Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway Summary and Analysis "Old Man at the Bridge"

The setting is a spot in the countryside during the Spanish Civil War. An old man with spectacles sits exhausted by the side of the road near a pontoon bridge that crosses a river. Peasant refugees and Republican soldiers laden with munitions and supplies flee the advancing ascist army. The narrator! who says that his mission is to cross the bridge and find out how far the enemy has advanced! does so and finds the old man who was sitting by the bridge when he crossed toward the enemy still sitting there when he crosses bac". #e begins tal"ing to the old man and elicits the information that his hometown is San Carlos$ he was the last person to leave the town! as he was anxious on behalf of some animals he had charge of. The narrator! nervously awaiting the advent of the ascist army and the ensuing battle between the armies! as"s the old man about the animals. The old man says he had charge of two goats! a cat! and four pairs of pigeons. #e says a ma%or told him to leave the town and the animals because of artillery fire. #e says he has no family. #e then begins to express concern about what will happen to the animals. #e says the cat will be all right because cats can loo" after themselves! but he doesn&t "now what will happen to the other animals. The narrator! more concerned for the old man&s safety than that of the animals! in'uires what the old man&s politics are! and the old man replies he has none. #e is ()! has come *+ "ilometers and is too tired to go any further. The narrator tells him to wal" up the road and catch a ride on a truc" to ,arcelona. The old man than"s him! but continues to express concern over the fate of the animals he left behind. The narrator reassures him! saying the animals will be fine. The doves will fly away! the narrator says! but the old man continues to worry about the goats. The narrator tells him it is better not to thin" about it! and that he should get up and wal" to the truc"s. The old man tries to get up and wal"! but he is too tired and sin"s bac" down. The narrator thin"s! in closing! that the old man&s only luc" is that cats can loo" after themselves and that the day is overcast so the ascists aren&t able to launch their planes. ANALYSIS -.ld /an at the ,ridge0 was inspired by #emingway&s travels as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War in the *123s. 4n fact! the story was originally composed as a news dispatch from the Amposta ,ridge over the 5bro River on 5aster Sunday in *126 as the ascists were set to overrun the region. #emingway was writing for the 7orth American 7ewspaper Association but decided to submit this snippet of writing as a short story to a maga8ine instead of as a %ournalistic article! which accounts! to a certain extent! for its short length. or all of its unorthodox origins! the story deals with familiar #emingway themes of depression! resignation! and impending death. The old man is the heroic fatalist or fatalistic hero of the story! resigned to his fate as a casualty of the war. #e is too old and tired to move! he says! and demonstrates! to the narrator! and the narrator reflects that he is sure to be "illed once the ascists advance to the bridge across the 5bro. #is life is prolonged by the fact that the day is overcast and the ascists cannot launch their planes!

and his mind is eased by the fact that cats can loo" after themselves! but aside from that! the narrator says nothing can be done for him and his death seems certain. As occurs elsewhere in #emingway&s writings! specifically in -The 9illers!0 the narrator of the story seems more affected by the inevitability of the man&s probable fate than by the old man. :ust as the old man worries about the goats he left behind! and the narrator tells him it&s best not to thin" about them! the narrator worries about the old man he will have to leave behind! but is obviously not able to stop thin"ing about him. 7evertheless! one lingering 'uestion occurs to the reader as the story closes and the narrator bemoans the old man&s impending death. Why doesn&t the narrator help the old man at least part of the way to the truc"s bound for ,arcelona; Surely everyone! including the narrator and the old man! is going in the same direction. Surely it would not be a great imposition for the narrator to help a ()<year<old man who had already wal"ed *+ "ilometers along at least part of the way to safety. Are the old man&s fatalism and the narrator&s despair %ustified; Since this story began as a news dispatch recounting an encounter #emingway actually had! this 'uestion ta"es on more than academic significance. There is one symbol of hope in the story. At the beginning of the narrator&s conversation with the old man! the birds the old man was loo"ing after were referred to as -pigeons!0 but by the end of the story! they become -doves!0 symbols of peace in wartime. The narrator ma"es this switch as he as"s! -=id you leave the dove cage unloc"ed;0 4t is unclear whether this is a slip of the tongue! because the narrator is clearly distracted by the impending arrival of the enemy! or if #emingway is attempting to give the image of the birds flying away an even more positive tint by referring to them as symbols of peace.

"The Snows of

iliman!aro"

The story opens with a paragraph about /t. 9iliman%aro! the highest mountain in Africa! which is also called the -#ouse of >od.0 There is! we are told! the fro8en carcass of a leopard near the summit. 7o one "nows why it is there. Then we are introduced to #arry! a writer dying of gangrene! and his rich wife #elen! who are on safari in Africa. #arry&s situation ma"es him irritable! and he spea"s about his own death in a matter<of<fact way that upsets his wife! predicting that a rescue plane will never come. #e 'uarrels with her over everything! from whether he should drin" a whis"ey<and<soda to whether she should read to him. #elen is obviously concerned for his welfare! but self<pity and frustration ma"e him unpleasant to her. #e then begins to ruminate on his life experiences! which have been many and varied! and on the fact that he feels he has never reached his potential as a writer because he has chosen to ma"e his living by marrying a series of wealthy women. 4n italici8ed portions of the text that are scattered throughout the story! #emingway narrates some of #arry&s experiences in a stream<of<consciousness style. #arry&s first memories are of traveling around 5urope following a battle! hiding a deserter in a cottage! hunting and s"iing in the mountains! playing cards during a bli88ard! and hearing about a bombing run on a train full of Austrian officers. #arry then falls asleep and wa"es in the evening to find #elen returning from a shooting expedition. #e meditates on how she is really thoughtful and a good wife to him! but how his life has been spent marrying a series of women who "eep him as -a proud possession0

