A Clean Well-Lighted Place

Many components are key to making this story, a Clean, Well-Lighted Place, a captivating story with a meaning behind it. In every great story there are many elements that create an ambiance to the story. In the story a Clean, Well-Lighted Place the elements set the tone and create a sad story about growing old and finding a safe haven in place and people. The elements in this story make us readers really think about the meaning of this story. We are able to see much deeper into the story. At first view this story is about an old man drinking, after thinking about the literary elements we see it’s about growing old and lose the sense of life we once had when we were younger.
The setting of this story is where it all begins in describing this …show more content…
You learn fairly early in the story that the old man is simply here to drink and be around a couple people, because he doesn’t talk unless he asks for another drink. Simply being in presence of other people, the old man is somewhat content, but still not happy. If the old man was happy, he would not be drinking until he was drunk and he would not have attempted suicide, like the younger waiter would have preferred him to have successfully done. Also, the older waiter is somewhat like the old man. They are both craving the presence of other people. They would both much rather be in the café late at night, unlike the younger waiter who would prefer to be at home. The café is a safe pace for both of the older man, unlike the younger one where his safe place is at home in his bed. ““I am of those who like to stay late at the café,” the older waiter said. “With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night.” “I want to go home and into bed.” “We are of two different kinds,” the older waiter said.” This quote demonstrates the empathy that the older waiter has unlike the younger waiter, who is not quite at the same point in his life as the older waiter. The younger waiter is a flat character, for the entirety of the story he is mean and rude to the costumer, even goes as far as …show more content…
Early in the story we realize why this old man is drunk in a café late at night, he’s sad, he’s in despair. He had attempted suicide the week before but clearly wasn’t successful. Without this internal conflict the old man is dealing with, there would be no plot line to this story. The other characters are aware of his conflict. The younger waiter offers no sympathy to the old man’s struggle like mentioned earlier, he goes as far as telling him he should have gone thru with it. However the older waiter is more sympathetic I wouldn’t go as far as saying the older waiter has the same internal conflict, but he can relate to it. At the end of the story when the older waiter recites the lord prayer, he uses the word nada instead of every meaningful noun. The waiter almost seems empty himself, just like the old man. They both enjoy being at the clean well lighted café because at least there, they aren’t alone. They don’t feel their emptiness inside of themselves when they are there because the old man is busy getting drunk, while the older waiter is busy with work. He would much prefer to have the café open later at night because it prevents him from being at home alone. They are able to busy themselves at the café, that’s why they go. They also possibly cannot feel the darkness inside of themselves because of the lighting in