How is the old man symbolic of the plight of a civilian at the time of war?

The old man in the Ernest Hemingway's short story "Old Man at the Bridge" is certainly representative of the plight of civilians during wartime. In this short story, a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War happens upon an old man who has stopped from fatigue at a bridge. Soldiers had just crossed the bridge, quickly retreating from enemy forces who are making their way towards the retreating soldiers. The war journalist asks the old man why he is stopping at the bridge considering the imminent death that is so steadily approaching him. The old man reveals that he is simply too fatigued to go any further and is also incredibly worried about the animals he was forced to leave behind in his village. The old man, too weary to continue any further, is forced to await his impending death as the reality of war closes in all around him. The old man represents the helplessness that emphasizes so much of civilians' experience when being impacted by war.