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"The Old Man at The Bridge" by Ernest Hemingway: Read Answer The Questions

- The story describes an encounter between a soldier and an old man sitting by the side of a pontoon bridge during the Spanish Civil War. - The old man is 76 years old and had to flee his hometown of San Carlos, leaving behind two goats, a cat, and some pigeons that he cared for. - He tells the soldier he can go no further because he is too tired after walking 12 kilometers. The symbols of the animals and the old man himself represent the civilian victims of the war.

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Valera Cosulschi
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1K views

"The Old Man at The Bridge" by Ernest Hemingway: Read Answer The Questions

- The story describes an encounter between a soldier and an old man sitting by the side of a pontoon bridge during the Spanish Civil War. - The old man is 76 years old and had to flee his hometown of San Carlos, leaving behind two goats, a cat, and some pigeons that he cared for. - He tells the soldier he can go no further because he is too tired after walking 12 kilometers. The symbols of the animals and the old man himself represent the civilian victims of the war.

Uploaded by

Valera Cosulschi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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 Read the short story and then answer the questions below:

(send your answers to the email: [email protected])

“The Old Man at the Bridge”


by Ernest Hemingway
An old man with steel rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes sat by the side of the road. There was a
pontoon bridge across the river and carts, trucks, and men, women and children were crossing it. The mule-
drawn carts staggered up the steep bank from the bridge with soldiers helping push against the spokes of the
wheels. The trucks ground up and away heading out of it all and the peasants plodded along in the ankle
deep dust.
But the old man sat there without moving. He was too tired to go any farther.
It was my business to cross the bridge, explore the bridgehead beyond and find out to what point the
enemy had advanced. I did this and returned over the bridge. There were not so many carts now and very
few people on foot, but the old man was still there.
"Where do you come from?" I asked him. "From San Carlos," he said, and smiled.
That was his native town and so it gave him pleasure to mention it and he smiled. "I was taking care of
animals," he explained. "Oh," I said, not quite understanding. "Yes," he said, "I stayed, you see, taking care
of animals. I was the last one to leave the town of San Carlos."
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 and said, "What animals were they?" "Various animals," he said,
and shook his head. "I had to leave them." I was watching the bridge and the African looking country of the
Ebro Delta and wondering how long now it would be before we would see the enemy, and listening all the
while for the first noises that would signal that ever mysterious event called contact, and the old man still sat
there. "What animals were they?" I asked. "There were three animals altogether," he explained. "There were
two goats and a cat and then there were four pairs of pigeons.
"And you had to leave them?" I asked. "Yes. Because of the artillery. The captain told me to go because
of the artillery." "And you have no family?" I asked, watching the far end of the bridge where a few last
carts were hurrying down the slope of the bank. "No," he said, "only the animals I stated. The cat, of course,
will be all right. A cat can look out for itself, but I cannot think what will become of the others." "What
politics have you?" I asked. "I am without politics," he said. "I am seventy-six years old. I have come twelve
kilometres now and I think now I can go no further."
"This is not a good place to stop," I said. "If you can make it, there are trucks up the road where it forks
for Tortosa." "I will wait a while," he said", and then I will go. Where do the trucks go?" "Towards
Barcelona," I told him. "I know no one in that direction," he said, "but thank you very much. Thank you
again very much." He looked at me very blankly and tiredly, and then said, having to share his worry with
someone, "The cat will be all right, I am sure. There is no need to be unquiet about the cat. But the others.
Now what do you think about the others?" "Why they'll probably come through it all right." "You think so?"
"Why not," I said, watching the far bank where now there were no carts. "But what will they do under
the artillery when I was told to leave because of the artillery?" "Did you leave the dove cage unlocked?" I
asked. "Yes." "Then they'll fly." "Yes, certainly they'll fly. But the others. It's better not to think about the
others," he said. "If you are rested I would go," I urged. "Get up and try to walk now." "Thank you," he said
and got to his feet, swayed from side to side and then sat down backwards in the dust.
"I was taking care of animals," he said dully, but no longer to me. "I was only taking care of animals."
There was nothing to do about him. It was Easter Sunday and the Fascists were advancing toward
the Ebro. It was a grey overcast day with a low ceiling so their planes were not up. That and the fact that
cats know how to look after themselves was all the good luck that old man would ever have.
HELPFUL INFORMATION:

