“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet,” Helen Keller once said. “Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition be inspired, and success achieved.” Through suffering emerges triumph and through struggle there is honor. Ernest Hemingway’s fictional novella, The Old Man and the Sea, is a simply written account which tells about an old man’s courage, perseverance, and his victory in spite of being destroyed. The protagonist Santiago, is an elderly fisherman, who recently does not seem so successful in his fishing career; however, one day, as he goes out to sea, a large marlin seems to have bit his hook. After spending three days at sea in pursuit of the fish, though returning home empty handed, Santiago earns the respect he deserves for his dedication and undying determination despite the odds. In The Old Man and the Sea honor in struggle and suffering is shown in Santiago’s hero, DiMaggio, the way Santiago is compared with Christ, and Santiago’s ultimate battle with the Marlin.
Santiago shows his admiration for DiMaggio, a baseball player, because of their similar situations and the way that both DiMaggio and Santiago overcame their pain to achieve their dreams as a baseball player or as a fisherman. Trying to explain his admiration for DiMaggio, Santiago tells Manolin, his friend and student, “I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing. They say his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was as poor as we are and would understand (22).” Similar to Santiago, DiMaggio’s father was also fisherman, suggesting that DiMaggio came from humble circumstances like Santiago’s; additionally, DiMaggio also has a bone spur in his heel, yet despite his health condition, he plays as well as other p...
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In The Old Man and the Sea, honor is portrayed through suffering and destruction by Santiago’s admiration for DiMaggio, Santiago’s Christ-like character, and most significantly, Santiago’s struggle with the marlin. DiMaggio is special to Santiago because he overcomes his pain and possibly his poverty to become an exceptional baseball player. Santiago and Christ both are destroyed physically; however, both are not at all defeated. In fact, Christ rises from death in glory, and Santiago’s struggles and fatigues turn into new determination after killing the fish. Santiago is honored after he brings the fish home, because he has suffered hunger, thirst, loneliness, pain, out at sea, yet he finds healing and life through the fish he tries so hard to catch and protect. After all, when something is truly worth fighting for, it is won with pride and triumph.
magazine in 1933, and written by Ernest Hemingway. The essay details the escapades of a Cuban fisherman dragged out to sea by marlin. By the time he was found, sharks had destroyed the man’s great catch.1 This essay is the basis for the story of the main character, Santiago, in Hemingway’s novella, The Old Man and the Sea.1 Published almost twenty years later, in 1952, The Old Man and the Sea is considered a classic American novel. The story is deceivingly simple, involving an unlucky elderly fisherman, Santiago, who hasn't caught a fish in months. However, many aspects of the story tell of a much deeper message which transcends the years. Santiago embodies universal truths about the character traits of men, including perseverance and commitment, faith and humility developed through adversity.
The quote, “Nothing happened. The fish just moved away slowly and the old man could not raise him an inch. His line was strong and made for heavy fish and he held it against his back until it was so taut that beads of water were jumping from it. Then it began to make a slow hissing sound in the water and he still held it, bracing himself against the thwart and leaning back against the pull. The boat began to move slowly off toward the north-west.”(44) creates in depth meaning into how the old man is strong because the fish possesses a determination equal in magnitude to Santiago’s. Santiago has a large amount of endurance, and is using it in the midst of following the fish. Another example of Santiago’s endurance throughout the novel is his strength with the physical pain he feels. For example, the old man has a lot of back pain while following the fish, and catching it, especially. “...”( ).........The old man also experiences physical pain when his hand is cramping and when it gets cut. The author states, “The old man would have liked to keep his hand in the salt water longer but he was afraid of another sudden lurch by the fish and he stood up and braced himself and
Santiago contemplates, “It’s silly not to hope. It’s a sin he thought” (96). Santiago belief in hope makes him strong, because if he were not to then many of his amazing feats might not have occurred in his life. Since he believes in hope during the whole story, he does not grow a lot. When Manolin showers Santiago with praises on how he is the best fisherman, Santiago shows his humility, "No. I know others better.” (135). Santiago is a very kind old man, who shows humility and other fascinating traits in the novella. Santiago shows many characteristics of the ideal man throughout the story, and because of this change is not needed for him.
