Tainara Candido
AP English
A Sanctuary for those in Need of Escape
“A Clean Well-Lighted Place” demonstrates a place of good repute where customers visit to escape from nothingness and the protagonist, the waiter, can readily identify with this feeling in Ernest Hemignway’s short story. A calm and despairing tone mixed with a minimalistic style in the story give rise to a place considered a sanctuary to those in need of escape. The old man spoken of in the beginning of the short story attempted to escape life by trying to commit suicide and failed, so now his final hope rests in the cafe, but a cafe that is necessary for it to be “clean and pleasant.” The protagonist of the short story, the waiter, speaks of a place that a person needs in order to maintain an ounce of dignity. A person cannot stand in a bar with “dignity”, yet the establishment the waiter works at is not a bar but rather a “clean, well-lighted cafe”. Therefore, a person can maintain their dignity in such a place when the “nothing” takes hold of them.
The tone of the short story is undoubtedly calm as the story is not rushed along, yet the style is minimalistic and expressed in such a way that it gets to the point but does not make the reader feel rushed. The tone and style of the story explain the purpose, which is a person’s need of a sanctuary, where the clean well-lighted place represents. The waiter says that each night he is “reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the cafe.” The waiter expresses his desire at times for a “clean well-lighted place” when the nothingness comes over him and decribe it as “nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada.” The waiter knows the importance of a “clean well-lighted place” during those times of “nada” or nothing. When the nothingness or his insomnia at night comes on,a nice and relaxed place is needed for the individual to be able to relax. The author uses a despairing tone in order to maximize the importance of a place that would help the individual, which is the “clean well-lighted cafe”. His companion does not understand his need and is condescending towards him, calling him a “otro loco mas”, or another lunatic.
The use of a calm tone and a minimalistic style emphasize the importance of a place that an individual can go when they need to wind down or relax as the purpose of the story is to show that such a place is a “clean well-lighted place.” A clean and well lighted place is often calm and to the point as people do not wish to go to a place to further complicate matters and the minimalistic style reflects that need. The waiter knows that when he is confronted with “nada”, his need becomes one for a sanctuary and that is provided to him in the form of a clean and well lighted place that calms him down, and does not further complicate matters.
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