why is the narrator left in despair at the end of the story old man at the bridge
Answers
For all of its unorthodox origins, the story “Old Man at the Bridge” deals with familiar Hemingway themes of depression, resignation, and impending death. The old man is the heroic fatalist or fatalistic hero of the story, resigned to his fate as a casualty of the war. He is too old and tired to move, he says, and demonstrates, to the narrator, and the narrator reflects that he is sure to be killed once the Fascists advance to the bridge across the Ebro. His life is prolonged by the fact that the day is overcast and the Fascists cannot launch their planes, and his mind is eased by the fact that cats can look after themselves, but aside from that, the narrator says nothing can be done for him and his death seems certain.
As occurs elsewhere in Hemingway’s writings, the narrator of the story seems more affected by the inevitability of the man’s probable fate than by the old man. Just as the old man worries about the goats he left behind, and the narrator tells him it’s best not to think about them, the narrator worries about the old man he will have to leave behind, but is obviously not able to stop thinking about him.