OLD MAN AT THE BRIDGE - ERNEST HEMINGWAY

Old Man at the Bridge – Ernest Hemingway

Introduction:

Ernest Hemingway’s fiction contains a good deal of pessimism and sadness. This was because Hemingway was listed during the World War II and for a number of years had to fight during the Spanish Civil War. His experiences in the wars were extremely saddening, and he was oppressed by the thought that on the one hand man is so noble, so dignified, and on the other hand he has to dissipate and lose nobility, energy, and dignity in self-exterminating wars. This feeling he has portrayed most vividly in “The Old Man at the Bridge,” a sensitive story about refugees who were displaced by the Spanish Civil War during 1936 – ’39.

Background to the Story: The Spanish Civil War (1936 – ‘39)

The conflict between the Nationalists and the Republicans in Spain culminated in the Civil War in 1936. In bitter fighting, the Nationalists, led by General Franco, gradually gained control of the countryside. After periods of prolonged stalemate, Franco finally succeeded in capturing Barcelona and Madrid in early 1939. He established a Fascist dictatorship that lasted until his death in 1975.

A Critical Summary of the Story:

The first part of the story neatly draws the picture. An attack is feared. The area is being evacuated. The people are moving out in trucks and carts. The narrator (Hemingway), an army officer on duty, to watch the advance of the enemy, has taken position on a bridge. Now he describes the protagonist of the story, an old man about seventy-six, with steel-rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes who sat by the side of the road.

The officer is constantly looking across the bridge. He again and again mentions that the number of trucks and carts is growing less and less. Then the last one goes. Thus giving an impression that the evacuation is almost complete. Therefore, the old man cannot be allowed to stay any longer. The carts, the peasants, and the trucks were passing by, but the old man sat there without moving. He was too tired to go any further.

The officer asks the old man about his political loyalty. It shows that even as he is moved by sympathy for the old man he does not forget his duty – (because the old man may be an enemy spy also). On enquiry, the old man said that he was from San Carlos and that he had no family. He had some birds and animals but he had left them in San Carlos when the Captain told him to leave the place because of the artillery. He had kept a cat, two goats and four pairs of pigeons. He had come twelve kilometres until then, but he was not in a position to move further because of fatigue.

The old man was deeply concerned about his birds and animals. The cat would look after itself. The pigeons would fly away as he had left the cage open. However, he was much worried about the goats, as there was no one in the village to take care of them. the old man says again and again: “I was taking care of animals.” The adverb ‘only’ is significant. It brings out Hemingway’s point that this mad war unnecessarily destroys even such useful human beings who help to sustain life.

The animals the old man kept were goats, cats and pigeons. This is significant for its symbolism. The cats are clever and shrewd. They can take care of themselves. The goats are too innocent. They must die. The pigeons can fly. But whereto? This in a nutshell is what war does. The clever and the shrewd benefit by it, and as for the rest, they are left to fend for themselves with their homes and shelters destroyed.

Hemingway felt sorry for the old man and the people like him who had been mentally broken by the civil war. Thus, Hemingway portrays the devastating effects of war through this moving short story.

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