The Old Man at the Bridge

The story “Old Man at the Bridge” by Earnest Hemingway is set in the backdrop of Spanish Civil War in 1938. It starts with the description of an old man who was sitting at a bridge. It was a war-like situation as the Fascists forces were advancing towards Ebro. Our narrator, a news reporter, was in the charge to cross a pontoon bridge to check the advancement of the enemy forces. He saw that an old man with steel rimmed spectacles and dusty clothes was sitting beside the road at the bridge while carts, trucks and people were crossing the bridge to get to a safe distance from the enemies. The old man looked too tired to walk any further.