Darkness, in contrast, represents the nothingness of life. .
The soldier in the story is an example of the first stage of existentialism in Hemingway's denunciation of the philosophy. The soldier does not believe in a higher power, nor does he recognize the existence of nothingness. What he does know is that there is something missing in his life, something to feel good about. That is why the soldier has joined the army in the first place. At first he believed it would give him something to believe in. He believed it would give him a purpose in life, living to die for his country. It would give him a feeling of patriotism, of honor, of courage. But something is missing. The soldier has not found his existential truth for himself. The army isn't it. The soldier is left tormented with the hollow feeling of nothingness, a hollowness that he attempts to temporarily fill with immediate sexual gratification. The younger waiter recognizes the soldier's need: "What does it matter if he gets what he's after?" (199). But the experience will only leave the soldier feeling more empty.
The young waiter is aware of the nothingness of an existential life but does not quite know how to deal with it. The waiter desperately uses his relationship with his wife as his truth, or reason for living: "I have a wife waiting in bed for me" (200). He acts as if he is certain of his role in life when he says, "I have confidence. I am all confidence" (201). But in reality he does not. The young waiter is in a hurry to leave the café and the company of the old man: " I want to go home to bed. What is an hour?' More to me than to him' "(201). He "wouldn't want to be that old. An old man is a nasty thing" (200). The young waiter's confidence in his own existence is not strong around the old man because he sees nothingness in the old man. He sees it and is fearful that he may soon feel it. The mere presence of the man shakes the weak foundation of his existence.