Thursday, June 16, 2016
THE EFFECT OF WAR AS REFLECTED IN ERNEST MEINGWAY'S "OLD MAN AT THE BRIDGE"
THE EFFECT OF WAR AS REFLECTED
IN ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S OLD MAN AT THE BRIDGE
IN ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S OLD MAN AT THE BRIDGE
Abstract
In this paper the writer tried to
analyze “Old Man At The Bridge” by Ernest Hemingway. The purpose of this
writing is to analyze characters as intrinsic element and the effect of war as
the extrensic element. The writer found that this short story was based on the
author trip as war correspondent during The Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. To
conclude, the characters are the reflection of the effect of The Spanish Civil
War at that time.
Keywords: Old Man At The Bridge, Ernest Hemingway,
Spanish Civil War, Characters, Effect of War
1. Introduction
The short story “Old Man at The Bridge” written by Ernest Hemingway, published 1938, is
about a conversation between a soldier and an old man who had to leave his
hometown during the Spanish Civil War. The story conveys the subsequent
problems for helpless victims, especially old people. It
is based upon an Easter Sunday stopover at the Ebro River during his coverage
of the Spanish Civil War in April 1938. This short story first appeared in Ken Magazine (Volume 1, Number 4, May
19, 1938). He was writing for the North American Newspaper Asosiation at that
time. Instead of submitted the news to be an article, he apparently submitted
it to Ken Magazine as a short story. Through this story, Hemingway tried to
share his story while he was covering the news.
2. Methodology
·
Analyzing the characters in “Old Man At
The Bridge”
·
Analyzing the effect of war in “Old Man
At The Bridge”
3. Research
Object
The object of research are sorted into a material
and formal object. Material object in this study is Old Man At The Bridge by Ernest Hemingway.
4. Biography
and The Story
This section will discuss the biography of Ernest
Hemingway and the story.
4.1 Biography
of Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway, famous author and journalist, was born in the affluent
Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, on July 21, 1899. His father was a
doctor; his mother, a musician.
He was named after his maternal grandfather, Ernest Hall. As a young man, he
was interested in writing; he wrote for and edited his high school’s newspaper,
as well as the high school yearbook. Upon graduating from Oak Park and River
Forest High School in 1917, he worked for the Kansas City Star newspaper
briefly, but in that short time, he learned the writing style that would shape
nearly all of his future work.
Ernest Hemingway began work as a journalist upon moving to Paris in the
early 1920s, but he still found time to write. He was at his most prolific in
the 20s and 30s. His first short story collection, aptly titled “Three Stories
and Ten Poems,” was published in 1923. His next short story collection, “In Our
Time,” published in 1925, was the formal introduction of the vaunted Hemingway
style to the rest of the world, and considered one of the most important works
of 20th century prose. He would then go on to write some of the most famous
works of the 20th century, including “A Farewell to Arms,” “The Sun Also
Rises,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “The Old Man and the Sea.” He also won
the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1954.
Ernest Hemingway lived most of his later years in Idaho. He began to suffer
from paranoia, believing the FBI was aggressively monitoring him. In November
of 1960 he began frequent trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for
electroconvulsive therapy – colloquially known as “shock treatments.” He had
his final treatment on June 30, 1961. Two days later, on July 2, 1961, he
committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth with a twelve-gauge shotgun.
He was a few weeks short of his 62nd birthday. This wound up being a recurring
trend in his family; his father, as well as his brother and sister, also died
by committing suicide. The legend of Hemingway looms large, and his writing
style is so unique that it left a legacy in literature that will endure
forever.
4.2 The
Story
“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 kilometers 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 gray 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.
5.
Discussion
5.1. Characters
a.
The old man
The main character in this story is
the old man. He was 76 years old.
"I am seventy-six years old. I
have come twelve kilometers now and I think now I can go no further."
In this story,
the narrator met the old man at the bridge. He was a war refugee who has been
uprooted and displaced by the war. The old man was from San Carlos and only
taking care of his animals. He got no family except the animals.
"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.
He is disoriented, confused and disconnected.
