Night Walker Analysis

There is an apparent unity seen between the old man and the older waiter. Opposite from the young waiter, the older waiter and old man seem devastatingly lonely and worn out by life. While the young waiter is rude and insistently talks down to the old man, the older waiter defends him. He too understands and appreciates a clean, well-lighted café opposed to a bar or bodega. The older men understand each other without there being any communication between them. In the final line the reader is able to truly understand the older waiters view of his own morality, “He disliked bars and bodegas. A clean, well-lighted café was a very different thing. Now, without thinking further, he went home to his room. He would lie in the bed and finally,

Suicide can sometimes feel like the only way to pacify the pain. It is as if something is eating away parts of you slowly and intently and the only way to relieve the constant pain, is to die. Tiffany Hunter and Pierre L’errant are two very different characters with both equally unique yet queer personalities. Although Pierre and Tiffany are not the best of friends, their contrasting characteristics somehow complement each other. They both have similarities in their plans of suicide as well as differences that help them make the correct decision on where they want their life to go in future. Although they both made different decisions at the end, they assisted each other to settle on the right choice. Drew Hayden Taylor develops a theme of despondency and isolation from peers and loved ones in the novel “The Night Wanderer.”

The younger waiter believes he has “no regard for those who have to work.” On the contrary the older waiter also doesn’t belong to a family and attempts to explain “he stays up because he likes it” “it’s clean and well lighted” the light acting as a metaphorical parallel to the comfort the café offers in his otherwise dark life. Seeing as the older waiter understands him he does his best to make the customer feel he belongs and build a relationship with him. He realises that not everyone shares the same perspective realising “it’s not only a question of youth” but in this case a question of lack of relationships allowing sympathy and explaining his actions.

In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” The setting begins at a cafe well into the late hours of night. The perceived protagonist, in my opinion, is an older aged gentlemen waiter that works at the late night cafe whilst the antagonist is the younger gentleman waiter. During the introduction of this story, the younger waiter is serving a deaf elderly man scotch. Without a doubt, it's made obvious that the elderly gentlemen has spent countless nights within the four walls of the cafe. Furthermore, it’s evident that the younger waiter is less than fond of the elderly man. In one section of dialogue the younger waiter was speaking to the older waiter on the issue of the elderly man; "He'll stay all night,"..."I'm sleepy now. I never get into bed before three o'clock. He should have killed himself last week” (Hemingway). Clearly, this young man

Elderly people may be thought of as content, rich, or happy to see such a long life. This is true in some instances, but money does not bring happiness to one’s life. The joy of family friends and love is what brings true smiles to someone’s face. In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway the older gentleman is depressed about life and likes to drink his sorrows away, although he is wealthy it does not make him happy. Throughout this story the narrator depicts characterization the most in many instances, through the older man and the waiters. By the man’s actions, and also the younger waiters choice of words. The theme is evident that if you are rich you will not always be happy with life, looking past the wealth it is the small things in life everyone may take for granted.

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place is my favorite Hemingway story, so I wrote a parody mocking Hemingway’s masterful dialogue in the piece and other Hemingway characteristics. I took a careful look at the story and remembered a quote by Hemingway describing his writing process at a café in France. The quote reads “It was a pleasant cafe, warm and clean and friendly, and I hung up my old water-proof on the coat rack to dry and put my worn and weathered felt hat on the rack above the bench and ordered a cafe au lait. The waiter brought it and I took out a notebook from the pocket of the coat and a pencil and started to write”. This quote inspired the old man in my parody to be Hemingway at his favorite café engaged in his writing process. The story of my parody is essentially a story of an elderly Hemingway seated late in his favorite cafe writing while the two waiters gather the courage to ask him to leave.

In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” the narrator describes the importance of the cafe compared to all the other places that are open to convey the idea of loneliness and despair. Through the use of imagery, symbolism, point of view and, allegory Ernest Hemingway establishes a connection between the older waiter and the deaf guy, as he illustrates the significance the well-lit cafe brings to their lonely night. As the waiters discuss their thoughts on being open so late, the older waiter claims to be one of those who enjoy the aura of the cafe being open so late compared to other places. “With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night.“ The role the cafe plays to diminish loneliness and despair does not go unrecognized by the older waiter and deaf guy who find their escape in that clean well-lit cafe. Loneliness screams louder at night for those who walk through it by themselves. They look to find comfort in a well-lit place with a calm and pleasant aura. The feeling displayed between the old deaf man and older waiter does not register with the younger waiter who does not understand the search of finding peace found in the cafe. The younger waiter has a wife to go home to as the older deaf man and older waiter have nothing and that is their escape from their dark loneliness, the cafe. Since it is clear that Ernest Hemingway has established that the old deaf man

