A Clean Well Lit Place

You are on the street where it is dark and cold, and you are invisible; the only light you can see is that of a well lit café on the street corner. As you cross the dimly lit street and make your way into the café, you are enveloped in the heavy feelings of other people worries. But now you can be seen and you have a name for yourself; you are out of the shadows of life. Hemingway can relate to these feeling because he too lived in the shadows. He was brought up with 5 other brothers and sisters and lacked being seen as an individual. All he wished for was a clean well lit place where he could be free of the concealment of his life and problems. Hemingway’s pieces, like abstract art, must be studied and understood to be appreciated. The symbolism in "A Clean Well-lighted Place is the art that must be studied.

Hemingway captured how one would feel if they were lacking attention and were hidden under a shadow. You can tell that this is the point that he is trying to get across because of the pieces of symbolism including “the old man sat in the shadow of the leaves”, “the old man sitting in the shadow”, and “an old man who sat in the shadow”. Hemingway could be referring to himself as the man who sat in the shadow of the leaves, only he sat in the shadows of his siblings. There are many other aspects of the main character that require further analyzing.

The character in the shadows was never without a drink in his hand, and he was constantly asking for more. The drink could symbolize Hemingway’s craving for attention and how there was never enough to provide contentment. Also, the people that said he had everything were always referring to material things such as “money”, Even though it was clearly the things that fed the heart, rather than the pockets that he yearned for. The character was also using many things mentioned in the story for escapism.


You could consider escapism as writing a story that tells your thoughts without revealing that you were the victim of these feelings. Hemingway managed to write about things that fit like puzzle pieces in his life and experiences. He wrote about his desires, his feelings, his concealment, and his pain. While the story remains very important in understanding him, it is the title that says it all. While Hemingway lived in the shadows of everyone and everything, this story was told to show that his mind was truly a clean, well lit place.