Old man at the bridge as an anti war story gaining universal appeal
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Answer:
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Explanation:
"Old Man at the Bridge."
In "Old Man at the Bridge," war has a devastating impact on both civilians and soldiers. That impact can be seen in the forced displacement of noncombatants and the disintegration of political and social trust.
The narrator of "The Old Man at the Bridge" is a soldier. Whether he is a military man by profession or, like Hemingway, someone who joined the Republican army to fight the Fascists out of political conviction, he has a purpose, with specific duties to perform. The subject of the story, the old man, is in the opposite position. He had a role, looking after animals, but the war took this role away from him. Now, he has nothing to do and cannot even see the point of picking himself up out of the dust and attempting to save his own life.
The impact of war on the life of a soldier is obvious. However, the soldier is prepared to fight, while civilians who are caught up in the war have their lives abruptly thrown into chaos. Across the bridge in Hemingway's story comes a stream of fugitives, all of them forced to abandon whatever they were doing and concentrate on the business of survival. They have no idea what will happen to them or to their homes and livelihoods. Many of them, like the old man, will be "without politics" and may have no clear notion of why the armies are fighting.
For these people, the war has the character of a natural disaster, like an earthquake. They all have their lives turned upside down, and a few, particularly the old and sick, may well resign themselves to death as soon as they perceive the extent of the chaos. Even if they survive, any of the noncombatants can experience the sudden loss of home, family, livelihood, possessions, or sanity. The horror of war is exacerbated in their case by its apparently senseless arbitrariness. Those most affected by war are the ones who have the least theoretical interest in it.
In the story, the two principal characters, the old man and the soldier, discuss the advance of the fascist army and the impending war. The old man, like many of his neighbors, has been forced to leave his home. His plight calls attention to the ways in which war contributes to the disintegration of the social structure. Without family, the old man is likely to become one of the first casualties of the war, as he doesn't possess the physical strength to make the trek to safety. In all, the Spanish Civil War was the bloodiest conflict in Western Europe after WWI. It led to widespread atrocities, the deaths of more than 200,000 civilians, and the displacement of millions of Spaniards. The story hints at this through the seemingly innocent interaction between the soldier and the old man.
"But what will they do under the artillery when I was told to leave because of the artillery?"
"Old Man at the Bridge" shows the devastating impact that war can have on people, especially innocent civilians. As the story opens, thousands of refugees are making their way to safety across a hastily constructed pontoon bridge. The fascists are coming, and their well-deserved reputation for brutality precedes them. With the imminent arrival of enemy forces, local people have no choice but to move on out.