A clean, well-lighted place, by Ernest Hemingway is mainly about an old man who is drunk late at night and seeks more alcohol at a nearby well-lighted café. Two waiters are running the place; the young waiter is eager to go home to his wife and is rude to the old man, while the older waiter can relate to the old man's sensitivity because of their similar backgrounds. Perhaps Hemingway suggests that the older you get the more you internalize the value of life.

This story takes place in a well-lighted café very late at night. Perhaps the old man goes to the café to escape from his loneliness, from the darkness of the world. The café represents light for him and a way to distract himself from the world outside of him.

The old man, who is the main character in the story, is the subject to both of the waiters. He comes frequently to the well-lighted café when he is drunk, and has nowhere to go. As the younger waiter stated he has ``plenty of money". (29)Money is no option for the old man because he values more who he is than what he has. Even when he is drunk he still ``drinks without spilling (and) walks with dignity". (31)Unlike the old man the younger waiter cannot understand the old mans importance to the café and why he spends every night there getting drunk. The waiter is young, and appreciates more what he has, than who he is. ``I am all confidence" (32). All that matters for him is confidence, youth and a wife. Whereas, the older waiter is ``reluctant to close up because there may be someone who needs the café". (32) He can relate to the old man because of their age, and the fact that they both have no place to go late at night. For them the value of man consists of dignity, happiness and a family who is there by their side. Its essential to have the love and support that he needs in order to live a successful and happy life.