Ernest Hemmingway’s Old Man and the Sea shines as example of the bravery that is required to chance at conquering the ultimate struggle. Santiago embodies a man full of whole-hearted character whose love and resolve enable him to push beyond the limits of even a great man- a man one can only dream of becoming. Santiago’s unique personality offers a variety of insights on the way that life should be approached. Not many possess the ability to love an admirable enemy as much as a dear friend, but Santiago proves that he is no ordinary fisherman. Hemmingway beautifully captures Santiago’s personality with the virtues of faith love, and hope. Throughout the novel, however, as Santiago’s mission grows seemingly impossible, Santiago mainly stays true to only two of the virtues but also develops a trait that can now be considered virtuous, and that is the maintenance of faith and the capacity to love. Initially, Hemmingway demonstrates the boundless love that Manolin and Santiago share with their nightly fake dinner conversations. They exist in a relationship where they need each other to survive, both physically and emotionally. Hemmingway succeeds in subtly depicting Santiago’s capability to love in many ways throughout the duration of the story. For example, when Santiago discusses the naming of the sea he explains how the younger and less appreciative fishermen call the sea el mar, as though it were an enemy. But to Santiago, the sea is la mar, “which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her”(p.29). As Santiago reflects on his first day on the wide open waters, at first he feels lonely but is then comforted by the life surrounding him and thinks to himself that “no man was ever alone on the sea”(p.61.) Santiago fai... ... middle of paper ... ...f the time that Manolin needs instructing, and that Santiago needs to teach. Santiago’s story is riddled with virtue and vice. Hemmingway does an excellent job of portraying Santiago’s true self and weaving the importance of the marlin battle and its ultimate outcome with the sharks into the light of Santiago’s life. Santiago’s love for a fair fight and his love for his occupation inspire Manolin to become a man that doesn’t get too concerned with the trivial parts of life, like the fact that all life must end. Santiago realizes everything must die at some point, but he does not let this affect the way he carries himself because he has faith that his time will come when it will come. Pride can be a dangerous and malevolent quality, but Hemmingway proves through Santiago’s determination that humbled pride can become the opposite: a virtue that can counter lost hope.
Throughout the novel, Santiago’s sentiments toward the marlin go through several considerable changes. At first, the marlin is the catch Santiago has been waiting for. However, as the story progresses Santiago appears to become endeared toward the fish, even going as far as calling him his “brother” (Hemingway 59). Later, once Santiago has killed the great marlin, he even seems remorseful.
In the end, Santiago realizes that his heart really lied at Andalusia, his one true home. Santiago’s journey really outlined the idea of following your dreams, and to always persevere and never give up. It is important that you follow your heart and succeed, but at the same time, never forget where you
The Old Man and the Sea is an interesting story about a man who perseveres; is dedicated and determined to conquer a task, despite the odds; confident; a mentor and strong. Two characters in this story, Santiago and Manolin, are bound together by the love of fishing and the quest for the big catch. Manolin, in some ways, seems to worship Santiago who has shown him how to fish since he was a young boy of five years old. Santiago can be described as a conventionally heroic figure because of his identify with a higher power. He is not Christ, but, a picture of Christ in this novella. This is shown by the shame and embarrassment Santiago felt by almost having his boat destroyed and losing the great marlin; Christ was shamed and humiliated by those who jeered and mocked him; Santiago carried that weight, the weight of the mast which mirrors the cross of Christ which He bore on his shoulders. As Santiago lay down to sleep after the incredibly hard journey, he lay down with his bleeding hands wide open, just as Christ, who after his work was completed on earth, was nailed to the cross where his hands would bleed. He, Santiago, cries out for help and battles for three days, just as Christ is in the tomb three days. Another comparison: they were both fisherman. The comparison of the character Santiago and the life of Christ makes Santiago seem super human and above the average everyday hero. Santiago often reflects on his hero, Joe DiMaggio and is inspired with the baseball player’s ability to play with much pain. This empowered him to battle with the great marlin. "But I must have confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly, even with a bone spur in his heel.”
The Old Man and the Sea is novella written by Ernest Hemingway in 1952. It tells the epic journey and struggles of the old fisherman, Santiago, and his younger fishing partner, Manolin. The story goes into detail the day to day life struggles that a fisherman off the coast of Africa endures. The majority of the story focuses on one particular trip out sea. In life, one will go through a number of stages in life. Infancy, Youth , Adulthood, and Old Age are all key stages. As one grows, they mature through these various stages. When one reaches old age, there is often a lot of doubt surrounding their lives. Serenity, and independence are often the two most questioned. These are some questions that Santiago has to ask himself as well.
I believe that in the past three decades, the way society has treated he elderly has remained primarily the same. Some younger citizens have looked up to the elderly with respect, yet most continue to shun them and consider them useless and hopeless in a society such as ours. I think that the elderly population is continually losing respect from the new generations. Santiago, the elderly man in the novel The Old Man and the
In Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, the mythic breed of masculinity is very much at work through the protagonist of Santiago. The story of Santiago’s violent and epic struggle with the marlin can be directly linked to the author’ s life in how he lived in Key West, Florida and Cuba in the 1930s where he fished the Gulf Stream and Caribbean. Hemingway’s characteristic male oriented novella continued in the ‘Old Man and the Sea’ as it tell the story of an old fisherman who seeks to prove his worth in his trade after a drought of eighty-four days without a catch. His pride and hubris lead him to go out to sea further than he ever had, in order to catch a fish of great worth. His conspicuous bad luck or saloa, has emasculated him and has forced him to prove himself to the town people and to himself that he is not a fisherman devoid of talent. Santiago bears many traditional masculine traits in how he views his task at hand and the struggles he endures. He views the sea as a type of arena for survival of the fittest to which he belongs, placing him, as one man, against nature. His entrenched belief in triumph of the individual to prove ones worth based on skill and technique is reflected for his admiration for the baseball superstar Joe Dimaggio. His macho daring will serve to massage his ego and to revitalise his reputation and to re-lift his spirit in his last few numbered days. The novella can be seen as patriarchal and chauvinistic through Santiago and its apparent lack of female characters. The only representations of females are shown through a description of a pair of marlin, a mention of Santiago’s deceased wife, whom he does not display in his hut anymore, and the feminisation of the sea. It can be argued that the...
