People have called life many different negative and positive things depending on what their situation might consist of. Sometimes some people have it better than other and others have it worse so they think their life to be meaningless or feel that life itself is nothing but meaninglessness. "A clean, well- lighted place- by Ernest Hemingway and "Everyday use- by Alice Walker contain some characters that are dealing with or trying to deal with the meaninglessness of life. These characters are; a drunken old man and a girl that cannot find herself. It would be very interesting to closely examine how these two characters from the two different short stories deal with the meaninglessness of life by creating their own individual meaning and expressing it through conflict. Even though the characters have entirely different lives, they are on a similar path.
"A clean, well- lighted place- by Ernest Hemingway describes an old man that is obviously very lonely. It seems as if though he has lost all his love of life. The old man drinks night after night until he is drunk. Drinking is a way to deal with the meaninglessness of life or escape from his loneliness and whatever else he might be feeling by putting himself in a situation where he is around some kind of company. When the old man drinks, he distorts his ability to think clearly and he is able to create his own meaning of life for that time being. "What do you want?- (Hemingway 105). The waiter was very uncaring and impolite to the old man because he wanted him out of the café. To the waiter life had a meaning and it was waiting for him in his bedroom.
The old man is not able to transcend the meaninglessness of life in my opinion. He does not argue with the waiter much after the waiter does not allow the old man to keep drinking. "The old man stood up, slowly counted the saucers, took a leather coin purse from his pocket and paid for the drinks leaving a half a peseta tip-(Hemingway 106).