The primary significance of Easter Sunday in the story lies in the fact that it provides a stark contrast to the action that unfolds. Easter Sunday is traditionally a time of joyous celebration, a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the hope that he symbolizes. Yet in "Old Man at the Bridge," there's precious little joy to be found, and, in the middle of a bitter, bloody civil war, there are certainly no signs of hope.

For various reasons, the old man has pretty much given up the ghost. Forced to move from his home town of San Carlos, he's been unceremoniously uprooted by the war from his familiar surroundings amid the animals for which he used to care. Deprived of every last vestige of hope, he remains sitting by the side of the dusty road, despite the imminent arrival of Fascist forces.

There will be no resurrection for him this Easter Sunday. He cannot and will not rise up from the ground as Jesus rose from the dead; there's simply no incentive for him to do so. His life is now rapidly coming toward its end, and so he has nothing left to live for.

In the sad, pathetic figure of the old man, we see the devastating effects of war, especially upon civilians. Caught up in the middle of conflict through no fault of their own, they often suffer the worst of it. For them, there is no joy—no sense of the hope that Easter Sunday normally brings.