The Light That Mankind Search For

"He would lie in the bed and finally, with daylight, he would go to sleep."

In Ernest Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," a death old man is said to have tried to kill himself. The waiters, however, are not able to find out why he had tried to commit suicide because he had "plenty of money." The young waiter had a job, a wife, and confidence-or at least that's what he says. Nevertheless, he is not happy because he "never get[s] into bed before three o'clock." So what is happiness? How does one obtain it? What does a person need to be happy? The men in this story are not happy despite the fact that they had money, confidence, job, and/or family, which are the elements of the American Dream. The American Dream, therefore, is a nada-a nothing-after all. Then what do people search? What do they long for? The older waiter wants to be in a well-lighted place because it is "good" and pleasant. In the dark, one can seen nothing. Usually, one would feel emptiness in the dark. However, in the light, one could see everything. However, it is the real light-the light of the sun, for an example-that people are seeking. The older waiter is able to finally go to sleep in the daylight, and not in the electric light, which are artificially made my human hands. People used to go to sleep when the sun went down, or even a little before, and get up when the sun came up. The peace, the thing that people are really searching for may be the product of the past and the present: the lifestyle of waking up with the sun and going to sleep with the sun, combined with today's knowledge and style.