What does the cafe mean to the old man?

What does the cafe mean to the old man?

The cafe represents to both of them an accessible option to fight against nihilism, against that final hopeless despair of non-meaning for a reasoning being: we can reason, yet we can find no meaning through our reasoning while we watch as all comes to death and destruction.

What does the café represent for the two of them?

The Café The café represents the opposite of nothingness: its cleanliness and good lighting suggest order and clarity, whereas nothingness is chaotic, confusing, and dark.

What does the old man represent in A Clean Well Lighted Place?

Hemingway presents him as a representative of all people nearing the end of life, weary and hopeless, but still dignified. The key here is dignity – Hemingway wants us to see that even when life gets you down, you should accept it and try to keep it real.

Why does light symbolize in this story and why is it sought after by the old man and the older waiter?

For the old man and the older waiter, the café represents order, refuge, and a place to distract them from the emptiness of the night. The cleanliness and light represent an antidote to the dark night, which is when the older waiter senses “nada” the strongest.

Who takes care of the old man when he is not at the cafe?

The old man likes the shadows of the leaves on the well-lit café terrace. Rumor has it that he tried to hang himself, he was once married, he has a lot of money, and his niece takes care of him. He often gets drunk at the café and leaves without paying.

Why does the older waiter understand the old man’s need for a cafe What does the cafe represent to the two of them?

The older waiter understands the need for the café because he and the old man are both lonely people, so he empathizes with him. The café represents them both. Hemingway made his opinion and feelings clear when he described the older waiter’s outlook regarding the café. You just studied 5 terms!

What does the cafe represent?

The café symbolizes the small pleasures that, in spite of life’s meaninglessness, make living feel dignified and comfortable.

What is the older waiter afraid of?

Perhaps he has insomnia, but we know better: The old waiter cannot sleep because he is afraid of the darkness, afraid of nothingness.

Why does the older waiter defend the old man?

The older waiter recognizes himself in the old man and sees his own future. He stands up for the old man against the younger waiter’s criticisms, pointing out that the old man might benefit from a wife and is clean and neat when he drinks. The older waiter has no real reason to take the old man’s side.

What does the older waiter do after the old man has left their café?

When the old man leaves, the waiters close the cafe. The young waiter leaves for home, and the older waiter walks to an all-night cafe where, thinking about the terrible emptiness of the old man’s life which he keenly identifies with, he orders a cup of nada from the waiter.

What reason does the older waiter give for the old man’s unwillingness to leave?

Ultimately, the older waiter is reluctant to close the café as much for the old man’s sake as for his own because someday he’ll need someone to keep a café open late for him.

What does the older waiter realize about the world?

He is not just literally deaf, but deaf to the world. The older waiter understands this. He knows what it is to feel emptiness, to live on a deserted island. In contrast with the younger waiter who has “youth, confidence, and a job” (as well as a wife), the older waiter lacks “everything but work” (177).

Why does the old man stay at the cafe?

Like the old man, the older waiter likes to stay late at cafés, and he understands on a deep level why they are both reluctant to go home at night. He tries to explain it to the younger waiter by saying, “He stays up because he likes it,” but the younger waiter dismisses this and says that the old man is lonely.

What does an old man say in a Spanish Cafe?

Late in the early morning hours, in a Spanish cafe, an old man drinks brandy. A young waiter is angry; he wishes that the old man would leave so that he and an older waiter could close the cafe and go home. He insults the deaf old man and is painfully indifferent to the older waiter’s feelings when he states that “an old man is a nasty thing.”

Why does the older waiter stand up for the old man?

He stands up for the old man against the younger waiter’s criticisms, pointing out that the old man might benefit from a wife and is clean and neat when he drinks. The older waiter has no real reason to take the old man’s side.

Why does the old man drink brandy at the cafe?

Thus, suicide is inviting. The old man who drinks brandy at the clean, well-lighted cafe is literally deaf, just as he is metaphorically deaf to the outmoded traditions of Christianity and Christian promises: He cannot hear them any more. He is alone, he is isolated, sitting in the shadow left by nature in the modern, artificial world.