English 12 “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” Discussion Questions

“A Clean Well-Lighted Place” Discussion Questions

1.     Hemingway uses light symbolically. Find a few examples of this.

2.     Hemingway increasingly differentiates the waiters as the story progresses. Give some example of how Hemingway describes each of the waiters.

3.     Why does the older waiter admonish the younger waiter for refusing the old man service?

4.     How are the waiters “of two different kinds”?

5.     Why is the café so important to the older waiter?

6.     The older waiter’s interior monologue is a critical part of the story. How is the word ‘nada’ used symbolically?

7.     The last line is also critical to the overall theme of the story. Why doesn’t the older waiter sleep?