The story seems to have a recurring message of nothingness. The only true details given are the setting of the café and the description of the deaf man's suicidal past. The only people in this café include a deaf man seeking to get drunk and an old and young waiter. The café brings out the idea of nothingness as it freezes time. Everything remains the same, as it is always clean and well-lit. In the short story, the old waiter has rejected all ideas and is left with a meaningless life to live. When the waiter recites the prayers in the story, he replaces most or the words with "nada", to show faith cannot help with his despair. The old waiter has nothing, feels nothing, and believes in nothing. This is the very reason why he cannot sleep, seeing that he is afraid of the very thought of nothing. The café seems to be the only thing holding the old waiter together. He appreciates a "clean, well-lit café" because it has order and is the only thing he has left to appreciate in life. Without the café, the old man would fall into a suicidal state and would end up drinking away his sorrow just life the deaf

The older waiter is much more understanding of the old man’s situation. He knows what it feels like to be lonely. He knows the desire to stay in the light that staves off the darkness, a darkness that brings thoughts of how lonely you really are. There is an emptiness in him can only be filled with the cleanliness and light of the café. He feels that this is the same for the old man.

Firstly, we see a conflict with the older waiter and younger waiter both are opposites, and have different opinions. The younger waiter wants to close the café and for the old man to leave the café, but the older waiter does not want close up. The older

From the quotation above, the narrator explains about the old man that always drinks in the cafe. The cafe symbolized the loneliness, cleanliness and some kind of comfort. Cafe is the best place to stay when someone needs calm and quit. When someone tries to escape from their problems and despair, cafe is also the best place to stay. In the story, Old deaf man and Old waiter like to stay in the cafe. They like it because cafe is a quit and such as a comfort place to them. They can escape from their despair because cafe can makes them feel better than

      Hemingway's second portrayal of symbolism that a reader may distinguish is the café itself.  The café represents a sanctuary of the evilness of the world.  The namesake of the short story is a clue for the reader to see that the café would represent some form of an asylum not only from the elements of nature, but also safety from evil.  An example of the usefulness of this sanctuary is how the deaf old man uses the café as a safe-haven to be to himself after the incident where he almost succeeded in committing suicide and enjoys the comfort the café gives.  The old waiter represents in the café the kindness and caring that the café should provide; whereas the younger waiter is more of a materialistic character.  He clearly displays shallowness and selfishness.  Arthur Waldhorn writes that the older waiter helps keep the light on a little longer at the café for those, who like himself, 'do not want to go to bed.' (P 28)  The younger waiter is a protagonist in attitude of the older waiter.  The philosophy of Nihilism is brought into this theme when the older man recites the Lord's Prayer but substitutes the word "nada" for every noun in it.  Nihilism is brought onto a larger scale because it is very evident that there is nothing to believe in, even as a

Furthermore, the setting contributes to the structure of the story, like cartilages in a human body. The café can be viewed as a workplace and also as a place of peaceful socialization. Each person deals with despair differently. Having the setting at a café where it was mentioned that it was quiet help structure the story that it is neither a depressing story nor, a happy story. The two waiters who were gossiping about the old man mentioned that he had committed suicide but, he was saved. Being in a café is different than rather being in a bar or anywhere else. The café signifies a place for space or time, depending on the person. The old man is not trying to cure his despair but rather subdue it. The setting could have taken place anywhere but it also could have affected the structure of the story differently. For example, when the older waiter was out trying to kill time due to insomnia, he went to a bar but, it was not soothing; therefore, he went home. This proves how the setting was able to support its main structure of having a café rather than a different place.

One clue the reader acknowledges that young waiter has no regard for others life when the waiter tells the old man “‘You should have killed yourself last week,’ he said to the deaf man.” (Hemingway). The younger waiter does not lack confidence that is why he believes having money and work is all he needs so he is in a hurry to get home. One of the waiter believes that the old man would better off with a wife because all the old man has right now is his niece. The old man’s niece is the one who cares for him. This is known because as the waiters are talking about how the old man hung himself, "How did he do it? He hung himself with a rope. Who cut him down? His niece.” (Hemingway) This indicates that the old man now at his age has now grasped the idea that life has no meaning as you get older and that man is an unimportant dot in a great emptiness of nothingness.

Martha Graham’s production of Night Journey is a unique and symbolic contemporary dance work. Graham bases many of her dance pieces on Greek myths and this is seen in her work Night Journey. Graham has manipulated elements of contemporary dance to communicate the emotion of the main character, Jocasta. Graham’s previous work focuses on depicting both the power and struggle of female idols in history. Graham has choreographed Night Journey to explore the perspective of Queen Jocasta, the main protagonist in the piece rather than the story of Oedipus. (Mueller, 2007) Graham has skilfully choreographed significant symbols and motifs to convey Jocasta’s emotions of grief, pain confusion and love through the manipulation of motifs and