Meaning in A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

Meaning in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” Many stories use symbols to hint to a deeper meaning, or moral to the story. Authors have long used literary techniques such as similes, metaphors and even words’ connotations to achieve these goals. In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” Ernest Hemmingway uses many symbols including the setting to convey his purpose in this short story. This story’s images and details are used to illustrate the loneliness of old age. …

…of her own; this gave the old man a sense of meaninglessness. The lonely old man doesn’t even have religion as demonstrated by the older waiter’s prayer “Hail nothing full of nothing.” Hemmingway uses many symbols in this story. Most of them illustrate the loneliness and futility of old age, but it is suggested that the loneliness may even affect different types of people as illustrated by the older, not necessarily old, waiter.