Review of "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Earnest Hemingway

The story "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Earnest Hemingway, in my opinion, is a story about a mans loneliness. The story starts out in an empty café, very late at night. Even the setting symbolizes gloominess. There are two waiters one old, one young. The older waiter is lonly, and the young waiter has a wife. The waiters don't treat the old deaf man, who is a very good costumer, as they treat all the rest of the costumers. Throughout the story it is mentioned a few times about the shadows of the leaves. What Hemingway is trying to illustrate is the loniness and death. When it is Autumn, it is close to winter and all the surroundings are changing. The leaves are all falling off the trees, it is becoming cold and dark. Fewer days with sunlight and longer nights. The dark, cold winter represents death and loniness. This is what the author is continuously trying to show us by telling us the old man is in the shadow of the leaves. A detail in the story that I found interesting was the way Hemingway introduced us to the soldier and the girl. He let us know that the soldier led the way and the girl hurried behind him. With knowing this you know the soldier and the girl were not an item. Hemingway also let us know that the girl had no head covering, which led us to believe she was a prostitute. Both waiters saw the soldier and the girl and said that they would be picked up by the guards. This explains that the prostitution was illegal. This was a very disguised way of the author illustrating his point.

The main Character was an old deaf man. The waiters let us know he is eighty. This old man is at the café very often. The younger waiter says that the old deaf man is always drunk. He comes to the café late and stays all night. It is very well explained that the old man is very lonely. He is always