He has retreated into his isolated world in which he can only cling to his
obsessive thoughts about his animals, and is too tired to go any further.
b.
The Narrator
This story was told by a narrator. The
narrator was a soldier of war that watching the bridge, exploring the bridge
beyondm and listening to the enemy’s signal to find out the advance of the
enemy.
”
It was my business to cross the bridge, explore the bridgehead beyond and find
out to what point the enemy had advanced.”
“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.”
Through telling his story, the
narrator asked the old man some questions about himself. He understood the
condition of the old man. At the beginning, he thought the old man only resting
so he encouraged him to move on.
“But
the old man sat there without moving. He was too tired to go any farther.”
From
their conversation he realized the old man was disoriented, displaced and that
he was not be able to move on. Seemed like he would die at the bridge. The
narrator came to the painful realization that "there was nothing to do
about him." In the end of the story, the narrator only wished the old man a
luck that he would never had.
“There was nothing to do about him. It was Easter
Sunday and the Fascists were advancing toward the Ebro. It was a gray 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.”
5.2 The Effect of War
Through “Old Man At The Bridge”,
Ernest Hemingway wants to share his experience while he was covering the news
during the war. As we know before, the background of the story
was based upon an Easter Sunday stopover at the Ebro River during his coverage
of the Spanish Civil War in April 1938.
The old man was a reflection of a war victim. The story explained that the
old man had only animals and he was 76 years old. He could not go any further
because of his age.
"I am seventy-six years old. I
have come twelve kilometers now and I think now I can go no further."
The war has affected his mind and destroyed the love of him. It was not
possible for an old man like him to live only with animals. Something bad must
already happened to his family.
"I stayed, you see, taking care
of animals. I was the last one to leave the town of San Carlos."
“I am without politics.”
In the line
above, the old man said that he was taking care of animals and the last one to
leave San Carlos. The most predominant theme in this
short story is the brutal impact of the war on neutral innocents. In fact, the
old man is a refugee from the village of San Carlos where he used to have some animals.
Due to his plight, he sees the bridge as a dead end for him. The old man also
said that he was without politics. It means that he does not support the war
and does not to take a part on it. He does not belong to the both side. Here we
know that the old man was only an innocent people. He was repeating the
sentences “I was taking care of the animals”. This is a symbol of all those
voiceless innocent people who are the victim of wars they neither support nor
understand.
"There were three animals altogether," he
explained. "There were two goats and a cat and then there were four pairs
of pigeons."
The old man
had two goats, a cat, and four pair of pigeons. He wanted to bring his animals
but he could not because the artillery. He said that the pigeons would fly, the
cat could take care of itself. He was worried about the goats, but then he said
that is better to not thinking about it. Here, the animals have some meanings. The
pigeons mean freedom and peaceful because they can fly away, which in this
context irony. The cat is people who can survive for the war. The goats are the
old man himself and maybe also the narrator. The people who could survive in
the war in the end can still alive in freedom. The people who could not
survive, it is better to not think about them, because they will die in the
end.
“It was Easter Sunday and the Fascists were advancing
toward the Ebro. It was a gray 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.”
In the last
paragraph, the narrator also points out that the story is set on Easter Sunday,
a Christian holiday meant to celebrate Christ rising from the dead. The irony
is apparent; no one will rise from the dead, only join the dead, when the
shells begin to rain down and the skies clear to allow the fascist bombers to
make their runs. Easter is symbolically viewed as a highly anticipated, welcome
time of rebirth, renewal, and possible change. For the old man at the foot of
the bridge, this Easter brings only inevitable death and the destruction of all
that is meaningful to him. In the end, the old man would never be the cat that
has a luck to survive for itself.
6. Conclusion
“Old Man At The Bridge” is one of a great
story written by Ernest Hemingway. The story was about an old man at the bridge
during the war. The story was based on Hemingway’s experienced when he was a
correspondent in the war. The old man was the reflection of the war victim who
lost everything in his life as the effect of the war. Hemingway felt sorry for
the old man and the people like him who had mentally broken by the civil war. That
is why Hemingway portrays the devastating effects of war through this story.
7.
References
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