why is the narrator left in despair at the end of the story 'old man at the bridge'?
Answers
The setting is a spot in the countryside during the Spanish Civil War. An old man with spectacles sits exhausted by the side of the road near a pontoon bridge that crosses a river. Peasant refugees and Republican soldiers laden with munitions and supplies flee the advancing Fascist army.
The narrator, who says that his mission is to cross the bridge and find out how far the enemy has advanced, does so and finds the old man who was sitting by the bridge when he crossed toward the enemy still sitting there when he crosses back. He begins talking to the old man and elicits the information that his hometown is San Carlos; he was the last person to leave the town, as he was anxious on behalf of some animals he had charge of.
The narrator, nervously awaiting the advent of the Fascist army and the ensuing battle between the armies, asks the old man about the animals. The old man says he had charge of two goats, a cat, and four pairs of pigeons. He says a major told him to leave the town and the animals because of artillery fire. He says he has no family.