum:
Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 10.
This story was published in Scribner’s Magazine in 1933. At the time, Hemingway was at a stage where he had reconciled himself to Catholicism after his marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer1, his second wife and mother of two of his children. Consequently, there seems to be no valid argument to justify his religious skepticism while writing this work2. Nevertheless, it could be that Hemingway had written this short story before he got married. This hypothesis has not been studied in depth.
The old man and the elderly waiter live a meaningless life. One of them, despite having attempted suicide, has a daily routine that distracts him from his worries: at a certain time of the day he goes to the coffe bar and has a glass of cognac. Though he’s fed up with the world, he’s still able to find joy in something.
In this sense, the elderly waiter resigns himself to the idea of “existing”, and thinks that certain things will not change for the better. This is, without a doubt, a more than pessimistic view of the future. Throughout the day, he goes around the restaurant doing his work. In fact, he takes great pleasure in it. However, as soon as a coworker lowers the shutters of the shop and switches off the lights, the joy is gone.
As such, these are two portraits, which, in this instance, must be juxtaposed: on the one hand, a faithful depiction of a man who gives himself over to worldly pleasures; on the other, a middle-aged man, who cares nothing for frivolity and is insensitive to any recreation.
Critique:
Women’s and men’s sexual lives; a detail that almost goes unnoticed. In spite of the story featuring only one female character, the narrative refers to three others: the old man’s niece, his wife, and the young waiter’s wife. Now let’s take a look at this topic.
In one of the scenes, a group of waiters are bending over a table near the coffee bar’s entrance. Without notice, a couple appears out of nowhere on the street in front of the establisment and sneaks around a corner. Given the circumstances, such as the girl’s nervousness and the fact that she is trying to hurry, she could possibly be a prostitute.
“The guard will pick him up,” one waiter said. “What does it matter if he gets what he’s after?” “He had better get off the street now. The guard will get him. They went by five minutes ago.”
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 6.
Then, in another scene, the following dialogue takes place:
“He’s drunk now,” he said. “He’s drunk every night.” “What did he want to kill himself for?” “How should I know.” “How did he do it?” “He hung himself with a rope.” “Who cut him down?” “His niece.” “Why did he do it?” “For his soul.”
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 6-7.
As Hemingway satirizes Christian morality, he introduces a somewhat cartoonish young lady who enters the room where the old man is about to commit suicide.
“I wish he would go home. I never get to bed before three o’clock. What kind of hour is that to go to bed?” “He stays up because he likes it.” “He’s lonely. I’m not lonely. I have a wife waiting in bed for me.” “He had a wife once too.” “A wife would be no good to him now.”
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place/ Hemingway; Raymond Soulard, Jr., page 7.
Eventually, a discussion about marital dilemmas begins. It is not difficult to interpret the statement of one of the cafe employees, as he is pretty much straightforward. In his opinion, being married is preferable to being single as long as one can enjoy the sexual pleasures it offers.
Concluding remarks:
Throughout his life, Hemingway experienced loneliness and restlessness first-hand. He sought refuge in Catholicism on numerous occasions, to no avail. This led to the skepticism that is expressed in his writings. Despite this, Hemingway was more of a believer than he dared to admit. It was just that he lacked the strength of character to persevere.
This story reflects Hemingway’s own feelings about an existence that was excessively difficult for him. It is, no more and no less, a faithful portrayal of his everyday life.
Raised as a Protestant, a Catholic priest baptized him at the age of 19 after a near-fatal accident and in the belief that he was dying in order to give him last rites (the Anointing of the Sick and the Viaticum). However, Hemingway did not die on this occasion and recovered from the accident. Later, at the age of 28, despite his baptism, he decided to repeat the initiation rite for his upcoming marriage to the American journalist. ↩︎
Still, it must be remembered that Hemingway had already suffered from depressive episodes in his early youth. ↩︎
