Published in 1952, The Old Man and the Sea soon became Ernest Hemingway’s most influential and best praised book by critics worldwide. Both the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 were awarded to him “for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence he has exerted on contemporary style.” Bernard Berenson, close friend and renowned art critic praised, “No real artist symbolizes or allegorizes – and Hemingway is a real artist – but every real work of art exhales symbols and allegories. So does this short but not small masterpiece.”
At a superficial level, The Old Man and the Sea presents merely a simple story of an old man. However, beneath all this an intrinsically delicate web of deeper themes and motifs surges, ranging from symbols of life and death, strength and determination, to biblical accounts and parables of the crucifixion of Jesus, to classical imagery and mythological aspects. These images transform a simple tale into a complex and inspirational account of nearly legendary feats. Due to its nature, The Old Man and the Sea has been analyzed and critiqued since its publication. Even so, my focus in this essay is to expand the symbols and allegories of The Old Man and the Sea using Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the Greek myth of Oedipus, and explore to what extent Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of the Oedipus complex can be applied, thus bringing about a different and renewed perspective on Hemingway’s novella.
Throughout The Old Man and the Sea, the most important allegory presents itself in Santiago and Oedipus. Their lives and fates are linked, in different yet very similar ways as will be seen later on. The earlies...
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...Butcher. (2007) February 20, 2011. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.1.1.html
Harada, Keiichi. “The Marlin and the Shark: A Note on The Old Man and the Sea”.
Donnell, Sean M. “The Old Man and the Sea: Hemingway’s Dialectic of Imagery”. (2002) February 20, 2011. http://www.elcamino.edu/Faculty/sdonnell/hemingway_3.htm#Top%20of%20Page
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. (Charles Scribner’s Sons: New York, 1952)
“The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954”. Nobelprize.org. February 19, 2011. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1954/#
Poore, Charles. “Books: Hemingway”. The New York Times. (July 3, 1961) February 19, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/04/specials/hemingway-obit3.html
d’Aulaires, Ingrid and Edgar Parin. Book of Greek Myths. (Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.: New York, 1962), pp. 158-161.
Hemingway’s narrative technique, then, is characterized by a curt style that emphasizes objectivity through highly selected details, flat and neutral diction, and simple declarative sentences capable of ironic understatements; by naturalistic presentation of actions and facts, with no attempt of any kind by the author to influence the reader; by heavy reliance on dramatic dialogue of clipped, scrappy forms for building plot and character; and by a sense of connection between some different stories so that a general understanding of all is indispensable to a better understanding of each. He thus makes the surface details suggest rather than tell everything they have to tell, hence the strength of his “iceberg.” His short stories, accordingly, deserve the reader’s second or even third reading.
In The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume II. Edited by Paul Lauter et al. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1991: 1208-1209. Hemingway, Ernest. A.
As one looks at Ernest Hemingway’s career and life, one is truly able to see how interesting his life was simply by reading his books. This lavish lifestyle attributed to his writing style, and this culmination ultimately led him to become a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Not only did his great ability to translate his life experiences to works of literature help him win this award, but also his ability to use his art of symbolism and to appeal to readers of all ages and education.
Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a tragic drama that portrays a great deal of irony. Oedipus, the protagonist, suffers serious misfortune that is significant in that the “misfortune is logically connected with the hero’s actions” (AbleMedia LLC). When the reader learns about the background of Greek culture and the life of Sophocles, this tragic drama is able to become more alive and valuable. It is important to familiarize oneself with the author because it allows for a greater connection to the dialogue presented. Through the character development of Oedipus, one can see how ironic circumstances can turn a prideful king into a tragic figure.
