THE OLD MAN AT THE BRIDGE // ERNEST HEMINGWAY

As a man observes the movement of vehicles and civilians fleeing across the pontoon bridge from an anticipated enemy attack, he notices an old man sitting alone at the edge of the structure. After a conversation with the old man, he determines that he has just walked the twelve kilometres from his home village of San Carlos, but his immense tiredness has forced him to stop at the bridge. The old man’s duty is to take care of all the animals left behind in the village. It is obvious that the old man takes this responsibility very seriously, as he worries more about the animals that were under his care than for his own safety and tells this to the young man. Sadly, he explains, he was forced to leave the animals behind. The narrator suggests that the old man cross the bridge to the next crossroads, where he can catch a truck that will take him close to Barcelona, but the man explains that "I know no one in that direction." Although the correspondent cares about the old man, he looses hope when the and old man is unable to proceed, and decides that "there was nothing to do about him." The enemy would cross the bridge soon, and death appears to be close by for the old man. 

This story demonstrates how people are often affected by things they can’t control such as the oncoming of War. It implicitly suggests that perhaps the ‘New World’ that was transforming America at that time in history, affected individuals and their desires to carry out their obligations, even though this story was not written about America. Hemingway himself was in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and actually had an encounter with an older gentleman at a bridge whereupon a similar conversation happened, and he used this as the basis for this short story. This story is based upon an Easter Sunday stopover at the Ebro river during Hemingway’s coverage of the Spanish Civil War in 1938 and uses an old man as a symbol of defeated liberal democracy not just in Spain, but all over the world. 

THE YELLOW WALLPAPER // CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN

The narrator of this story and her husband John are renting a beautiful, secluded estate for the summer. The narrator suffers from what her husband refers to as a "temporary nervous depression," and orders her to rest as much as possible instead of going outside and being active. He picks a room in the house for the two of them and although the narrator feels quite uncomfortable with this, she accepts his decision to stay there. She also obeys him when he chooses a large room at the top of the house over the smaller, prettier room on the ground floor that she prefers. The narrator would like to spend her time writing and exploring her creativity, but her husband and other family members think this is a bad idea. Bored with being locked in a room all day, the woman begins to trace the pattern of the room’s wallpaper methodically and soon convinces herself that there is a woman trapped in the wallpaper. Just before the couple are about to leave the house, she decides that she must free the trapped woman by stripping the wallpaper off. When her husband comes into the room, the narrator declares that the woman is now free, wallpaper scattered on the ground.

This story deals with the unequal status of women within marriage, and women stifled by a paternalistic culture. It does this through the completely disregarded concept of women's mental health in the 19th century. The female protagonist is completely controlled by her husband, and any attempt for her to break free of his reign is stifled, as well as her creative desires. She must agree with him on every subject, as if she didn't she would be betraying her gender and role as a woman. It was a story written at a time of great change — the time of the ‘domestic ideology’ that placed American middle class women as the 'leaders of the home' and men 'ruling the public domain' started to be challenged as the early women’s rights movements began. In the 1890s–1910s women pushed for broader roles outside these gendered roles that could draw on women's intelligence and non-domestic skills and talents, which Gilman explores in her story. Gilman herself was a victim of being prescribed ‘bed rest’ by her doctor when diagnosed with depression, and wrote this story as a semi-autobiographical story reflecting on her experiences.

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW // WASHINGTON IRVING

This tale is the story of Ichabod Crane and his attempt to win 'the blooming' Katrina Van Tassel in marriage, in the context of a comical ghost story. Ichabod comes to Sleepy Hollow, New York, from his home state of Connecticut, to be the schoolmaster of the village. Sleepy Hollow is a very small and quiet town whic his said to be possessed by many elements of the supernatural. Sleepy Hollow has in fact had many incidents of supernatural occurrences, or at least stories of them, including the “Headless Horseman.” 

This story is heavily influenced by 18th and 19th century european concepts, such as Romanticism - particularly exploring the 'awe of nature' and stressing of the importance of the imagination. The tale places a lot of emphasis on the individual and is fascinated by the elevation of the ‘common man’, portrayed by the protagonist, Ichabod. He is known as a man with a 'happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature; he was in form and spirit like a supplejack.' Many descriptions just like this one occur to explore Ichabod's nature - he is a schoolteacher that is talented at his teaching job, but lives a somewhat simple life. Many gothic elements appear in this text - including heavy explorations of the supernatural, where Ichabod is terrified by the threat of ghosts and other supernatural beings. It's setting is a spooky town, where even it's residents are afraid of what lies behind the lush landscape. There is definitely an atmosphere of mystery and suspense surrounding the rumours of the supernatural and overwrought emotion when the protagonist is terrified of animals and spirits. There is of course the woman controlled by a powerful male, as Katrina Van Tassel is 'owned' by her father' as well as being the object of desire for all the men in the town. This romantic elements of the story is explored through multiple suitors trying to win over her heart, despite her reluctance to commit to any man. The story also demonstrates the lack of class structure in America in the 19th century (or perhaps the myth of it), that was a heavily constructed concept in America at the time. This idea of no class helped America to be seen as an inviting 'New World' full of opportunity for all, even though this was not the case. The story sells America as a land of extreme abundance through it’s desriptions of the land and it’s resources - Ichabod is amazed when his 'green eyes grace over the fat meadowlands, the rich fields, the orchard....' It heavily explores the conflict between country and city people, through the setting (the small Dutch settlement of Tarry Town) and through this depicts the yankee as the ‘outsider’, perhaps showing how ‘real’ and ‘relatable’ American people are. It is set after the American Revolutionary War and is written in flowery 19th century language.