Subir Das Roy asked 7 years ago
What ‘good luck’ did the old man have, as the narrator mentions at the end of the story “Old Man at the Bridge” by Earnest Hemingway? Why are those mentioned as ‘good luck’?
As the narrator mentions, all the good luck that the old man had were that —
- The enemy planes were not up in the sky due to the overcast weather conditions. So there probably was no chance of bombing.
- Cats know how to look after themselves, so the old man’s cat would probably have no trouble to take care of itself.
Those are referred to as the only ‘good luck’ for the man, because everything else was unfavourable to him, as he was too old and too tired to walk further when the enemy forces were approaching the place.
The old man was much worried about his pet animals. He wondered what the animals will do in the artillery fire if all the people were told to leave the place. However, he was fortunate because he had a cat because a cat can look after itself. I think one more fortunate thing for the old man was that he had kept the dove cage unlocked, that means, his pigeons could fly away easily. But what would happen to his goats still worried the old man.
When the old man was tired the millitary man told him that there were trucks going to Barcelona.On top of that the cat was smart enough to look after itself.The dove or pegion cage was open so that they could fly away.That day even the weather was bad so the millitary plains could not fly up and and attack.These were all the good luck the old man possessed.
The old man was lucky because the cat was an independent animal who could look out for himself.The old man also said that he had left the dove cage open so his pigeons would also fly away to save their lives. The old man would be really happy if these two survived.The weather too was dark that day so there was no chance for the enemy planes to attack via air.