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Post by mjunious on Jun 2, 2024 7:03:58 GMT
The cafe in Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" seems to hold the most symbolism. While each of the three characters experience their own form of Existentialism, the cafe serves as a universal escape, a literal light in the darkness, for their personal experiences. The patron finds an escape from his despair in drinking at the cafe is the most apparent. The older waiter uses the care of the cafe to escape the implicit loneliness (what he dismisses as insomnia at the end of the story). The story was written in 1933, which gives the reader an insight to what the younger waiter may be escaping: the Great Depression. Hemingway famously spent the previous decade in Parisian cafes, which I am sure influenced this story along with his return to America leading to the writing of this story.
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Post by dianarmartinez on Jun 4, 2024 16:53:03 GMT
I agree with the cafe being a universal escape. I did not know how to word it as I read the story, and you were able to describe it perfectly. I believe that the old man was trying to communicate that to the younger waiter. The younger waiter missed the point and was being a quite selfish. However, if he doesn't set those boundaries about leaving and respecting his time. Who will? Although, he could have protested in a much nicer and compassionate way. I believe the older waiter was alone, but he could relate to the gentleman who is drinking away. Maybe the older waiter and the man drinking were mutuals with that feeling. This would make sense as to why the older waiter was understanding unlike the younger waiter. As we can read in the story, the man drinking had a nice who saved him from suicide attempts. Do you think that existentialism appears by representing how alone the character felt? I find a strong correlation between the mutuals feelings of the old waiter and the man.
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