26 pages • 52 minutes read
Ernest HemingwayOld Man at the Bridge
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1938A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Cat
The old man says, “The cat, of course, will be all right. A cat can look out for itself” (58). He is less concerned for it than for the other animals, as cats are stereotypically independent and detached. In this story, the cat symbolizes those who endure in the context of war. They are able to function well in their role and survive, but they remain disconnected from others and focus on their own survival.
The unnamed soldier takes care of himself, like a cat that always lands on its feet. He is observant and watchful of his surroundings and remains on guard even while talking to the old man. His detachment makes him, like the old man’s cat, more likely to survive the war than the other creatures around him.
The Goats
Goats are not usually helpless creatures. In fact, they may become aggressive and are known to be stubborn when faced with challenges they are not prepared for or forced to do things they don’t want to do. In the story, the old man is forced to leave behind two goats as he escapes his town before a bombing.
The helpless goats are a symbol of the old man. Like the goats, he is a victim of circumstance and unable to go anywhere. He even wobbles like a tired goat when he attempts to stand: “He swayed from side to side and then sat down backwards in the dust” (58). This motion echoes the movement of the mule-drawn carts at the beginning of the story. When told he needs to go, he stubbornly decides to stay where he is, rather than continue toward the safer city of Barcelona.
The Birds
The significance of the birds changes from the beginning of the piece to the end. At first, the old man calls them pigeons, which were traditionally kept for food or by hobbyists. Because of their roosting and homing natures, they are symbols of domestication. Near the end of the story, the soldier distractedly refers to them as doves; although doves and pigeons are in the same family, they are distinct creatures with different symbolic meanings or cultural associations. Doves are symbols of peace and renewal. Each man sees the birds differently to suit his role in the story. The old man associates the birds with his home and his domestic life, which is now destroyed. The narrator unconsciously refers to the birds in a way that evokes symbols of peace. After ensuring that the old man left their cage open, he tells him that of all the animals he left behind, the doves will be fine. They will fly away from the artillery and survive. These symbols of hope indicate that peace endures elsewhere, in contrast to the impending Easter invasion.
The Bridge
Bridges are liminal spaces, links between one world and another. In this story, the makeshift pontoon bridge is the threshold that stands between life and death, between abandoned former lives and the prospect of escaping to the city and surviving.
The old man reaches the liminal space and finds that he can’t go on. He knows no one and nothing about the other side of the bridge, and he does not want to continue to the next town, city, or world. Staying near the bridge after everyone else has moved on keeps him in limbo; he is caught between two armies and two ways of life. Returning to the past is impossible, but there is no place for him in the future. Hemingway ends the story with the old man suspended between these two worlds as the narrator watches for the Fascists’ invasion.
Related Titles
By Ernest Hemingway
