Question

bring out the civilities ,sense of duty and kindness as revealed in the character of the Soldier (the old man at the bridge) (essay type question

Answer 1

he short story “Old Man at the Bridge” takes place during the Spanish Civil War. It displays Hemingway’s own experience in war. The story deals with a soldier who comes in contact with an old man at a bridge where people are crossing to flee from the Spanish Civil War. The scout discovers the old man and in the end he realizes the old man cannot move anymore and will probably die at the bridge.
The first person narrator, who is not described in detail, tells the story. That gives the impression that you are involved in this situation. The narrator carefully describes the situation with commentaries, so that a clear picture of the old man is developed.
The main character of the story is a 76-year-old man. The narrator realizes that the refugee is a man without politics. At the beginning he thinks that the man just wants to rest, but later he realizes the old man is not able to move on and is going to die at the bridge. He was forced to leave his farm where he had lived and to leave his animals behind. The man repeats “I was taking care of animals, I was only taking care of animals” a few times. This makes clear that he symbolizes the men, women and children who had to leave their home and their normal life as victims of a war with which they have nothing to do.
The old man also talks about the animals he has. He has a cat which can probably flee. She is a symbol of the survivor because she has nine lives. He has pigeons which can fly away, so they can also flee. They are a symbol of peace. But the old man is neither like the cat nor the pigeons because he cannot flee like them. He is like the third animal he owns, the goat. He cannot escape and is a victim of the war like the goat. The narrator apprehends that “there is nothing to do about him”, the situation of this old man is hopeless. So he is going to die on Easter Sunday, which is very ironic, because that is the day of the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection. (A.W., Dec. 2008)