Life sucks, doesn't it? Life is nothing and everything in life is meaningless. Perhaps there are some things that can distract the mind and safeguard from the inadequacies of life, but eventually it all fades away. Nothing lasts forever. While all things die and vanish, nothing is still there. Sure, one can search for meaning and have happy thoughts, but during the struggle everyone is alone and slowly slides down the path of despair. In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” Hemingway uses the concept of nada, characterization, and setting to emphasize the idea of ​​human life filled with nothingness. To understand the story, one must understand that nothing is actually something (Benson 24). Hemingway replaces the word nada, a Spanish translation with nothing, which is a one-word description for both meaninglessness and all the irrational forces that violate the human self (Hoffman 31). Some live in Nada and never know it, but eventually some reach a terrible realization and fear that “everything was nothing and even a man was nothing” (Hemingway 3). Everything is nothing and nothing is everything as this life has no true meaning for humanity to understand. Yet there are still men who realize Nada and become sleepless in their ceaseless search for meaning (Warren 20), although “it's probably just sleeplessness; many must have it” (Hemingway 4). These men create a dilemma where they desire meaning but live in a world of spiritual emptiness (Bache 22). However, if there is meaning to be discovered, these men can find it, for only through the awareness of nothingness or non-meaning can meaning be created (Benson 25). To find something, man must confront and realize the presence of nothingness, but of such a reality...... middle of paper ......way 3) for the place to give hope of meaning and provide a refuge for when loneliness is overwhelming. Thus, by maintaining a sense of cleanliness and order, life's heroes achieve dignity, the dignity that keeps them alive (Warren 21). Life sucks, doesn't it? The nothingness of it all is almost too much to bear. Nothing you do can save you. Everything is hopeless and everyone must reach a bitter end. Every friendship is fake; the most loving folly and solitude will consume all. However, there is a way out, a path to salvation. By acting with perhaps unrecognized courage, by serving one another, by making the world flourish, and thereby contributing to the creation of more wonderful and more unimaginable things than ever before, life can have meaning and purpose. This meaning can be found late at night in a clean, well-lit place.