I think that the sort clip; A Clean, Well Lighted Place was stuffed
with symbolism. It starts off in a cozy tavern/bar with an older waiter and a
younger waiter. They were literally waiting on an old, suicidal man to finish
drinking and go home. The old man was sitting in a corner, which symbolizes his
own, solitary world. When most people sit in booths they are with family or
friends, but this man was in a booth, alone which tells the reader how lonely
he is. The younger waiter didn’t want to wait at all, and felt no empathy for
the poor old man. This shows how youth is always moving without care, and that
experience and wisdom comes with age. The opposite was with the old waiter. He
was fine with letting the old man stay, and felt sorry for him. I was almost as
if he has felt his pain before, and wanted the old man to have a solitary
escape from his sorrow.
The old man was a faded main character. He was the main
focus, and yet far from it. Everyone is talking about him, and he occasionally
appears, but the main focus is on waiters. The old man lives in the shadows,
and his only way to escape them is to
come to this well lighted place. His next glass of brandy is his delicate life;
clinging on until the last drop is spent. But there is no saying how it will
end. Will it end with the glass tipping and all spilling in one instant? Or
will it be the last sip from a once full glass. Once it ends, however it ends,
the man heads back into the shadows…
