Cutting Through the Nada

There is no disputing that Ernest Hemingway lived an exciting and extraordinary life. It would also be fair to say, however, that his life was full of moments of great depression and trauma. This is especially evident when considering the manner of his death. So when he said that, "the most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it,”(Plimpton 128) he meant that the most important aspect of writing is to shed light on some truth in life. This is demonstrated in his short story Clean Well-Lighted Place.

In the story, two waiters debate whether or not to stay open and continue to serve an old deaf man who frequents the café where they work. The older of the two sympathizes with the deaf man, understanding his need to have somewhere that he can feel comfortable and escape the pressures of his life. The younger of the two is so apathetic and selfish that when discussing the old man’s attempt at suicide, he goes so far as to say that, “he should have killed himself last week.” (Hemingway 143), so that he could go home to be with his wife. While this attitude may seem extreme, it does highlight the fact that many people in the world are in fact selfish and uncaring.

The reader then follows the older waiter as he travels home, stopping at a bar on the way. The waiter ponders for a great deal on nada or nothingness and how his café is so different from all the nothingness. He did not want to stay open just for the sake of the old man, but for his own as well. He will not be able to sleep when he goes home anyway and he tries to convince himself that, “it is probably only insomnia.” (Hemingway 146) He knows the reason the old man gets drunk every night because it is the same reason he does not mind staying late to serve him: it keeps him distracted from his thoughts of nothingness.

Hemingway ultimately chooses to follow the older waiter through this story because we are essentially viewing his life. He is simultaneously looking back on his past through the brash actions of the young waiter and looking ahead to his future as the old deaf man. And all the while he is yearning only to stay in his clean well-lighted place nestled among the vast nada.

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. A Clean Well-Lighted Place. Backpack Literature. Ed. X.J. Kennedy        and Dana Gioia. Pearson, 2012. 143-46. Print. 

Plimpton, George. The Art of Fiction: Ernest Hemingway. Conversations with Ernest               Hemingway. Ed. Matthew Bruccoli. Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1986. 109-129. Print