Diverging Aspects of Life in the Story "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" Essay

Diverging aspects of life arise from the story "A clean, well-lighted place" based on the social and economic livelihood of the people in the society. The diverging aspects arise due to the classical issues among the people. The classes are based on factors like age factor, wealth, employment levels and personal attitude. People believe to be more top than the others in the aspect of being a loyal servant to the community (Miller & Char, p.342). Various working classes are viewed to be the boundary for various people in society. This is evidential from young waiter treatment to the old man who orders for another bottle; instead, he is denied.

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The young waiter and the old man share the aspect that life is meaningless that one should live with comfort happily despite the duties they are responsible for. The younger waiter is in hurry of enjoying his present time because he prefers to go home and sleep with her wife instead of staying at work waiting for his complete hours of working. The young waiter is naive because he does not have enough experience to give up but finds up and puts his interest in comfort. On the other hand, the old have the perception that the best way to live is to live in comfort. The idea of the old man is true because based on their age; they seem to be more experienced because of their age. The old man is clean and does not spill when he drinks. This is evidential that the old man idea of drinking wise based on the aspect of comfort.

The view of the young waiter towards the old man concerning the attempt of him to commit suicide is a clear indication that the idea of drinking is differently viewed in society. Hemingway is also viable in the story as an old man whom the society says should be content but have some empty feeling inside. This is a clear indication that the old man is drinking for comfort and passing of time instead. The idea of emptiness is also an indication that the old people seem to be having a private and lonely life despite the wealth and comfort they put themselves in (Miller & Char, p.341).

The young waiter argues that the old man's justification to living is his money and he doesn't consider anything else on his attempt to commit suicide. From the young man's argument, it is clear that people seem to see the one who has money in society is much far ahead considered to the ones that don't have. Hemingway tries to bring out this that death can come for us all regardless of who we are and what we do. This is because the old man has wealth, but he attempts to commit suicide despite wealth. This disqualifies the argument of the young waiter that the old man justification of living is his money. The old man attempt is though due to the loneliness and emptiness that he feels in his life. The old man's view on life is wrong too. It is because the old man act of feeling empty inside him should not affect him hence commit suicide. Instead, the old man should come to drink at the cafe during the time that many customers are still in the cafe. Through this, the old man could not commit suicide because even at home he is taken of care by his niece.

Hemingway believes that he has an answer to despair according to him older characters ignore their indifferences in their lives regarding their view of seeing life to be meaningless. Instead, the old characters compel with the fact of despair by finding some comfort zones that can help them prioritize finding dignity. Nevertheless, these comfort places do not offer the comfort that older people seek. However, Hemingway doesn't connect cause of despair with loneliness or poverty. This is because the old drunk man is never lonely because he spends time with his niece. However, the despair of life comes in because the old man simply attempts to commit suicide because of fear and mutual recognition that life is meaningless. The old man portrays the habits that are about despair. Both the old waiter and the old drunk man seek a quiet place in comparison to loud places, prefer a clean place and a lighted place instead of dark pace. This preference is not only for the cause of enjoying time but also to show that despair might at times lead to some abandoning concern on their appearance while drunk in public.

The meaning of the life of various people in society varies. In the "A clean, well-lighted place" the old deaf man and both young and old waiter try to determine how they should spend their time. This portrays their view on how life should be regarded hence determining the meaning of their life through their attitude of spending time. The young waiter seems to consider life in a different angle because he is eager to go home to his wife which shows him meaning that life should be balanced through maintaining of time between work and his family. On the other hand, the older waiter and the old drunk man want to remain at the cafe late in the night. This shows that both the old waiter and the old drunk have accepted that their lives have no larger meaning. Through this believe that they have that their lives have no larger meaning, they prefer spending time making themselves as comfortable as possible. Hemingway is in favor of the older because their perception of meaningless life is spending time comfortably in well clean and lighted cafe. The young waiter thinks that there is no purpose of staying at the cafe drives the aspect of obligation. The young waiter shows a lot of impatience trough his act of not spending a lot of time at the cafe instead he wants to balance the time that he spends his time at the cafe and the time that he spends with the family. Hemingway, however, discourages the readers from the adoption of this kind of view. Hemingway discourages his readers from liking the young waiter as a character because his behaviors are not unto set standards. He tells the old drunk man directly that he should have killed himself the week before. Even though the old man was deaf, this was not pleasing at all. Also, this showed that he was impatient because he wanted to get home; hence readers disliking this character. Furthermore, the writer, Hemingway depicts the fact that the young waiter is petty in the belief that the old drunk has no regards on who should stay at work. The set for closing down the cafe has not yet come while it's true that the old waiter is the only patron left; hence the young waiter and the old waiter should purpose stay at the cafe.

