Juxtaposition In A Clean Well Lighted Place

The juxtaposition of light and darkness in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” emphasizes the old waiter’s existential crisis. An existential crisis occurs when a character has a sudden realization or epiphany that life has no inherent meaning or purpose. Feelings of depression, anxiety, and nausea follow the sudden realization. The only way to move past an existential crisis is to act and create meaning and purpose in life. The old waiter experiences this when he realizes he has no wife or family and that he is living without meaning. As an effect, he loses faith in his religion and refuses to change his perspective on life in order to ultimately find purpose.
The juxtaposition of light and darkness, along with light’s symbolic interpretation,