Say it, But Boil it...
Hemingway once wrote, "I am trying
to make, before I get through, a picture of the world--or as much of it as I
have seen. Boiling it down always, rather than spreading it out
thin."
With "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"
(1926), Ernest Hemingway succeeds in that goal. He boils down the lines, helping
us to see the essence of the situation. But, he doesn't go "thin." We have what
we need to see the situation, with basic truths about loneliness, sadness,
aging, and human connectivity. What is it to connect with another human
being--even with the shadows surrounding--in the dead of night?
Light and Shadows
The story is filled with light and
shadows, as an old man sits through another sleepless night--in the quiet of a
well-lighted cafe. The older waiter explains to the younger, more impatient
waiter, "You do not understand. This is a clean and pleasant cafe. It is well
lighted. The light is very good and also, now there are shadows of the
leaves."
For a lonely, old man, the clean,
well-lighted cafe is a slight respite from the darkness. He drinks himself into
a drunken state, hoping that sleep will come--taking him from the quiet
desperation that has already caused him to attempt suicide once (as the waiters
discuss).
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