What happens to the old man at the end of "The Old Man at the Bridge"?

It's difficult to know for sure, but the likelihood is that he'll simply stay where he is and take his chances. The old man's at the stage in life where he's effectively given up the ghost and so has nothing to live for. If he isn't killed by the fascists scheduled to arrive at any moment, then the chances are that he'll take his own life.

The evidence would certainly seem to point in that direction. He's already shown his reluctance to head over the bridge with the other refugees in the direction of Barcelona. But then nor can he return to San Carlos. It'll be equally dangerous, if not more so. Besides, it's unlikely in the extreme that the old man would want to live there without the animals to which he's formed such a close attachment. So under the circumstances, the old man's caught between a rock and a hard place, with no easy way out.

The old man’s love for his family of little animals and birds would not allow him to move further towards Barcelona or another safe place. Instead, he would take a chance and wait there for the enemy troops to pass through the bridge.

Before the enemies invade the place, he would look out for a hideout, big enough to hide himself. It may be a ditch, a tree, a cave or any other place. I'm sure he would find out one for himself.

Finding the area completely vacated, the enemies wouldn't suspect the presence of an old man in the region, and therefore, proceed further.

Once out of danger, the old man would hastily walk back towards his home town, San Carlos. When he would reach his home, he would be overwhelmed finding his cat, two goats and eight pigeons waiting for his return.

With tears of joy, he would embrace them and quickly arrange something for them to eat.

How does the old man confront his impending death in "Old Man at the Bridge"?

In meeting his likely death, the old man is much more worried about the welfare of his animals than his own situation.

The story is told from the first-person point of view of a soldier whose task it is to investigate a bridge and then report the enemy's position. When he returns, he finds that one elderly man has been left behind.

Immediately after noting his town of residency, the old man mentions his animals. The narrator makes a vague, "Oh," comment and the old man follows up with "I stayed, you see, taking care of the animals." He lists the exact animals under his care and notes that he realizes that his cat can take care of itself but that he isn't sure what will become of the others. He asks the soldier a couple of times what he thinks will happen to the animals.

This is a man who is seventy-six years old and at this point in his life is "without politics." He has no family and nowhere else to go. The animals and his land were his sense of purpose; without them, he has nothing else.

And so he faces his impending death completely focused on the last meaningful connections he enjoyed in his life: his animals who depended on him.

Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Old Man at the Bridge” tells of the narrator’s encounter with an elderly man near a pontoon bridge over the Ebro River during the Spanish Civil War. The man appears to have no family or friends and is fleeing the conflict by himself.

The old man reveals that he was the last person to leave his village of San Carlos because he did not want to leave his animals. Caring for his cat, pigeons, and goats seemed to have provided the elderly man with a purpose for his life. Due to the fighting, the old man was forced to abandon his beloved animals. The Old Man fears for their safety amidst the shelling and fighting in his town. His morale is deflated by imagining his animals' demise.

When the narrator urges the old man to leave the pontoon bridge, he is too tired and uninterested in leaving. He remains seated in the dust, calmly resigned to his fate.

It is important to point out that Hemingway does not explicitly reveal the fate of this elderly man in his story “Old Man at the Bridge.” While it is likely that the man was killed in the ensuing fighting, it is not certain.

I hope this helps!