An Explication of a Passage in Hemingway’s "A Clean, Well-lighted Place"

"Good night," the other said. Turning off the electric light he continued the conversation with himself. It was the light of course but it is necessary that the place be clean and pleasant. You do not want music. Certainly, you do not want music. Nor can you stand before a bar with dignity although that is all that is provided for these hours. What did he fear? It was not a fear or dread. It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was a nothing too. It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order. Some lived in it and never felt it but he knew it all was nada y pues nada y nada y pues nada. Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with thee. He smiled and stood before a bar with a shining steam pressure coffee machine.”

“What did he fear? It was not fear or dread, It was a nothing that he knew too well. It was all a nothing and a man was nothing too. It was only that and light was all it needed and a certain cleanness and order.” We learn that this ailment is not fear or dread, and from the way the older waiter phrases his thoughts, we know that the ailment is not something that is clear or easily described. He has trouble describing it and that is why he uses vague pronouns it and that, never clarifying what it and that refer to. Only that the ailment is nothing. The older waiter repeats “nothing” over and over again, stressing the word.

The lack of specificity in this passage is confusing and is meant this way. Hemingway is being vague on purpose. By using vague pronouns and saying only that everything is “nothing,” he sends the impression that the problem keeping the older waiter and the old man awake at night is related to something vast, something beyond what he can describe with words. Hemingway hints that the old waiter and the old man need a clean, well-lighted café to protect them from thoughts.

This quotation explains what troubles the older waiter and the old man, as well as all those people who want to stay in cafés late at night. He also states that the old waiter and the old man are not the only ones who feel this way. “Some lived in it and never felt it, but he knew it all was nada y pues nada y nada y pues nada”. This “nothing” that he fears is something he describes as living in but never feeling. The old waiter has trouble expressing this feeling that keeps him up and makes him want to stay in the café.

The old waiter continues to think to himself and starts to say the Lord’s Prayer. Instead of saying the whole prayer he replaces some of the words with nada, meaning nothing in Spanish. “Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name thy kingdom nada thy will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada”. This prayer is something that is meant to protect. Some of the major words he leaves out are: protect us from evil, lead us not into temptation, forgive us our trespasses. These phrases are all very substantial. He indicates that religion, which many people turn to find sense and purpose, is also just nothingness. Rather than pray with the actual words, “Our Father who art in heaven,” the older waiter says, “Our nada who art in nada”. He successfully wipes out both God and the idea of heaven.

“Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with thee.” Nothingness scares the old man and the old waiter. They fear nothing. The café represents the opposite of nothingness: its cleanliness and good lighting suggest order and clarity, whereas nothingness is chaotic, confusing, and dark. Both the old man and waiter fear this nothing so that is why they go to the café. The old waiter points out that “nothing is with thee”. He feels the nothingness and believes it is with everyone. We can perceive nothingness is loneliness. The way that the old waiter describes nothingness hints strongly at the fact that he is lonely and that is why he seeks out clean, well-lit areas. These places diminish his loneliness.

The old waiter fills his loneliness with these places such as the café. “It was the light of course but it is necessary that the place be clean and pleasant. You do not want music. Certainly, you do not want music. Nor can you stand before a bar with dignity although that is all that is provided for these hours.” He states that it is not just the light that keeps out the nothing but also the cleanliness and pleasantness. “You do not want music”, the old waiter doesn’t want noise that is loud or disturbing like in bars. The only thing available at these hours though is bars that do not keep away the nothingness. The café, clean well-lit place, offers order to the chaos of nothingness. This café is significant to both the old man and the waiter.

After all of this the old waiter still goes to a bar and smiles. “He smiled and stood before a bar with a shining steam pressure coffee machine.” Even though he says that bars are not sufficient in keeping out the nothingness, “Nor can you stand before a bar with dignity although that is all that is provided for these hours”, he has no other options. He is not a drunk like the old man and, so he finds delight in the fact that a bar has a “steam pressure coffee machine.” He can relate to the old man though in the sense that the nothingness is to much to handle alone.