Hemingway’s short story “A Clean, Well-lighted Place” captures an extraordinary conversation between two waiters, as they contemplate an old man who haunts their cafe late into the night.  The younger waiter wishes the old man would go home and is quite rude to him.  The older waiter, however, can understand the existential angst which the old, deaf man apparently feels, and for which the old man finds some alleviation in a “clean, well-lighted place” such as the very cafe where they work.  

The older waiter is also referred to as the “unhurried waiter,” given that he doesn’t have the youthful sense of urgency as the younger waiter, and at home only insomnia awaits him.  At least, he will fall asleep at some point: 

“He would lie in bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep” (33).   

But as to the dialogue between the two waiters, this is where the older waiter reveals that he actually shares some sympathy with the old man, despite how annoying the younger waiter finds his presence: 

“I am one of those who like to stay late at the cafe […] With all those who do not want to go to bed.  With all those who need a light for the night” (32).

This is to say that not only does the older waiter sympathize with the old man, he identifies with him.   

Works Cited 

Hemingway, Ernest. The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories. NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1955. 

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