Sunday, October 18, 2009

A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Summary

It was late one evening in a small cafe when an elderly, deaf gentlman was sitting outside on a shaded patio. The only people taking care of the cafe at this hour were two waiters. One was said to be an older, patient man. The other was noted to be a younger, impatient man that could only think about getting home and in bed with his wife. Throughout the story, a conversation occurs among the two waiters about the older gentleman that seems to sit in the cafe and drink the night away. The conversation progresses with the information that the man had previously tried to commit suicide by hanging, but was cut down by his niece. During their conversation the younger waiter becomes more and more irritated due to the fact that the old man just sits there and drinks and never seems like he is going to leave. However, the older waiter seems to understand why the old man enjoys sitting and watching his surroundings at night and continually sticks up for him. At the end of the story, the younger waiter kicks the deaf man out of the cafe. When this occurs the older waiter states that a pleasant cafe is nothing like a bodega that is open all night long, and the older waiter soon starts stating the lords prayer with the spanish word for "nothing" in place of any words of importance. This story shows that the older waiter understands what the old, deaf man is going through with nowhere to go to at night and how a person becomes lonely with no friends and no place to feel welcome.

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