Design in Ernest Hemingway's "A Clean Well-Lighted Place"
Hemingway's classic "A Clean Well-Lighted Place" is designed to specially show the unique and important dichotomy between the two waiters of the clean, well-lighted cafe. Juxtaposition, which was used to create this design: "is the order of events, simply what is put next to what in the arrangement of a story" (Scholes 15) as defined in the anthology Elements of Literature. In this case, the order of events can be seen as the dialogue between the waiter that is eager to leave, and the older one, who insists on keeping the cafe open until closing hour. These two waiters have very different perspectives on life, which is how the dichotomy is explained.Not too long into the conversation between the two waiters, it is already clear that the younger one is seen more as the shallow and rude type, and that the older one is more caring for the customer staying late because he can relate to his situation. A very obvious way to see that the younger one couldn't have cared less, is when he selfishly states that for the sole reason of wanting to go home, the elderly men drinking at the cafe should have succeeded in his suicidal attempt: "He'll stay all night ... I'm sleepy now. I never get into bed before three o'clock. He should ha
Ernest Hemingway took his story straight into the core of what seems to be a dichotomy that is heavily present between the two waiters. The older waiter wants to know more, he is curious to know why, so he finds out: "What about?" (Hemingway 162). The way the waiters responded to each other was shown very explicitly, but the dialogue also implied many of the key differences. The answer of the young waiter was that he wasn't despaired about anything, because he was rich: "He has plenty of money" (Hemingway 162). The lack of reply implied that the older waiter could not have dis-agreed more; he just didn't want to get into a big argument over it. The first piece of this design occurs when the older waiter mentions the disappointment of closing early, without explicitly implying that he meant people resembling him: "Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafe" (Hemingway 165). The juxtaposition here shows how the older worker was mentioning himself, and not necessarily oth-ers, when he stated that they might possibly be closing their doors to other customers, who might appreciate the well-lighted cafe. The way these two have a very different view on life places them on two different sides of a dichotomy which is shown throughout the story by the design of the dialogue. Once the young waiter rushes to close to cafe before the scheduled time, the older one decides to go to another bar, and here is yet another great distinction made between the two. He had a wife once too" (Hemingway 163). The fact that these two men are complete opposite, in this context, is shown in the second part of the juxtaposition, when it is obvious that the younger waiter is eager to close up and leave: "I want to go home to bed" (Hemingway 164). It is shown throughout the story, but the one stunning thing that was said by the young waiter, at the very beginning of their conversation. This very short story, mostly consisting of dialogue, has shown a remarkable and clear dissimilarity between the two main characters. This back and forth talk between the two, which can be seen as the purposely executed design, explains the fact that the older customer could not have had a reason to commit suicide since he had money.
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