"Old Man at the Bridge" is a short story by American writer
Ernest Hemingway, written in 1938 and first published in ''
Ken'' magazine
[Prime Study Guide]
Retrieved 22/9/2022. (Vol. 1 No. 4., May 19th, 1938) with which he was involved.
It was then collected in ''
The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories
''The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories'' is an anthology of writings by Ernest Hemingway published by Scribner's on October 14, 1938. It contains Hemingway's only full-length play, ''The Fifth Column'', and 49 short stories.
Many of ...
'' (1938).
[ Set in Spain, it is inspired by Hemingway's experience as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War.][ The story was originally written as a news dispatch by Hemingway from the Amposta Bridge over the Ebro River on Easter Sunday as the Fascists were set to overrun the region. Hemingway's notes on the incident have been reproduced.
]
Plot summary
On Easter Sunday the narrator a Republican soldier
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
[Litcharts Summary]
Retrieved 2/92022. crosses a pontoon bridge on the Ebro Delta during the Spanish Civil War to explore the land beyond to determine the Fascist enemy's movements. On returning to the bridge the narrator meets an old man, the last person to leave the town ahead. The seventy-six year old man explains that he was forced to leave his animals - two goats, a cat, and four pairs of pigeons. The old man keeps returning to the fate of his animals. The narrator warns him to walk to then get on a truck to Tortosa and onwards to Barcelona...
Analysis
The old man is too old to fight and very tired, he is inclined to remain at the bridge to await his fate, as his animals have already done. The old man neither supports or opposes the Fascists, and he has attachment for his animals and his town. By the end of the story the pigeons have become doves, representing peace -- in contrast to the war around the narrator and the old man.A Summary and Analysis of Ernest Hemingway's ''Old Man at the Bridge'
Retrieved 22/2/2022. The old man himself represents the good shepherd wanting to look after his animals.[ The repetition of the old man's focus on the animals emphasizes his inability to separate the past from the present. The story is further intensified by the imminent death of at least one of the two main characters.
]
External links
Youtube audioYoutube Story explainedSentence length and complexity
References
1938 short stories
Short stories by Ernest Hemingway
Spanish Civil War fiction
Ebro basin
Works originally published in American magazines
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