A Clean, Well Lighted-Place

In Ernest Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," the central idea of the story deals with the loneliness and despair associated with old age. An old and deaf man symbolizes this feeling, even though he does not quite say a dozen words in the course of the story. The discussions between the two waiters further develop this concept of loneliness. With a young waiter portraying the optimistic role of youthful human nature, that which believes itself …

…towards life. But, after visiting a bar, he felt better with himself, because the bar, even though well lit, was unpolished, while his cafe was clean and well lighted. For the young, an hour is forever, a time in which to do a thousand different things, all of which is the living of life. In old age, an hour is also an eternity. All of this meaning that time is the most precious of all.