At the beginning of Ernest Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," the two waiters are discussing the old man's suicide attempt. It is then that they see the soldier.

A girl and a soldier went by in the street. The street light shone on the brass number on his collar. The girl wore no head covering and hurried beside him.

This is the only time that the soldier is mentioned in the story. One of the waiters says that he is likely to be picked up by the guard, presumably for being out after curfew, or with a girl, or both.

Although he appears only fleetingly, the soldier has a definite symbolic value. He represents all the young people, busy with their own lives and desires, who have no need of the cafe. The younger waiter is a man of approximately the same type, but he is employed to work at the cafe, though it has no emotional significance for him. For the older waiter, however, as well as for the old man drinking brandy, the cafe has a spiritual role, as an oasis of light and order in a dark, threatening world. This is why the older waiter is always reluctant to close for the night. Old, lonely people need a clean, well-lighted place, for they are lost in the young virile "world of telegrams and anger" (as E.M. Forster put it) which the soldier symbolizes.

The old solider symbolizes basic humanity: the need that any person has to enjoy the dignity of a clean, quiet, well-lit place. We learn that

the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference...

The two waiters on duty have contrasting attitudes toward the old man. One waiter is impatient with him, wishes he would leave, says he could go to another bar, and shows, overall, no empathy toward him. The other waiter understands that this old soldier represents humanity and should be treated with dignity. The other bars would force him to stand and would be crowded and chaotic.

The two waiters have the following conversation. The first waiter says,

This old man is clean. He drinks without spilling. Even now, drunk. Look at him.

The second waiter says,

I don't want to look at him. I wish he would go home. He has no regard for those who must work.

The story emphasizes that for humans in despair and facing "nada," or nothing (we learn the old soldier has tried to take his own life), the little things that affirm a person's humanity are all-important. Hemingway implies that we are all potentially this everyman, facing despair, and we therefore should treat each other with sensitivity and compassion.