Old Man at the Bridge Story Summary in English by Ernest

Hemingway

Old Man at the Bridge About the Author

Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in America. He was a novelist, short story writer
and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century
fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway
produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s. He won the Nobel Prize
in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction
works. Additional works, including three novels, four short story collections, and three non-fiction
works, were published posthumously. The Old Man and the Sea is considered a classic of
American literature.

Old Man at the Bridge Summary

The conversation between a soldier and an old man

The story ‘Old Man at the Bridge’ is related through a conversation between a soldier and an old
man who had to leave his home town during the Spanish Civil War. During the war there was
panic and anxiety all around. Everyone was aware of the impending death. An old man with
spectacles who had walked 12 kilometres from his hometown sat exhausted by the side of a
road near a pontoon bridge that crossed a river. Carts, trucks and men, women and children
were crossing the bridge. Peasants, refugees and Republican soldiers laden with munitions and
supplies fled the advancing Fascist army. The narrator, who said that his mission was to cross
the bridge and find out how far the enemy had advanced, did so. He saw the old man sitting
beside the bridge when he crossed toward the enemy. He found him still sitting there when he
crossed back. He began talking to the old man and came to know that his hometown was San
Carlos. He was the last person to leave the town, as he was anxious about his animals.

Old Man at the Bridge Character Sketch

THE OLD MAN

● 76 years old, healthy and physically fit

● leaves his hometown due to the
Spanish Civil War
● no family, but loves his animals, worried about the safety of the animals during war
● not worried about his own safety
● a fatalist
● obsessed with the thought of his animals’ safety
● victim of war
● reconciles himself with his impending death
THE NARRATOR

● a scout and dutiful soldier

● engages himself in conversation with the old man
● worried about the safety of the old man during the war
● advises the old man to leave the place and save himself
● feels pity for the old man
● expresses his helplessness to do anything about the old man
● bemoans the old man’s impending death

Old Man at the Bridge Critical Appreciation

Conversational Form
The story ‘Old Man at the Bridge’ is related through a conversation between a soldier and an old
man who had to leave his hometown during the Spanish Civil War. The conversation takes
place at the bridge where the soldier is performing his duty.
The story conveys the problems faced by people as victims of war in the form of a dialogue. The
conversation advances the story further and takes it to its logical conclusion. The theme of the
story and the characteristic traits of the two characters involved in the conversation are revealed
through conversation.

First Person
The story is written in the first person and narrated by a nameless soldier whose duty is to
observe the advancing of the enemy. The soldier has captured the atmosphere of war and the
helplessness of the people as victims of war in
his conversation with the old man who was forced to leave his hometown and animals behind.
He has explored the region and the situation by suggestive hints. The first person narrative
helps the reader to identify with the scene of threat and helplessness.

Metaphors and Symbols

The story abounds in metaphors and symbols. One of the symbols is the bridge which
represents uncertainty and dangers. The pigeons symbolise peace and harmony and the fact
that they fly away, from the war, may be a reference to the refugees who flee from the war to a
safer place. The cat is a symbol of independence who does not need anybody to survive, but
the goat is often used as a sacrificial animal and this probably represents the old man who
reconciles himself with his impending death.

Language
The story is narrated in a conversational form and the language used is simple. But several
simple words are symbolic in significance. The style is lucid and intelligible. The dialogue
between the soldier and the old man takes the story forward. The simple conversation reveals
the characteristic traits of the speakers and reflects the theme of the story.