Topic > An explanation of a passage in Hemingway's "A Clean and Well-Lighted Place"

"Good night," said the other. Once the electric light was turned off, he continued the conversation with himself. Sure, it was light, but you need the place to be clean and pleasant. You don't want music. You certainly don't want music. Nor can one stand with dignity in front of a bar, even if that is all that is expected for these hours. What did he fear? It wasn't a fear or a terror. It was a nothing he knew too well. It was all a nothing and even a man was a nothing. It was just that and all it needed was light and some cleanliness and order. Some lived there and never heard it, but he knew it was all nada y pues nada y nada y pues nada. Our nada who art in nada, nada be your name, your kingdom, nada your will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nada and nada we not in the nada but deliver us from the nada; so nothing. Say hello to nothing, full of nothing, nothing is with you. He smiled and stopped in front of a café with a gleaming steam-pressure coffee machine. “Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay “What Did He Fear?” It wasn't fear or terror, it was a nothingness he knew too well. It was all nothing and even a man was nothing. It was just that and all it needed was light and some cleanliness and order. We learn that this disturbance is not fear or terror, and from the way the older waiter expresses his thoughts, we know that the disturbance is not something clear or easily describable. He has difficulty describing it which is why he uses vague pronouns it and that, never making it clear what it and that refer to. Except the disorder is nothing. The older waiter repeats “nothing” over and over, emphasizing the word. The lack of specificity in this passage is confusing and is understood that way. Hemingway is deliberately vague. By using vague pronouns and just saying that everything is “nothing,” he gives the impression that the problem that keeps the older waiter and the old man up at night is related to something vast, something beyond what he can describe in words. Hemingway implies that the old waiter and the old man need a clean, well-lit cafe to protect themselves from thoughts. This quote explains what worries the old waiter and the old man, as well as all those people who want to stay in bars late at night. He also states that the old waiter and the old man are not the only ones who think so. “Some lived there and never heard it, but he knew that everything was nada y pues nada y nada y pues nada.” This “nothing” he is afraid of is something he describes as living but never feeling. The old waiter struggles to express this feeling which keeps him awake and makes him want to stay in the bar. The old waiter continues to think to himself and begins to say the Our Father. Instead of saying the entire prayer, he replaces some words with nada, which means nothing in Spanish. “Our nada who art in nada, nada be your name, your kingdom, nada your will be nada in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nada and nada we not in the nada but deliver us from the nada.” This prayer is something that is meant to protect. Some of the main words he leaves out are: protect us from evil, lead us not into temptation, forgive us our trespasses. These sentences are all very substantial. It indicates that even religion, which many people turn to for meaning and purpose, is simply nothing. Instead of praying with the actual words, “Our Father who art in heaven,” the older waiter says, “The,.