"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"

Author's Note: My Language Arts Class just finished reading and discussing, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"  by Ernst Hemingway. We were then asked to write a short response... Soo Here it is :)

Ernst Hemingway committed suicide, though he seemed to live a happy rich life. He was able to tell, long stories with few words and descriptions, with sentences striped into simplicity. In "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" there is an old man, who is constantly in the "shadow of the leaves" and staying ran the cafe until almost 3 in the morning. We find the old man attempts suicide, only to be saved by his niece. He was no wife. No children. Only a relative to check up on him. The old man, was on the verge of despair, sitting in the shadows-- trying to find, and keep, a clean well lighted place. 

In many ways, Hemingway can relate to the old man he created. They were both rich, after all. And according to the young bartender in the story- money is happiness. The old man and Hemingway, both try to find company, take Hemingway's four wives for example.But mainly, they were both searching for a clean, well lighted place, away from the darkness.