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The old man and the sea critical essay
The review of the old man and the sea
The review of the old man and the sea
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A Psychoanalytic Look into the Life of a Lonely Old Fisherman Isolation can have many affects on how a person behaves, there mental stability and personality. Isolation is the state of being away from anyone or anything is society. While under this for a period of time it can effect a person's state of mind, such as talking to inanimate objects. This can also mean them finding love or friendship in animals that don't have a clue what the person means. One of the key factors of this theory is isolation; it can be both physical and emotional. Santiago struggles with physical isolation. It is defined as being alone and away from society, with no social contact. This is illustrated though the symbolism of dreams, actions, objects, events, and characters while Santiago is at sea. He not only has to deal with isolation, but also with keeping a connection with God to fill the empty void of no companion at sea. His pride and isolation become more apparent towards the end of the book. In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, the main character Santiago shows great signs of psychological dysfunctional behavior. Isolation is a theme that comes across hardheaded right from the first page in the book. The first line says, “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone 84 days now without taking a fish”. (Hemingway 1) This really helps set the tone of how Santiago lives and deals with this. There are many other signs of isolation and deep loneliness in Santiago's life. If we look at the way the old man describes his own home he says, "went through its open door and in it there was a bed, a table, one chair, and a place on the dirt floor to cook with charcoal" (Hemingway 15). He also describes there be... ... middle of paper ... ...een big ones" (Hemingway 103). Even after this huge accomplishment he still felt alone and couldn't fill the void with his pride. " But i must think, he thought. Because it is all i have left" (Hemingway 103). In a flashback Santiago describes a battle between himself and the great negro from Cienfuegos. The negro was known as the strongest man on the docks, but that did not scare Santiago off from challenging him to the hand game. After a rough two day battle Santiago defeated him and was given the title Santiago El Campeon. Later that spring there was a return match, "After he had a few matches and then no more. Santiago decided that he could beat anyone if he wanted to badly enough" (Hemingway 70). This shows that Santiago has great strength and he knows that, but he does not feel the need to prove his strength repeatedly to the rest of the people on the docks.
We may believe were not in no form of isolation from a single thing but we are all in isolation without notice. In the book “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar wao” by Junot Diaz, he shows isolation in every character in a very distinct way but still not noticeable. Throughout the Brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao, Diaz conveys that there is isolation in every person through his characters that are all different in personalization but are still isolated from something.
First of all, the author shows that through persevering through adversity anyone can achieve their dreams. During the book Santiago continuously faces problems that he will have to overcome to achieve his Personal Legend. In this scenario, Santiago is in the city of Tangier when he is suddenly robbed of all of his money, by a thief who promised to take him to Egypt. However instead of thinking of himself as a victim of a thief he decides that “I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure” (34). Santiago was able to persevere through a situation that many people would not have been able to overcome and not able to continue their journey. Being able to persevere through
Isolation is being separated or separating your self from others. Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein and Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, both show the two types of isolation. Loneliness, unfriendly, and separation for ones peace can also mean the same as isolation. No matter what way you look at it, they all mean the same thing. Great examples of these are in Frankenstein and A Christmas Carol; the characters show it very well, which sets the tone and mood of the stories. In A Christmas Carol and Frankenstein, Victor choses to be isolated and separates himself from society to work on the unknown, which is to recreate life. Victor’s teacher was the reason he was isolated, “he took [him] into his laboratory and explained to [him] the uses of his
One way in which isolation is used in the novel is to present or describe the character and how they deal with their environment. For example, Walton describes in his letters that he is far north of London and without friends. He goes on to say, “I shall certainly find no friend on the Wide Ocean, nor even here in Archangel," being overly pessimistic. Victor copes with the monster and his surroundings after creating him, "I was as a child when I awoke… and half frightened as it were instinctive finding myself so desolate.” No matter how much knowledge he possesses, he somehow manages to feel like a child, and he is still human no matter how monstrous he is.
Isolation is a state of being separation between persons or group, or a feeling being alone. There are different factors that contribute to someone feeling alone and isolated. An example of this would be when celebrities go into deep depression because they feel isolated from the whole world. They have all the material things they could ever want, but the one thing they want the most, they do not have. , which is happiness, which comes from satisfaction within oneself and being satisfied with what one has done in one's life. Feeling isolated does not necessarily mean a person is bad. Evidence in Shakespeare play Macbeth , demonstrates this quite clearly that MacBeth's isolation comes from guilt , over-ambition and greed.