Santiago’s psychological processes in Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea are exceptionally eloquent and cultivated and reach deep levels of pride and self respect that he refuses to abandon. For example, the old man advocates not catching the fish by claiming that the fish has not been in the correct position to be caught. Santiago is overwhelmingly prideful which can ultimately affect his means of survival. The old man’s sense of deep self preservation just about crosses the line between having too much pride and coming off to others as arrogance. The old man refuses to accept help from anyone but the boy that he had taught how to fish years before, which even then he is hesitant to accept help. The million dollar question to ask is why
The constant struggle makes Santiago realize that he is no longer as young as he thinks he is and
“Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so.” Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist short story writer. He won the 1954 nobel prize in literature, he also started fishing when he was only three years old. He always loved fishing and for his fourth birthday his present was an all day fishing trip with his father. His writing career started early for him, he wrote many short stories including The Old Man and the Sea. Throughout the story The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway is demonstrating that Santiago never gives up, when things start to get tough Santiago pushes himself to keep fighting and to not give up on something he wants.
First, the old man receives outer success by earning the respect and appreciation of the boy and the other fishermen. The boy is speaking to the old man in his shack after the old man’s long journey, “You must get well fast for there is much that I can learn and you can teach me everything” (Hemmingway 126). The boy appreciates the fact that the old man spends time to teach him about fishing. He respects him a great deal for he knows that the old man is very wise and is a magnificent fisherman. The fellow fishermen also show respect towards the old man as they note the size of the fish after the old man returns home, “What a fish it was, there has never been such a fish” (123). The men admire the fact that the old man has caught the biggest fish that they have seen. Many fishermen resented Santiago at first, however their opinion changed once they realized what the old man has gone through. Being admired by others plays a major role in improving one’s morale.
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...
”(page 111). Santiago had plans for him already but failed to accomplish them. Some will argue that he won because he gained spiritual victory. This , in a way, is true; but fishing is his job and only way of living. If the case had been different and Santiago was only fishing for his personal entertainment, which wasn’t, it could be seen as a new experience or story to tell.
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.
The characters in The Old Man and the Sea are in actuality, major figures in the New Testament. Santiago is an old man, yet he had young eyes. No matter how defeated he was, he would never show it and he would look on the brighter side of things. In my mind, these traits make Santiago a god-like figure. Manolin, which translates into Messiah, is Jesus (Stoltzfus qtd in CLC 13:280). Santiago is the "father" who teaches his symbolic son and disciple, Manolin. After catching the largest marlin, Manolin will leave his parents in order to follow the teachings of Santiago, his master, just as Jesus did (Stoltzfus qtd in CLC 13:280). Pedrico is actually Saint Peter, Jesus' closest apostle and a great fisherman (Wilson 50). Peter helped Jesus fish for souls as Pedrico helped Manolin fish for food. Santiago gives Pedrico the head of the mutilated marlin which symbolizes Saint Peter as head of the Christian church and the first Pope (Stoltzfus CLC 280).
The Old Man and the Sea is a heroic tale of man’s strength pitted against forces he cannot control. It is a tale about an old Cuban fisherman and his three-day battle with a giant Marlin. Through the use of three prominent themes; friendship, bravery, and Christianity; the “Old Man and the Sea” strives to teach important life lessons to the reader.
The Old Man and the Sea focuses its plot mainly on Santiago’s struggle against the marlin. Existentialism makes its appearance when Santiago chooses to pursue the marlin, stay with it the entire way, and fight tooth and nail at the end. “My choice was to go there to find him beyond all people,” is how Santiago explains his actions to challenge the fish (Hemingway 50). He mentions how he was born to be a fisherman, and by chasing the marlin, he will give his life the meaning for existence. Santiago also insists on staying with the fish until one of them is dead, which exemplifies his will to fulfill his goals in life. He endures obstacles such as nausea, cramps, and sleep deprivation because he does not want to give up and surrender his fate. When it comes down to the final struggle, Santiago pits all of the pain, strength, and pride he has left against the fish in order to bring it down. Despair begins to creep in when Santiago finds it hard to pull in the marlin, but he overcomes it with every ounce of will he has. He knows that it is up to him to create this important moment in his li...
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...
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...