A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Introduction

Many of the 1933 short stories which make up the collection Winner Take Nothing were published just before the book. Ў°A Clean, Well-Lighted PlaceЎ± is one of these. Its publication in collected form only succeeded by months its initial publication in ScribnerЎЇs Magazine, a magazine, not uncoincidently, belonging to the titular publisher who first printed most of Ernest HemingwayЎЇs major fiction (including this collection).

By 1933, Hemingway was an established writer, and this exceptional minimalist short story was seized upon for its presentation of major authorial concerns in an unprecedentedly concentrated form. These major authorial preoccupations include good conduct and solidarity. The younger waiter must be judged for his refusal to play by (unspoken) rules that say he must be polite and courteous to the old man. The older waiter, in contrast, upholds these standards by being willing to stay as late as the old man wants him to. The exceptionality of the piece made it an obvious choice for critics. Critics used the story either to laud or condemn Hemingway on the basis of their judgment of these minimalist aesthetics and these ethical concerns.

For supporters of HemingwayЎЇs talent, the storyЎЇs emotional