Santiago showed everything he knows about fishing to Manolin. Santiago had been with Manolin for years and he loves him. Manolin loves Santiago as well and looks at him as a father figure. Santiago did everything for Manolin. Santiago was a true hero. So why should anyone care about this, you may be thinking. Ernest Hemingway himself didn’t really care about courage, bravery, friendship, etc. He only cared about the actual act of doing those things. Not just doing it just once, but doing it constantly. Someone can be brave once and then never again. So then that means that person isn’t brave just because of that one act. To be considered something it has to be part of you and what makes up your personality and you as a person. Discipline is key to follow Ernest Hemingway’s “Code Hero”. Santiago demonstrates what a true person that is courageous, friendly, and can handle anything what comes their way. For doing so, and following Ernest Hemingway’s “Code Hero” it’ll make you into a better person. By reading The Old Man and the Sea you learned about “Code Hero” through the main character Santiago. He is an inspiration and is the perfect example on how a person should
The entire book was about him going on a journey and finding his treasure. This required a great amount of courage. To get to his treasure, he had to face many emotions, and it takes a great amount of courage to do that, because if we don’t pay attention to our emotions to certain things than it becomes slightly scary to find out how you react to the emotions when you are paying close attention. Also, an obvious example of courage is when Santiago becomes the wind to escape the desert warriors. Not only does he have the pressure of having his life taken away, but he also tries to do something he has never done before, under pressure.
Individuals may look deep within to summon courage that is necessary to move past triumphs and tragedies. In Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago struggles greatly to search for hope in seemingly hopeless situations. The idea that people look deep within to summon courage is portrayed through the actions of Santiago, Manolin, and Manolin’s parents.
People are defined and shaped by the choices they make; and those choices are heavily influenced by their surroundings, whether they be isolated or not. The characters in Gabriel García Márquez’s novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, exhibits this kind of development. The novels follows the journey of the Buendía and the Aureliano family as they live out their lives in the isolated and timeless town of Macondo. Through heavy amounts of fantasy realism, the characters, as individuals, are faced with the choice to leave Macondo and return changed from the experience. In the secluded town, the families face the conflict of outside influences and adapting or eradicating the source of change. One Hundred Years of Solitude shows how surroundings affect a character through different forms of isolation.
(Hemingway 106). The strength of Santiago through the boy happens to parallel a verse in the
Poignant circumstances surrounded the composition of this novel, which bring out many of the above points. It is widely recognized that Hemingway was possessed of a turbulent personality and suffered from emotional depression. This was despite the fact that he enjoyed much critical acclaim. The Old Man and the Sea was written after a ten-year hiatus of public and critical approval. This period saw much of his work receive negative criticism in literary and journalistic circles. This affected Hemingway adversely and very deeply (Carey 9). Therefore, Hemingway's personal battle with seeming failure in his life's work and society's attendant criticism parallel Santiago's stoic resolve in the face of his neighbors' disdain. The author's struggles symbolically match those of Santiago and set the stage for the writing of this novel.
In the story Santiago’s bravery is unsurpassed but it is not until he hooks the “great fish” that we truly see his valor and perseverance. Through Santiago’s actions Hemingway teaches the reader about bravery and perseverance in the face of adversity. He demonstrates that even when all is lost and seems hopeless a willful heart and faith will overcome anything. Santiago had lost his “luckiness” and therefore the respect of his village. Through the description of his cabin we also suspect that Santiago is a widower. Although Santiago has had many troubles he perseveres. He has faith in Manolin, in the Yankees, in Joe DiMaggio, and most importantly in himself.
A Reflection of Santiago Through Nature in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea
Hemingway has a way of making his readers believe that the feats and strengths that his characters obtain in his novels are actually possible. Although this statement may be too critical, and maybe there is a man out there, somewhere on the coast of Cuba who at this very moment is setting out to the open sea to catch a marlin of his own. The struggle many readers have is believing the story of Santiago’s physical powers and his strength against temptation bring forward the question of whether or not The Old Man and the Sea is worthy to be called a classic. Hemingway’s Santiago brought Faulkner and millions of other readers on their knees, while to some, believed Hemingway had swung his third strike. As we look further into Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, we can analyze the criticism and complications of the character Santiago. He is portrayed as a faulty Jesus, an unrealistic and inhuman man, and again still a hero to those who cannot find happiness in their life.
Santiago went through many turmoil’s in his life and his story is one of wisdom in defeat from the lengthy time of which he could not catch anything to that of his loss of the marlin to the sharks after such a lengthy battle to catch it then attempt to bring it back to shore. Now I could go on and on like any other paper about all the symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea but no matter what I did while reading it, in almost every aspect it screamed out to me as an impersonation or reflection of Hemingway’s own life in a multitude of ways that no one can deny. The Old Man and the Sea was an allegory referring to the Hemingway’s own struggles to preserve his writing i...