"A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" reflects Hemingway's views on the loss of faith and humanity in the world. He wrote this story after experiencing the horrors of the First World War. Hemingway, like many other writers of his time, was forever affected by war. His experiences left him full of doubts. Hemingway constructed a story to express his emotions of emptiness and loss that he felt due to the war. The story includes characters who serve as vessels for its own emotions. He incorporates various literary techniques into his narrative that emulate his feelings of loneliness and loss of faith. The main characters in the story are constantly struggling with the emptiness they feel and desperately seeking some sort of relief. In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” Hemingway uses symbolism, narrative technique, and tone to reinforce the theme of life without meaning and how an empty life can lead to despair. Throughout the story, Hemingway incorporates both symbols and motifs to emphasize the idea that the characters in the story are filled with despair and are searching for relief. The most important symbol in the story is the coffee from which the story takes its title. The action of the story takes place in a bar late at night. Two waiters are waiting for an old man who frequents the café to leave so they can close it for the night. The two waiters discuss the old man, and the younger of the two waiters is impatient for him to leave. The older waiter suspects that the old man is lonely and goes to the bar to escape his loneliness (143-44). The older waiter can identify with the man because his life mirrors that of the old man in terms of emptiness. Hemingway uses coffee as a symbol of life... middle of the paper. Hemingway used this story as a way to express his emotions and created characters that were vehicles to convey his doubts about humanity. He was masterful in building a story that feels so subtle and doesn't rely on too many details. Hemingway provides the reader with only limited details and leaves it up to him to uncover the meaning of the story beneath the surface. The simplicity of the story adds so much more to the meaning. The symbol of coffee and what it represents to the characters and to Hemingway is powerful. The story has real resonance with the reader who feels enormous sympathy for the characters, and can identify with the emotions of loneliness explored by Hemingway. Works Cited Kennedy, XJ and Dana Gioia, eds. Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. 6th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. Print.