Ernest Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s,
and he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short-story
collections, and two nonfiction works. Three of his novels, four short-story collections, and three
nonfiction works were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of
American literature. World famous works:
(1927) The Sun Also Rises
(1929) A Farewell to Arms (Adio, arme!)
(1940) For Whom the Bell Tolls (Pentru cine bat clopotele?)
(1951) The Old Man and the Sea (Bătrânul și marea)
He was the author of many famous short stories, among which “Old man at the Bridge”,
which was published in 1938 became highly well-known. It is about a conversation between a
soldier and an old man who had to leave his hometown during the Spanish Civil War.
Setting (= Locatie și decor): The action takes places at a pontoon bridge near the Ebro Delta
on Easter Sunday during the civil war. The day is described as “a grey overcast day with low
ceiling” and all the refugees of that area are crossing the bridge.
Point of view: The story is written in the first person and narrated by a nameless soldier
whose duty it is to observe the advancing of the enemy. As Hemingway was in Spain during the
civil war as well, it is quite possible that he assimilated his experiences of this horrible time in
this story.
After the soldier has explored the region, he sees an old man and starts a conversation with
the trivial question “Where do you come from?”. At the beginning he seems uninterested in the
old man and answers with simple statements like “Oh.”, but this changes in the course of the
conservation.
The plot, the main character and symbols: The seventy-six-year old man, who wears “steel
rimmed spectacles” and “black dusty clothes”, comes from San Carlos. The most crucial part of
the old man’s life are his animals. He owns two goats, a cat and some pigeons which he had to
leave behind because of the artillery. The repetition of the sentence “I was (just) taking care of
animals” underlines the importance of this duty. He has no family, so his whole life circles
around only his animals and his hometown. Now he has had to leave all this and it is no
surprise when he says “I can go no farther”, after he walked about 12 kilometres. The old man
just has no vitality left, he is described as “blank” and “tired” and his meaning of life has been
taken away from him by the civil war and the flight.
Even after the soldier advises him to flee as long as it is possible, the old man does not move.
The reader notices that he is very grateful the soldier talks to him “But thank you very much.”.
Perhaps it is the first contact and conversation to another person for a long time and he is happy
that someone is interested in him and his worries. First the soldier does not really want to know
the old man’s story, but after he hears it, he begins to feel pity.
In this short-story Ernest Hemingway uses a lot of metaphors and symbols. One of the
symbols is the bridge, which represents uncertainty and dangers. Those are the feelings most of
the people have during wartime. In contrast to this stands the fact that the story takes place on
Easter Sunday, a holiday that stands for hope and the faith in God. The feelings of the refugees
probably stand in the same contrast.
On the one hand they feel very frightened and worried, but on the other hand they do not
want to lose hope.
The animals also stand for different qualities. The pigeons, for example, represent peace and
harmony and the fact that they fly away, away from the war, maybe is a reference to the refugees
who flee from the war to a safer place. The cat being a symbol of independence, does not need
anybody to survive, but the goat is often used as a sacrificial animal and this probably
represents the old man and his situation. Like a goat which is sacrificed, the old man’s fate is
sealed.

HOMEWORK:
Comprehension questions:

1. Who was Ernest Hemingway and what were his main writings?
2. Was he British or American?
3. What was the old man doing in his native town?
4. What is special about the day the narrator encounters the old man?
5. Why does the old man have to leave his animals?
6. Why does the old man stop before crossing the bridge?
a) he is asked not to cross the bridge
b) he is too tired to cross the bridge
c) he isn’t interested in crossing the bridge
d) he doesn’t need to cross the bridge
7. What is the old man a symbol of?
a) the causes of the war
b) the civilian victims of the war
c) the patience of the soldiers
d) the apathy of the civilians
8. What statements in the story suggest that the old man is about to give up on life?

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