A Clean Well-Lighted Place

Wise and old vs. dumb and young, darkness vs. light. Throughout the story “A clean well lighted place”, comparisons between a young dark man and a light old man are shown. The light seems to resemble good, as for the dark representing bad. But the shadow, is in between. That shadow, the old drunk man. A perfect balance between bad and good, light and dark.

A large part through the story, was a comparison to light vs. dark. Light equals happy. The brightness that is in everyone. As for dark, the color where nothing is shown. But the shadows are the old man. Tiny old people are suppose to be innocent, wise, experienced at life. But the drunk man is unique, he is lonely, deluded and confused. He turned to alcohol when he had nobody to talk to. The drinks made this old man forget his loneliness.

The shadow following the old man, is the between; not complete darkness, but not complete goodness either. What is the shadow? Goodness of the old man. The lonely man, who has no family and goes to bed at night alone? That old man has the personality the young waiter has about his life. The old waiter respects the young waiter. In the eyes of the old waiter, the young waiter has everything the old waiter dreams of having. It’s much like a window, the window of a past life that died in the grip of the old waiters hands.

Darkness is represented by the young waiter, he who has everything, but still is not happy. Unhappy life, yet has a wife, kids, a house, and a good job, equals the young waiter from the novel. This person in particular is a self absorbed man. Everything in life is good, but he does not appreciate anything. The saying, “You Don’t know what you have until it’s gone!” , plays a big part with the young waiters life. If his family were to suddenly die he would then realize, how great life is. But because the young waiter is darkness, he is unable to see the lightness in his life.

Whether it be “a clean well lighted café” vs. “a dark unpolished bar”, the shadows, the in between, is the point of this novel. Without darkness no shadow can be made and with no light it’s just darkness.