and neglecting his true talent! writing. #elen! he remembers! is a rich widow who was bored by the series of lovers she too" before she met him and who married him because she admired his writing and they had similar interests. #arry then recalls the process by which he developed gangrene two wee"s before? he had been trying to get a picture of some water<buc" and had scratched his "nee on a thorn. #e had not used iodine and it had become septic. As #elen returns to drin" coc"tails with #arry! they ma"e up their 'uarrel. #arry&s second memory se'uence then begins! and he recalls how he once patroni8ed a series of prostitutes in Constantinople while pining for a woman in 7ew @or". Specifically! he had a fight with a ,ritish soldier over an Armenian prostitute and then left Constantinople for Anatolia! where he ran from an army of Tur"ish soldiers. Aater! he recalls that he returned to Paris and to his then<wife. #elen and #arry eat dinner! and then #arry has another memory! this time of how his grandfather&s log house burned down. #e then relates how he fished in the ,lac" orest and how he lived in a poor 'uarter of Paris and felt a "inship with his neighbors because they were poor. 7ext! he remembers a ranch and a boy he turned in to the authorities after the boy protected #arry&s horse feed by shooting a thief. 7ext! he remembers an officer named Williamson who was hit by a bomb and to whom #arry subse'uently fed all his morphine tablets. As #arry lies on his cot remembering! he feels the presence of death and associates it with a hyena that is running around the edge of the campsite. Presently! #elen has #arry&s cot moved into the tent for the night! and %ust as she does! he feels death lying on his chest and is unable to spea". #arry dreams that it is the next morning and that a man called Compton has come with a plane to rescue him. #e is lifted onto the plane and watches the landscape go by beneath him. Suddenly! he sees the snow<covered top of /t. 9iliman%aro and "nows that is where he is bound. #elen wa"es up in the middle of the night to a strange hyena cry and sees #arry dead on his cot. ANALYSIS This story focuses on the self<critical ruminations and memories of a writer dying of a preventable case of gangrene on safari. 4ts main themes are death and regret! and #arry&s morbid thoughts epitomi8e a classic case of ta"ing things for granted. #arry ta"es his blessings! including his caring wife! his full life! and his writing talent! for granted! and on his deathbed muses on how he could have appreciated each more. #is main regret! of course! is that he has not reached his full potential as a writer because he has chosen to ma"e a living by marrying wealthy women rather than memoriali8ing his many and varied life experiences in writing. The progression of his gangrene symboli8es his rotting sense of self<worth. This last regret is made so bitter to #arry because! as he admits! it is his own fault he has not ade'uately exercised his great talent? -#e had destroyed his talent by not using it! by betrayals of himself and what he believed in.0 4n a strange parallel! it is also #arry&s fault that he developed gangrene$ by not using iodine on his scratch! he allowed it to become septic and is therefore to blame for his impending death. Biewed in this light! #arry&s predicament is self<inflicted! and is therefore a fitting punishment for his repeated acts of self<betrayal over the years. The lingering

'uestion of the story is how #arry&s situation is resolved by the dream se'uence that ends the narration. =oes his %ourney to the top of /t. 9iliman%aro symboli8e #arry&s acceptance of his punishment and ac'uiescent passage into the afterlife! or does it stand for #arry&s redemption as a character and continuing desire to rise above his past mista"es! even at the moment of his death; What does 9iliman%aro stand for; There is abundant symbolism in this story! as many scholars have noted. The actual significance and meaning of these symbols has been hotly debated! but generally! the fro8en leopard on the summit of 9iliman%aro is associated with death! immortality! and possibly redemption. The hyena and vultures are associated with illness! fear! and death! and 9iliman%aro itself! though its role has spar"ed the most controversy among scholars and critics! seems associated with a sort of redemptive heavenly afterlife. 4n addition! throughout the story! low<lying! hot plains areas are associated with difficult or painful episodes in #arry&s life! including the situation in which he begins the story! and snowy mountainous areas are associated with his happier! more uplifting experiences! including his final imagined ascent to the top of 9iliman%aro. 4n addition! gangrene! the rotting of the flesh! is symbolic of #arry&s rotting soul. 4n terms of style! #emingway narrates the se'uences between #arry and #elen in a straightforward third person format and brea"s into italici8ed stream<of<consciousness for #arry&s many memory se'uences. These memories are often conveyed using run<on sentences and consist of bewildering pastiches of characters! places! and events which are consistent with #arry&s delirium. According to #emingway scholars! these memories are mostly autobiographical. Csing #arry as a vehicle! #emingway writes of a log house he visited as a child in /ichigan! of his experiences during World War 4! of his life in Paris with his first wife and their fishing trip to the ,lac" orest! of his s"iing trips in Austria! and of a location near the @ellowstone River in Wyoming. #arry! as a character! produces similes and metaphors with regularity as he spea"s to #elen D-Aove is a dunghillEAnd 4&m the coc" that gets on it to crow0$ -@our damned money was my armour0F. This is also true during his memory se'uences D-the snow as smooth to see as ca"e frosting and as light as powder and he remembered the noiseless rush the speed made as you dropped down li"e a bird0$ -in some way he could wor" the fat off his soul the way a fighter went into the mountains to wor" and train in order to burn it out of his body0F.