A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Summary
Ernest Hemingway

Biography EssayErnest Hemingway is one of the most celebrated and most controversial of American writers. He is seen variously as a sensitive and dedicated artist and as a hedonistic adventurer, as a ... Read more

Few writers have made their mark on American letters and American culture like Ernest Hemingway. Bursting on the American literary scene in 1925 with the publication of the short story collection In O... Read more

Ernest Hemingway is one of the most celebrated and most controversial of American writers. He is seen variously as a sensitive and dedicated artist and as a hedonistic adventurer, as a literary poseur... Read more

In the following survey of the major characters of Hemingway's fiction, Allen asserts that anxiety is the defining feature of the characters in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” T... Read more

In the following essay, Benert explores Hemingway's use of imagery and characterization in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” has with j... Read more

In the following essay, Broer explores the bond between the old waiter and old customer in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” “I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg... Read more

In the following essay, Kann examines Hemingway's original manuscript and concludes that it was the author who inserted an uncharacteristic line of dialogue for the older waiter. Ever since ... Read more

In the following essay, Hoffman explores Hemingway's thematic concern with “nada,” or nothingness, in his short fiction. One of his most frequently discussed tales, “A C... Read more

In the following essay, Kerner finds several examples of Hemingway's use of anti-metronomic lines of dialogue in his fiction and concurs with other critics who want to restore the original text... Read more

In the following essay, Hurley maintains that Warren Bennett's “misinterpretation of the waiters' speech in the problematic exchange concerning the soldier and the girl compound r... Read more

In the following essay, Fleming speculates on the possible influence of the poet Wallace Stevens and his concept of nothingness on Hemingway's short story. The relationship between Wallace S... Read more

In the following essay, Bennett compares Hemingway's “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and “The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio.” I “A Clean, Well-Lighted Plac... Read more

In the following essay, Kerner rejects Warren Bennett's position regarding the dialogue controversy and interprets the questionable passages in the story as Hemingway's deliberate use of... Read more

In the following essay, Kroeger considers the confusing dialogue in Hemingway's story. Ever since the first printing of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” in Scribner's Magaz... Read more

In the following essay, Gabriel revisits the confusion regarding the dialogue in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” and contends that “there is no error made in the dialogue … ... Read more

In the following essay, which was originally published in American Literature in 1970, Bennett proposes that Hemingway's use of verbal irony provides insight into the main characters as well as... Read more

In the following essay, May rejects John V. Hagopian's reading of “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and offers his own interpretation of the dialogue of the story. “Every pr... Read more

Taking another writers story and relating it to your life is what every reader does and is what makes reading interesting and joyful. When you can see other peoples situations or events in their life,... Read more

A Clean, Well-lighted Place A clean, well-lighted place, by Ernest Hemingway is mainly about an old man who is drunk late at night and seeks more alcohol at a nearby well-lighted café. Two waite... Read more