When a writer picks up their pen and paper, begins one of the most personal and cathartic experiences in their lives, and forms this creation, this seemingly incoherent sets of words and phrases that, read without any critical thinking, any form of analysis or reflexion, can be easily misconstrued as worthless or empty. When one reads an author’s work, in any shape or form, what floats off of the ink of the paper and implants itself in our minds is the author’s personality, their style. Reading any of the greats, many would be able to spot the minute details that separates each author from another; whether it be their use of dialogue, their complex descriptions, their syntax, or their tone. When reading an excerpt of Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast one could easily dissect the work, pick apart each significant moment from Hemingway’s life and analyze it in order to form their own idea of the author’s voice, of his identity. Ernest Hemingway’s writing immediately comes across as rather familiar in one sense. His vocabulary is not all that complicated, his layout is rather straightforward, and it is presented in a simplistic form. While he may meander into seemingly unnecessary detail, his work can be easily read. It is when one looks deeper into the work, examines the techniques Hemingway uses to create this comfortable aura surrounding his body of work, that one begins to lift much more complex thoughts and ideas. Hemingway’s tone is stark, unsympathetic, his details are precise and explored in depth, and he organizes his thoughts with clarity and focus. All of this is presented in A Moveable Feast with expertise every writer dreams to achieve. While Hemingway’s style may seem simplistic on the surface, what lies below is a layered...
" The Hemingway Review. 15.1 (Fall 1995): p. 27. Literature Resource Center -.
... Bender, David. A. Readings by Ernest Hemingway. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997. Bloom, Harold, ed., pp.
Gioia, Dana, and X.J. Kennedy. "Oedipus the King." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, Compact Edition, Interactive Edition. 5th ed. New York: Pearson; Longman Publishing, 2007. 887-924. Print.
Trogdon, Robert W. Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2002. Print.
It is the fate of all of us, perhaps, to direct our first sexual impulse towards our mother and our first hatred and our first murderous wish against our father. Our dreams convince us that this is so’’(Freud). The real power of Oedipus The King lies not in the fact that it illustrates the Oedipus complex—that Oedipus was oedipal—but that it depicts a troubling and seemingly universal dimension of human behavior; the way we unwittingly create the fate we fear and abhor. Oedipus, like many of us, falls victim to what he frantically strove to avoid. Readers identify with Oedipus not because they wish to possess one parent and eliminate the other, but because they often end up precisely where they didn’t want to be: a woman who was abused as a child may choose a partner who mistreats her; or the boy who was crushed by his marginal status in his family and unwittingly lives his life so that as an adult he is repeatedly unseen and under appreciated. What Oedipus could teach us is how magnetic the pull is to repeat what we desperately wish to
Waldhorn, Arthur. Ernest Hemingway: A Collection of Criticism (Contemporary Studies in Literature). Chicago: Syracuse University Press, 1978.
Baker, Sheridan. "Hemingway?s Two-Hearted River." The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: Critical Essays. Ed. Jackson, J. Benson. Durham: Duke UP, 1975. 158.
It is said that the truth will set you free, but in the case of Sophocles’ Oedipus, the truth drives a man to imprison himself in a world of darkness by gouging out his eyes. As he scours the city for truth, Oedipus’ ruin is ironically mentioned and foreshadowed in the narrative. With these and other devices Sophocles illuminates the king’s tragic realization and creates a firm emotional bond with the audience.
There is never a simple key to any writer worth much attention, but in the case of Hemingway there is something that looks so like a key… that it cannot escape any informed and thoughtful reader’s notice" (O’Conner 153). Ernest Hemingway was one such author. Very rarely did he summarize statements, therefore the only way to solve his puzzle was to take it apart and examine each components. One of the hidden elements that the reader must analyzie closely is the parallel between Santiago and Jesus Christ. In the novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway creates connections between Santiago and Jesus Christ that adds religious coloration to the story.
In this world, there is quote after quote after quote on people’s stances on life. Readers are exposed to those millions of opinions with every story they pick up. Ernest Hemingway shared his judgments on life through a classic novel that seems to connect to many of those readers. What seems to be his belief on life was that though this world may seem to be destined for defeat, it’s imperative in life to attain triumph, bravery, respect, and love in the end. That message in The Old Man and the Sea is exposed through the minor themes, the major, overall theme, and the symbolism in the novel that contributes to the the major theme.