The old men view life to be meaningless despite the comfort and wealth that they tend to have and enjoy (JUDITH & SAUNDERS, p. 210) This is clear from the old man attempt to commit suicide and the response that the older waiter gives towards the old drunk man attempt to commit suicide. This is true that the old waiter seems to be familiar with the death attempt of the old drunk to commit suicide because when the young waiter leaves, the old waiter asks himself what it was about the old drunk attempt to commit suicide that makes him afraid. The old waiter seems to see death as a familiar thing suggesting the meaninglessness of life. Through this, it is clear that both the old waiter and the drunk share a common meaning of their view on regards toward on how life should be perceived. Their life seems to be meaningless on the other hand that both the characters seem to have no harry on their lives because they both enjoy small pleasures and comfort of the moment more as compared to other things. The old drunk, for example, enjoys sitting in the shadow that the electric light had caused upon the tree, which the old waiter seem to understand more than the young waiter whom instead suggest that the old drunk could instead go to another place that opens all the night. In return to the young waiter suggestion, the old waiter says that the young waiter does not understand the value of enjoying under a quit a well-lighted place like their cafe instead of another place. These show that the old waiter is more interested in making life more comfortable than keeping which is closer to a meaningless life as compared to the young waiter who is goal-oriented who believes that the cafe and other place enjoyment is interchangeable. Therefore Hemingway argues that the old men treat life meaningless because they are not focused on goals or keeping them busy but instead enjoy their time and look out for small pleasures that they feel contented with (JUDITH & SAUNDERS, p. 204).

Dissatisfaction with life is another aspect that brings about differing in society as a whole. Hemingway shows the totality that whether young, happy or the contented with life, will one day be dissatisfied. The writer, Hemingway shows the aspect of dissatisfaction on various occasions. The old man lives well and in addition to this has enough money that can enable him to care for himself but instead he is unhappy with life and wants to commit suicide. This shows how the old man is dissatisfied with life. The old man, despite his old age he had a wife and also, has a niece but he is completely dissatisfied with the life that he is in. This is a clear indication that the old man could be in the state of dissatisfaction by nature. The young waiter, on the other hand, is not satisfied with the time that he spends at work and the time that he spends with his wife. He instead wants the old man and him to close the cafe early so that he can be able to go home early and spend time with the family. This portrays the young waiter to be of dissatisfaction to the time he spends at work and the time he spends at the cafe.

Hemingway wants the reader to view life on the fact that all of us will grow old and our life comes to an end in some other time. Regardless of how young or confident we are, our lives shall come to an end. The characters that Hemingway uses have different visions and the meaning of time. The oldest character seems to be passing the time until his death comes; in fact, he tries to commit suicide to make his process of coming to death shorter. The point is that the reader should see the diverging aspect that the older one gets, the more the time ends, and the more one nears death.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Hemingway brings out the aspects that are different in the life of his characters and on how various people view life. The young are represented by the young waiter and the old by the old waiter and the old waiter who both have different perception and view on life. Hemingway's story shows how people should view life, take other people's ideas on life and how ones should handle their lives instead of committing suicide that may lead to short living.

Works cited

"Philosophy and Fitness: Hemingway's 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place' and The Sun Also Rises." American Classics: Evolutionary Perspectives, by JUDITH P. SAUNDERS, Academic Studies Press, Boston, 2018, pp. 204-225.

Miller, Char. "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." Environmental History, vol. 12, no. 2, 2007, pp. 341-342.