Psychosocially Therapeutic Aspects of The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway This exceptional story should be used as a therapeutic aid for hopeless and depressed people who needed a powerful force for continuing struggles of life against fate. They should say as the boy Manolin, "I'll bring the luck by myself." In the story the old man tells us "It is silly not to hope...besides I believe it is a sin." Hemingway draws a distinction between two different types of success: outer-material and inner-spiritual. While the old man lacks the former, the importance of this lack is eclipsed by his possession of the later. He teaches all people the triumph of indefatigable spirit over exhaustible resources. Hemingway's hero as a perfectionist man tells us: To be a man is to behave with honor and dignity, not to succumb to suffering, to accept one's duties without complaint, and most importantly to have maximum self-control. At the end of the story he mentions, "A man is not made for defeat...a man can be destroyed but not defeated." The book finishes with this symbolic sentence: "The old man was dreaming about lions." It is a psychological analysis of Hemingway famous story that we have used it as a psychotherapeutic aid for hopeless and depressed people and also psychological victims of war in a more comprehensive therapeutic plan. The first sentence of the book announces itself as Hemingway's: "He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish" . The words are plain, and the structure, two tightly-worded independent clauses conjoined by a simple conjunction, is ordinary, traits which characterize Hemingway's literary style. Santiago is the protagonist of the novella. He is an old fisherman in Cuba who, when we meet him at the beginning of the book, has not caught anything for eighty-four days. The novella follows Santiago's quest for the great catch that will save his career. Santiago endures a great struggle with a uncommonly large and noble marlin only to lose the fish to rapacious sharks on his way back to land. Despite this loss, Santiago ends the novel with his spirit undefeated. Some have said that Santiago represents Hemingway himself, searching for his next great book, an Everyman, heroic in the face of human tragedy, or the Oedipal male unconscious trying to slay his fat... ... middle of paper ... ...session of the later. One way to describe Santiago's story is as a triumph of indefatigable spirit over exhaustible material resources. As noted above, the characteristics of such a spirit are those of heroism and manhood. That Santiago can end the novella undefeated after steadily losing his hard-earned, most valuable possession is a testament to the privileging of inner success over outer success. Triumph over crushing adversity is the heart of heroism, and in order for Santiago the fisherman to be a heroic emblem for humankind, his tribulations must be monumental. Triumph, though, is never final. Hemingway vision of heroism is Sisyphean, requiring continuous labor for quintessentially ephemeral ends. What the hero does is to face adversity with dignity and grace, hence Hemingway's Neo-Stoic emphasis on self-control and the other facets of his idea of manhood. What we achieve or fail at externally is not as significant to heroism as the comporting ourselves with inner nobility. As Santiago says, "Man is not made for defeat....A man can be destroyed but not defeated" . Works Cited: Hemingway, Ernest (1952). The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
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 this quote Santiago is showing that he is confident and that he knows that there will be one day where he will catch a fish which will give him pride and joy. Hemingway's novella describes Santiago as a very confident man, he describes Santiago as being a very tough and manly person and this quote is proving he has a lot of confidence.
Growing up in a rich atmosphere of culture, religion, and the sciences, Ernest Hemingway was always surrounded by different perspectives and thoughts of the world around him. There was a restlessness in him that wanted to discover and explore new things. Beginning as early as high school, his inner-writer began to emerge and his stories were often read aloud to the class as examples of what the other students should strive for. These stories are rarely spoken of nowadays, but display his early talent. While the majority of people are mostly familiar with Hemingway’s well-known works in his later years, some of his earliest pieces that he contributed to the world are often forgotten. (Reef 53).
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
Ernest Hemingway’s very first published novel isn’t some book you can critique as any ordinary ameteur literature, digging deeping we find that our friend Ernest here had a purpose more convoluted, yet clear, more abstract, yet concrete, and more public, yet personal, the story Ernest creates is his experiences, his characters, motifs, and themes all circulated around himself.
