A Clean Well-Lighted Place

PART ONE
1) The setting of the story is set in a well lighted cafe, where the old man who's drinking is in the sitting in the shadow of a tree. The idea of a well lighted place is significant to this short story because it symbolizes a refuge to the older waiter and the old man. What they don't find in darkness they find in light which is clarity aside from the nothingness that the darkness brings.

2)The characters are nameless because they aren't necessary. Hemingway wanted us to see the story through the characters thoughts and concerns without having the trouble of remembering names. In addition age played a big role so identifying the characters by their age kept reminding us the difference between the young waiter and the older gentlemen.

3) The connection between the older waiter and the old man is that they both have the same issue which is dealing with the nothingness that life brings. They are both dealing with being lonely regardless of all the good things they have like the job at the cafe or money. Both of them find comfort in the cafe because they embrace the light at night where as others embrace the darkness at night.
The purpose of the younger waiter in the story is so the reader can see the contrast in points of view.The younger waiter helps to point out that what he has is what the older waiter and the old man lacks. In the story he gets anxious to close the cafe because he wants to go home to his wife but we see that the older waiter doesn't have a wife and he doesn't mind closing late, and it is mentioned that the old man's wife had passed away.

4)Conflict: The conflict in this short story is the internal issue of loneliness that both the older waiter and the old man have but try to deal with by staying late at the well lighted cafe.

Rising Action: The rising action is when the younger waiter is pushing the old man to finish drinking, pay for the drink, and go home so that they close the cafe and he can go home to his wife, which in the end causes despair for both the older waiter and the old man because the older waiter sympathizes with the old man, and even drunk the old man tries to make his way home which is not what he wants to do.

Complications: The complication is when the old man has to finally go home when the whole time he was sitting in the cafe to avoid going home to face the loneliness, which we learn early in the story, causes him to try to commit suicide.

Climax: The turning point of the story is when the younger waiter tells the older waiter that he talks like an old man too. This is when the older waiter realizes that he is defending the old man because he may one day be just like that. He is suffering from loneliness and may be also suffering from despair like the old man and one day find comfort in drinking at a well lit cafe where everything is bright, clean, and clear.

Falling Action: At the end the older waiter tries to go to a bar but realizes why he doesn't like them and it's because they are not clean and he prefers a cafe where everything is clean, orderly, and well lit. He gives up beating around the bush, and finally heads home where he will sleep once the sun comes up (when there's light) and tries to convince himself that it is insomnia and not really the issue of being lonely and full of nothingness.

5) The theme of the story is that some people live their lives concerned about how life has no meaning and they are just a tiny factor in it and others like the young waiter live their lives in a flash and focused on the little things that life provides.

PART TWO

Ernest Hemingway was born in Illinois and grew up with his father's love of nature. He also had an interest in being a doctor. When World War I came around he wanted to enlist but his father forbade him to. So he decided to write for a newspaper in the U.S. and then joined the Red Cross in Italy. After, he went back and forth from the U.S. to Europe. For years later he wrote his own novels and short stories in which he received a Pulitzer and Nobel prize. Unfortunately, he dealt with issues like alcoholism, depression, and health throughtout his life. He attempted to get treatment but found his demise instead by shooting himself at the age of 61.

The main issues about Hemingway's life that pertained to this short story is alcoholism, and depression. The old man turned to alcohol to deal with his depression of having to deal with suffering and loss. The older waiter understood the use of alcohol but he had to deal with depression because as he knew it life had no meaning, it was full of nothing just like his prayers.