“The Old Man” by Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel written by the american
author Ernest Hemingway.

Theme
Old Man at the Bridge demonstrates the power of narrative art. It
takes a small, ordinary detail in a situation and by the art of story-telling
transforms it into a powerful story about the tragedy of war. The old
man becomes a symbol of the countless civilian victims of war those
"without politics." The old man is going to die at the bridge displaced,
disoriented, alone. He's not a cat, nor a dove, but a goat who was "only
taking care of animals."
It can be said that the story revolves around the character of an old
man who is also the central protagonist. He has escaped from his
hometown to avoid the ruthless violence of the Spanish Civil War. We
can discern from his conversation with the narrator that this sudden
incident has deeply affected his composure and in his nervous state of
mind he could only focus upon the safety of his animals that he left
behind. He is tired from the journey but also very confused because the
reality of his own safety has not yet dawned upon him. He has no sense
of his present situation and his thoughts keep going back to how the cat,
goat and birds shall escape.
The narrator of the story who is also a soldier of the Spanish
Republicans, notices the old man sitting alone on the bridge and walks
up to talk to him. This sets him aside from the other soldiers who are
simply busy carrying out their orders through unseeing, inhumane eyes.
This soldier too has a sense of urgency in his mannerisms as he has to
gauge the extent of the enemy’s advances but sets aside his duties to
speak to the old man. However, his kindness is short-lived and futile as
he moves on when he discovers that the old man is too tired to walk any
further.