A Reader's Response: Ernest Hemingway's "A Clean, Well Lighted Place"

Ernest Hemingway's "A Clean, Well Lighted Place" is a great example of how an author could pack plenty of meaning into a short story. Considering that is this story is only a measly four pages, that's impressive.

The story focuses on two waiters in the bar (one young and one old), as they comment on a man who can't stop ordering liquor. The young waiter wants to leave and go home to his wife, angry that the man isn't finished drinking. The older waiter thinks the man could stay and drink.

It's understandable in this story that the older waiter can relate to the drinker. Like the man, he's lonely, and might be on his way towards the end of his life. On the other hand, the young waiter just wants to hurry home. He has a wife that he loves and wants to spend more time with. In other words, he'd rather be home than wait all night for a man to finish drinking. He doesn't know what the older waiter does. The younger waiter doesn't have the experience of the older waiter; in his eyes, he sees a drunk. In the old waiter's eyes, he sees a mirror image of himself.