The Old Man at the Bridge" by Ernest Hemingway | The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway Questions & Answers | BookRags.com

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man at the Bridge" by Ernest Hemingway

Explain how each of the characters in the stories displays courage or lack of courage the old man and the narrator in "The Old Man at the Bridge".

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The old man has been evacuated from his hometown. On his way out, he becomes very tired and sits to rest under a bridge, though the sounds of the invading army are clearly heard in the distance. He is unable to run any further and has given up. He represents all the regular people who are caught up in and destroyed by war. That in itself has a quiet courage to it: the courage to face what he cannot change.