This works in relation to the old man's desire to stay at the cafe because it is nothing that awaits him when he goes home. In the bright cafe, the world is literally a brighter place. Hoffman notes, "Because nada appears to dominate 'A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,' it has been easy to miss the fact that the story is not about nada per se but the various available human responses to it" (Hoffman). This notion forces us to look at the old man's mood and the importance of how he feels. He goes on, "The clean, well-lighted place that is, is not actually a 'place' at all; rather, it is a metaphor for an attitude toward the self" (Hoffman). From this perspective, we can see the depth of the old man's loneliness. He needs the cafe to lift him from the darkness that otherwise surrounds him.

The different moods and...
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