The Meaning Of Life In Ernest Hemingway's A Clean Well Lighted Place

The narrator demonstrates the central theme of the fiction story “A Clean Well Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway by having three age groups young, mid aged and older view the meaning of life. I believe that the theme of the story is that life has no desired meaning, and that everyone ends the same way, alone and dead in the ground. In the story life was viewed differently by the ages of each character described because they all have different situations and beliefs. The young waiter finds joy in his wife, the older waiter helps others, and the old man escapes by drinking. Although life is full of nothing but existence finding methods to cope with this strange reality is necessary to survive the most darkest thoughts. The younger waiter sees …show more content…
This is because no one would have to work late to babysit him and could move on to bigger and better things. The young waiter is unaware that he will not be young forever and that in the future he may need a place like the cafe to search for the meaning of his life when he becomes old and lonely himself. When he tells the old man “you should have killed yourself last week” (Hemingway 166)displays that he is insensitive and naive to his distant future. Not only does the young waiter view the old man as underneath him, but stupid and discussing while the older waiter appreciates the old man 's daily …show more content…
“Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be someone who needs the café” (Hemingway 167). This shows that the older waiter is caring to those who need it and is willing to take out the time to help them because he is kindhearted and wants someone to do the same for him when he gets older. Even though he knows that life is full of nothingness he finds joy in helping others escape from their