Santiago as a Christ-like figure

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I. Introduction & Thesis
A. “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” by Chuck Swindoll. In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway describes a character named Santiago who goes on an impossible journey to catch the biggest fish of his career.
B. In the novella, Santiago is portrayed as Christ-like character. Similarly to Jesus, Santiago has a form of stigmata, has a faithful follower that is dependent on him, and was in a situation where he was defeated but not destroyed.

II. Body Paragraph One
A. Santiago and Jesus are similar in that they both have some form of stigmata.
B. Stigmata is marks on the hands and feet as a result of crucifixion. Examples of stigmata in both men, are when Jesus was nailed to the cross through his hands and feet leaving stigmata. Also Santiago shows stigmata when his hand is hurt from trying to hold on to the fishing line. One example in the novella that expresses this, is when it states, “The bird had flown up when the line jerked and the old man had not even seen him go. He felt the line carefully with his right hand and noticed his hand was bleeding,” (42).
C. From the examples, we see that both Santiago and Jesus have marks on their hands from struggles they have faced. Both of their marks are a sign of selflessness. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and Santiago went on a three day journey to catch a fish whose main purpose was to feed the town. Both these men have visible scars from trying to help the people around them.
D. Jesus and Santiago both have evidence of selflessness in the form of stigmata.

II. Body Paragraph Two
A. Both Jesus and Santiago have at least one faithful ...

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... fish and he has the respect of all the other fisherman. When Jesus was crucified on the cross and died, he was physically destroyed. However when Jesus rose from the dead three days later, he was not defeated. Even if Jesus had not risen from the dead, he still would have not been defeated because he died for what he believed in and he died with many people loving him.
D. Jesus and Santiago are similar in that they both have been destroyed but not defeated.

IV. Conclusion
A. In conclusion, Santiago is similar to Jesus because they both have a form of stigmata, had a faithful follower that was dependent on him, and was in a siuation where he was defeated but not destroyed. Although both Jesus and Santiago lived in very different times and had very different lives, both men have gone through a challenging experience which gave them many similarities.

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