"Why does the old man need the cafe?"

Why does the old man need the café?

In “A Clean, Well Lighted Place, Hemingway presents a short, concise narrative concerning the after hours life of an apparently suicidal old man and his daily attendance of a street-side cafe. Throughout the story, Hemingway leads us to ask the question, “Why does the old man need the café?” Hemingway answers this question by presenting two characters. These characters are of course the two waiters. The two waiters answer this question by their contrasting responses and attitudes toward the old man. One waiter, the older, more patient waiter, understands why the old man needs the café while the younger, hurried waiter does not understand why the old man or his fellow server would need the café at such an hour.

The old waiter confesses to be “of those who like to stay late at the café (159-70).” He also must understand those who need the café because he is sympathetic to their plight and sees his being at the café as a sort of service to his fellow man. He says, “Each night I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the café (159-71).” He sees the café as an important service to those in need, a sort of shelter that he must keep open as long as possible.

The younger waiter, on the other hand, is more detached from the needs of the old man and indeed his fellow server. He becomes severely resistant to the consideration of the needs of the old man. He even becomes bitter as he “wishes” that the old man had been successful in his suicide attempt. Later on in the story, Hemingway does partially excuse his behavior by saying “He did not wish to be unjust. He was only in a hurry (159-58).” He does not understand the old man’s need for the café and treats him more like a drunk or an alcoholic than a emotionally dependent regular.

Now, the question “Why the old man needs the café?” has not yet been answered but the dichotomy created by the two waiters’ attitudes and their physical and emotional differences laid out in the story is central to understanding the answer to this question. First we have the young, detached waiter. He is rash and impatient and temperamental to a certain extent, but he provides a reason for his hurry to get home. He has a wife and a family and a world out side the café. The older, understanding waiter responds by pointing out that he does not have a family anymore. He even confesses to lack any sort of confidence in himself or the world. The younger waiter has a support structure outside of the café. He has separate world that keeps him from getting lonely and gives him a purpose. The older waiter and the old man lack this support structure and purpose. The café gives them a refuge where they can attain a dignified sense of order and respectful, benevolent causality. It also gives them a place in which to connect with other human beings, if only for a second while ordering a drink.

The older waiter says, “I am of those who like to stay late at the café. With all those who do not want to go to bed. With all those who need a light for the night (159-70).” The older waiter and the old man are in some sense afraid of the dark, but the dark is not simply the absence of light. It is the loneliness and purposelessness that fills the void where their support systems or families or careers used to exist. Yes, it’s the nothing (or the nada) that they avoid. They go to the café to find something to center their lives around. The old man needs the café for his support system and his routine and purpose. He does not need the brandy, but he needs the respectable light of the café to satisfy his inherent hunger for self-worth and keep the loneliness and seeming pointlessness of his life from engulfing him in darkness.

The older waiter needs the café for much the same reason. He needs it to satisfy his need for purpose. The needs of the late-night café customers become his purpose in life. He keeps himself out of the dark by working at the café. And he does understand the old man because he identifies with him and his need of a respectable, dignified place to spend the nighttime hours. Those who need the café need somewhere to belong and somewhere to matter, so that a dark, uncaring universe does not swallow their humanity. (781)