This is exemplified through Santiago’s determination to catch the marlin. Before Santiago begins his journey, he is filled with optimism due to the “erosions in [his] fishless desert” (Hemingway 10). He takes all the suffering and loss that he has experienced and turns it into determination. He no longer wants to be the ‘runt of the litter’. The other fishermen come in on their boats with numerous fancy catches and Santiago no longer wants to be the one who comes in with nothing. Thus, when Santiago catches the marlin he is optimistic, but the marlin is not happy to be caught. He is stubborn and makes Santiago work for his goal. After five days the marlin is finally brought into the boat, but “it was an hour before the first shark” (Hemingway 100). The sharks are meant to take away the marlin that Santiago has worked so hard for. Their harshness towards Santiago “work[s] powerfully and elegantly to represent life as it is” (Walsh). They want Santiago to realize that life does not work out perfectly, and doesn’t always go as planned. Consequently, Hemingway is urging everyone to be appreciative of these signs such as supernatural occurrences. When he was younger, Hemingway wanted to work on a farm and to not have to be able to rely on anything. He had no desire “to be a millionaire or a rich man” (Ernest Hemingway: A Storyteller’s Legacy). Hemingway does not like rich
It is through Santiago’s responses to these obstacles that Hemingway utilizes allusion. After Santiago finally hooks a large fish, he faces a new battle, reeling in the fish. In this situation the fish serves as the old man’s enemy; yet, Santiago does not view the fish as so. Instead, he admires the fish and views it as “more noble and more able” than himself (Hemingway 63). The old man expresses a love and connection with his enemy, a concept Christ often preached to his disciples. Jesus instructed his disciples to “love your enemies” and to “bless those who curse you” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Luke 6.27-28). Santiago’s perspective on his adversaries further develop his pure and loving persona. Readers, with his attitude in mind, are drawn to empathize his trials, which are chronicled through many numeric and symbolic
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...
All human beings go through rough times in their life, whether it is a simple choice or a life-changing decision, it is inevitable. There will also always be people who support and uplift you, while others debase and degrade you for their own selfish motives. The later parts of these impactful types of scenarios mixed together and shoved into the middle of a relationship do not benefit anyone, though it can cause major issues and tear them apart. This idea that Ernest Hemingway expresses, focusing on a significant point-of-view and rhetorical application, expresses the theme throughout his story. Although, the short story has complex and easy to misinterpret dialogue, the characters and setting assist to complete the moral
Secondly, Santiago experiences material success because of the augmented physical strength he attains from the obstacles that he is forced to face. The old man is walking home to his shack after he returns from his strenuous journey, “He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack” (121). The old man is exhausted from his trip because he had spent so much energy catching the fish. Plenty of strength must have been gained from the exertion of this much energy. During the shark attacks, Santiago is optimistic about what good the bleeding from his hands will bring. “The bleeding may keep the left from cramping” (111). The old man is so strong that he uses the bleeding pain to suffocate a different source of pain. Not only that, but just the fact of keeping a positive attitude about a situation like this is a great accomplishment which can only be obtained from strength.
Hemingway was very good at stating impressive amount of things in a one short sentence. “Hemingway’s mature style of writing short, declarative sentences developed at the Star”(Oliver 3). He acquired this skill from working at a Newspaper company. He uses minimal amount of words to make a powerful point. “Mr. and Mrs. Elliot tried very hard to have a baby” (1). This short sentence itself raises many questions and it states many things; the inability of the Mr. Elliot to satisfy his wife sexually or questioning Mr. Elliot sexual preference and as well as of Mrs. Elliot. “The liquor had all died out of him and left him alone” (171). This short line describes how lonely the character of Nick Adam feels and how sad he feels for the loss of her girl friend Marjorie. “‘Well, Doc,’ he said, ‘that’s a nice lot of timber you’ve stolen’” (7). This particular sentence has so much weight that it shakes th...
Overall, Santiago was a unique individual who was a Hemingway “Code Hero” who exemplified the much admired quality of endurance.
Some argued that the novel’s theme was Santiago’s struggle, the friendship with the fish and other characters; Santiago’s perseverance and that he really ended up as a triumphant man. But to argue that those were also the main themes of the book is also a difficult thing to do. Even though Santiago fought and kept on with his struggle to catch the fish, he was defeated because he lost it at the end. Defeat, according to the Larousse Chambers English Dictionary, is when you are overthrown in a battle, you lose a game and therefore you don’t win: you don’t gain or reach your goal. As we can see Santiago, in spite of the fact that he persevered and struggled, starving, for three days lost the battle.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Print. The. Hemingway, Ernest. A.
Hemingway’s heroic code can be described as: A man who lives correctly, following the ideals of honor, courage, and endurance in the world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful. Santiago shows manhood many times throughout this novel. First, Santiago shows manhood through his arm wrestling fight and not giving up. Next, he shows manhood by never giving up on the fish and fighting all the challenges it brought with it. Lastly, Santiago fought against his bad luck knowing that things could possibly not work out for him. Hence, Santiago embodies Hemingway’s ideals of manhood by persevering through the arm wrestling, the fish, and his bad luck.