Between every two extremes, there is a middle point.  In Hemingway’s, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” the middle point of age is reflected by the older waiter.  He represents the people that understand both youth and old age.  He is the link between the two.
    The old waiter is in need of light as he is middle aged approaching old age.  This is shown at the end of the story when the text reads, “and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep” (Hemingway).  The old waiter also comments that, “I am of those who like to stay late at the café.  With all those who do not want to go to bed.  With all those who need light for the night” (Hemingway).  The old waiter is in need of light to make him feel whole and safe.  The old waiters thought’s towards the end of the story indicate that he needs light to feel safe when he thinks to himself, “What did he fear?  It was not fear or dread.  It was a nothing that he knew too well” (Hemingway).  “It was not a fear, he realized with sadness, but a realization that everything was nothing.  Life was nothing and a man was barely even a trace amount of nothing.  This nothing only needed light to feed off of, light and a certain amount of order in the prevailing chaos of life” (Aye and a Nought).  The old man realizes that ones life is a small portion of the world, not enough to make a difference in the grand scheme of things.
    In many aspects Hemingway’s story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” can be said to be about him, especially in the character of the old waiter.  Hemingway had a deep love for Spain and the Spanish way of life.  “After Spain’s civil war, Hemingway swore not to return to the Iberian Peninsula until Generalissimo Franco released all of his friends who had been jailed as political prisoners” (Conrad).  “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is set in Spain and because of the reference to soldiers in the story, the reader is left to assume that there is a war going on in Spain.  Hemingway from middle age on suffered from insomnia (Matsunaga) same as the old waiter.  Hemingway once stated “alone, a man has no chance” (Matsunaga) this can be seen in the character of the old waiter and his wanting to stay awake during the night, not wanting to be alone in the dark.
    Hemingway’s story “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” is a look at what Hemingway felt light symbolized to all ages and also a partial look at his own fears.  The character of the old waiter suffers from many of the ailments that Hemingway himself suffered from at approximately the same age.  Light and dark are both a part of the daily cycle of life; we need to learn to live with both.
 

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