Feeling depressed and lonely is a universal emotion for many people. In “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway tells the story of an old man who stays late in coffee shops to cope with depression. To do this, Hemingway effectively uses short sentences, dialogue between waiters, a well-lit setting and religious references to emphasize the struggle against loneliness and despair. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay While the old man drinks alone in the evening in a cafe, the reader learns about the old man who lives alone with a niece and tried to commit suicide through the dialogue between the older waiter and the younger one. Through the exchange, the oldest waiter, like the old man, enjoys staying late at the cafe and understands more deeply why they are reluctant to go home in the evening. However, the young waiter, insensitive and rude, cannot see anything beyond himself and is eager to shut down and go home to his "wife waiting in bed." The young waiter impatiently wants to go home to his wife and insults the old man, who is deaf, saying: “You should have killed yourself last week.” The older waiter defends the old man against the younger man's criticism by pointing out that "this old man is clean... He drinks without spilling." As the younger waiter tries to leave, Hemingway gives the older waiter the phrase "You have youth, confidence and a job...You have it all" to say to the younger waiter to reveal the difference between the younger waiter old (with the old). man) and the young waiter. The young waiter has reasons to live (his wife) and his whole life ahead of him when the older waiter says, “He has everything.” The young waiter cannot understand how lucky he is, nor the older waiter and the old man who are alone and searching for meaning in their lives. As the waiters talk, the reason behind the old man and the older waiter's reluctance to go home becomes more coherent: they both feel alone and suffer from a feeling of worthlessness – an anxiety about where they belong. in the universe and uncertainty about the meaning of life. Additionally, Hemingway's use of a well-lit setting gives the old man and older waiter a place to deal with their despair. The older waiter explains that “it’s a clean and pleasant café. It's well lit. The light is very good. The cafe itself represents the opposite of the theme (loneliness and depression) due to its cleanliness and good lighting which symbolizes order and peace. The cafe serves as a common place for many people to take refuge from despair, making the older waiter reluctant to close because "maybe there's someone who needs the coffee". When the older waiter says, “With everyone who doesn’t want to go to bed.” With everyone who needs a light for the night, coffee can be symbolized as a night light that provides a sense of security to children during the night and leads them to see the next day. Later in the story, the older waiter describes the nothingness that is life by saying, "It was only that, and all that was needed was light and some cleanliness and order." » The "it" in the sentence implies that even if life is meaningless, light, cleanliness and order can contain despair. This is why, as long as the cafe stays open late into the night, people can take refuge in the darkness of despair. Furthermore, Hemingway uses religious references to reinforce the theme of the feeling of nothingness which..