Analysis of “Old Man at the Bridge”

I’ve read a story by Ernest Hemingway that is named “Old Man at the Bridge”.
This is the first time that I’ve had the pleasure to read one of his works. And still,
due to the fame of the author, his contribution to the American literature and the
world literature as a whole, I’ve heard enough about the topics that he touches
upon, as well as the language that he uses to do that. This author was born in dire
times – at the beginning of WWI he was only 15 years old. He lived enough to
witness both world wars, The Great Depression in the USA, the beginning of the
Cold War even. He had a difficult life and was always ready to fight for what was
right. I think all of the above influenced his mindset and thus had a great impact on
his literary style.

I found this story very touching and thought-provoking. I really do like when
authors try to convey the thoughts and the feelings of people who have struggled in
most gruesome times. Here the way that the old man speaks, how he is described
and the way he is fixed on the fact that he had to move on to save his life does
speak to me on some subconscious level. The author manages not only to tell a
story but to evoke emotions of sympathy, regret and sorrow that shake me to my
core.

As for the contents of the story, I’ve noticed that it consists of just one brief scene
– the conversation between the narrator and the old man – and one setting: the
bridge across a river in Spain leading to Barcelona. It is possible to make a
suggestion that this is the times of Civil war in Spain. We see all the action unfold
form the point of view of the narrator, and this first-person perspective gives us
deeper submersion into the said action. The story opens with the introduction of
men and women crossing the bridge across the river to flee from the enemy. The
author creates the impression of fatigue and nervousness, the tension of the fleeing
people so we can feel tiring and dark mood. The author uses enumeration to
convey monotony and fatigue of people’s lives «There was a pontoon bridge
across the river and carts, trucks, and men, women and children were crossing it».
The text contains personification «a few last carts were hurrying down the slope of
the bank», «the trucks ground up and away heading out of it all to add to the
feeling of monotony and heaviness. Also he adds the dark shade to the whole
atmosphere by using repetition of words “grey”, “black” and “dusty” when
describing the surroundings and the refugees, the old man specifically: “He did not
look like a shepherd nor a herdsman and I looked at his black dusty clothes and his
gray dusty face and his steel-rimmed spectacles…” Also here we can observe the
stylistic device of polysyndeton, adding to this monotonous rhythm of the
narration. This old man does not care about the politics and the most significant
thing for him is taking care of his animals. The soldier insists that he should go but
the old man refuses. Their whole interaction is based on dialogue. Their lines are
pretty simple in structure and are not very descriptive, but the simplicity of words
and the constant repetition of ideas create some air of hopelessness and despair:
"What animals were they?" "Various animals," he said, and shook his head. "I had
to leave them". As the story progresses we learn that the hostile troops advance
towards the bridge but the old man is fixed on his animals and cannot go any
further. Interestingly enough, to add to the atmosphere of tension the author uses
irony, to show the inner fears of the narrator that the enemy might be coming: “…
and listening all the while for the first noises that would signal that ever mysterious
event called contact…”. At the end of the story, when we learn that the old man
stays by the bridge unable to move, we can see the stylistic device of anaphora,
showing that the end of his life is near: “It was Easter Sunday and the fascists were
advancing toward the Ebro. It was a gray overcast day with a low ceiling so their
planes were not up”. The whole composition may be seen as very rhythmical,
simplistic and not very descriptive.

The subject matter of the story is the impact of the war on innocent citizens. All of
the stylistic devices used let us feel the tiredness the horrors of war not on the
battlefield, but in the souls of the people living through it. The author raises several
problems: struggle, loneliness, change, fear, regret. I think that the main message
that the author wanted to show to the readers is that change in life may break one’s
spirit when they are not ready for it. This is best shown on the example of the old
man. We can see that the soldier has adapted to the situation: he understands what
is happening, looks out for the enemy, and tries to rescue a civilian. He is young
and ready for this change. He understands his surroundings and his speech is even
more coherent than that of the old man. The latter on the other hand shows no sign
of comprehending this change. He has been forced to leave his homestead because
of the artillery. He has walked twelve kilometers and when his body is that far
away from his home, his mind still lingers there. All he can think about is his
animals and how will they be able to survive, not even caring for his own safety.
Because of this inability to see the change and face it, he gives up and cannot go
further. The author sets this message forth almost explicitly through all the stylistic
devices that I’ve mentioned earlier: the constant repetitions in speech, the tension
inducing anaphora, polysyndeton, personification, etc. This message is crucial for
today’s world for it is changing as rapidly as ever. To give an example, some
people make fun of old people who don’t understand technology and have given up
on understanding it, when the author, in my opinion, tells us: “That is okay. Not all
people can stand the change”, and I couldn’t agree more.

The chief affect that the author was trying to achieve is to make his readers sad. It
may sound too simple, but, indeed, the story did make me feel sorrow. I felt bad
for all the people that needed to leave their homes behind, for the old man not
being able to cope with this situation. Even though the story is barely two pages, it
is emotionally a really hard read. I would say this kind of stories would generally
appeal to people who want to weep, cry, feel sad and understand the feelings of
people in need.

To sum up, I would like to say that Ernest Hemingway managed to show us all the
struggle and despair of people in the times of war, exceeding any expectation.
Using linguistic means as well as his own manner of storytelling, he created a
masterpiece that would be always valid.