Ernest+Hemingway

Clean Well-Lighted Place By: Ernest Hemingway

This poem by Ernest Hemingway is about two waiters that work at a nice cafe. They are working late at night and a old man is still sitting at a booth. He keeps ordering drinks and won't leave. The two waiters were talking about him and they say he is rich and he tried committing suicide a week before, but his niece came in and cut the rope. The old man is a good client although they know that when the old man becomes too drunk, he often leaves without paying so they watch him very closely. Finally, after the man orders a few more drinks, the one waiter who wants to go home tells the old man it was his last one and he has to leave. The waiter's disagree whether or not they should have made him leave. The older waiter who is not very confident wanted to stay, and the younger waiter with the wife and all the confidence in the world, wanted to leave because his wife was waiting for him in bed and it was after 3. After the younger waiter leaves the cafe, the older waiter closes up and goes to a bar. After he orders a drink, he says to the barman, "The light is very bright and pleasant but the bar is unpolished" which ment that he liked the bar, but its not the same as being in a cafe. At the very end of the story, the older waiter left the bar and headed home. Finally he would go to bed in daylight and fall asleep. He thinks he has insomnia which means lack of sleep, or sleeplessness.

A) Since the old man tried to hang himself, something bad must have happened in his life that led him to try and do that. B) In the story, they use words such as "de nada" and other Spanish words, that led me to believe that this story takes place in a Spanish country or part of the world where the Spanish language is a part of life where they live.
 * Excerpt:**


 * Reflection**: I really liked how this story was written. The short story used a bunch of good vocabulary words and had a good plot. I like how they added Spanish words and Spanish names to hint that the story took place in a Spanish country or a country where Spanish is spoken. I liked how the story gave two perceptions from two different people to show each of their opinions on the subject instead of just using one. The short story started off a little boring but by the end, it was good.