Hemingway’s use of symbols and the metaphors beyond the symbols is phenomenal. Metaphors are an implied analogy that has an ideal that is being expressed and it also has an image by which that idea is conveyed. Establishing the similarities between the following dissimilarities is what helps to identify the metaphors behind the symbols in Hemingway’s writings. He uses things as symbols to help express the old man’s deep feelings in his journey through life.
In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman, pits his strength against forces he cannot control. We learn from Santiago's struggles how to face insurmountable odds with bravery and courage. Though we find an indifferent and hostile universe as Santiago's stage, his unwillingness to give in to these forces demonstrate a reverence for life's struggles. Santiago's struggle is for dignity and meaning in the face of insurmountable odds. His warrior-like spirit fights off the sharks full-well knowing the fate of his marlin. Santiago loses his marlin in the end, but his struggle to keep it represent a victory because of the dignity and heroism with which he carries out his mission. However, as Santiago acknowledges, he is almost sorry he caught the marlin because he knows the animal and he have a great deal in common as fellow beings in nature. However, he only caught the marlin "through trickery" (Hemingway 99). Santi...
He must fight through the weakness and pain to reverse his luck and restore his reputation. Santiago is a once great fisher down on his luck. He knows that he bag a great fish to restore his reputation. Santiago fights because he believes in the old ways of fishing and jas true skill; he feels pressured by the younger fishermen who “used buoys as floats for their lines and had motorboats” (Hemingway) and wants to catch a fish to prove that the old ways are better than the new fangled contraptions. Santiago refuses to believe that the effects of aging would prevent him from catching any great fish; he “had seen many [fish] that weighed more than a thousand pounds and had caught two of that size in his life, but never alone” (Hemingway) and never as an old man.
Santiago does not treat Manolin as a young boy, but rather as an equal. Age is not a factor in their relationship. Manolin does not even act as a young boy; he is mature and sensitive to Santiago’s feelings. He even offers to go against his parent’s wishes and accompany Santiago on his fishing trips. Santiago is viewed as an outcast in his village because he has not caught any fish for more than eighty-four days and is therefore “unlucky”.
The great stories behind The Old Man and the Sea are what make it so wonderful. Because of this novels success released in 1952, it helped Hemingway ring in the Nobel Prize for 1954 for Hemingway (Hurse). He had a way of writing a good hearted, high spirited hero, who seemed in many ways to be at one with nature and himself. It is believed that Hemingway conjured up the character Santiago from a 92 year old man who crossed to Florida with other Cuban refugees (Baker 910). This makes sense considering Santiago is the main character, who is of old age. His characters although having many great qualities, still had struggles. Santiago is the man of hour, when speaking of The Old Man and the Sea. H...
He hooks a huge marlin, and the story takes us through the struggles of him trying to bring the marlin in. The younger fishermen do not care for him, he is unlucky, and nature does not want him to succeed in fishing. Even though we cannot see it, this just gives Santiago more determination. Throughout the novel Santiago faces three conflicts, Santiago versus younger fisherman (man versus man), Santiago versus Santiago (man versus self), and Santiago versus nature (man versus nature). He defeats all these challenges these conflicts cause.
The relationship between animal and human in this text shows as a relationship of appreciation and respect. Santiago loves everything about being a fisherman. He is lonely at sea and his sea friends are his companions. He has great respect for the sea as well as the inhabitants that swim and live in it. He does not love all creatures of the deep, blue sea, however, does show respect for each one. Santiago has a particular relationship with the marlin. He comments that the marlin is “wonderful”, “strange”, “strong”, “wise”, and “that is fight has no panic to it” (Hemingway 48 -49). Based on his description of the marlin, Santiago loves and respects him as a worthy opponent and brother, “Now we are joined together and have been since noon” (Hemingway 50). Santiago is not only literally linked to the marlin, but also figuratively because the outcome of this battle will determine both their fates. The old man says, “The fish is my friend too,” he said aloud. “I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars” (Hemingway 75). He starts to imagine impossible feats like killing the moon or the sun and feels lucky that his task, in relative terms, is much simpler. Although he is sad to kill the fis...
Ernest Hemingway said, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Thus, Santiago’s faith in his own skills and abilities allows him to fight off the hopelessness. Santiago never gives up despite obstacles and hardships. To accomplish his only goal, Santiago endures people’s insults, struggles against the Marlin and the hard time with the shark.
The old man and the sea is a novella about an old Cuban fisherman, Santiago, and his three-day battle with a giant Marlin fish. Throughout the novella, Santiago is portrayed in different perspectives. He is tough and refuses to give up at any time. He withholds the will to continue and the courage to overcome what is believed to be the impossible. His persistence and confidence, his absolute determination and his unique way of accepting the reality makes him a noble hero.