Old Man and the Sea and Santiago’s Symbolism of Pride
The Nobel Prize for Literature is the most prestigious literary award since its inception in 1901. This award is given annually by a committee of three to five men who award certain authors whom they deem to have “the most outstanding work in an ideal direction” (Nobel Prize Office). Ernest Hemingway’s works, such as The Garden of Eden and The Sun Also Rises, have become very popular and have made him a well read author in the past 50 years. Despite these being well received by critics, they are not the works that won him the Nobel Prize. Hemingway won the Nobel Prize of Literature due to his extensive use of symbolism, his ability to draw the attention of readers of all ages, and his role as a cornerstone through his contemporary writing style.
Hemingway lived an interesting life, which allowed him to take past life experiences and tell them through novels. He does this exclusively through subtle symbolism in works like The Old Man and the Sea. As with all his other works, Hemingway incorporates a past experience into The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway does this in the largest scene in the book by using birds, the sharks Santiago fights off, the marlin itself, and the other fish in the sea as symbols. In the book, Hemingway uses the birds to represent his friends and mentors, the sharks being the critics of his book, the marlin being The Old Man and the Sea, and the other fish representing Hemingway's other works. Hemingway uses symbolism when he writes, “‘You are killing me, fish,’ the old man thought. ‘But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills wh...
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...tory progresses. This contemporary style is what sets Hemingway’s novels apart from the rest. His style and approach was simplistic and direct. We see this simplistic and direct style when Hemingway writes, “But a man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated”(103). These two short sentences are simple and direct, yet they carry weight and substance.
As one looks at Ernest Hemingway’s career and life, one is truly able to see how interesting his life was simply by reading his books. This lavish lifestyle attributed to his writing style, and this culmination ultimately led him to become a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Not only did his great ability to translate his life experiences to works of literature help him win this award, but also his ability to use his art of symbolism and to appeal to readers of all ages and education.
On December 10, 1950, in Stockholm, Sweden, one of the greatest literary minds of the twentieth century, William Faulkner, presented his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize. If one reads in between the lines of this acceptance speech, they can detect a certain message – more of a cry or plead – aimed directly to adolescent authors and writers, and that message is to be the voice of your own generation; write about things with true importance. This also means that authors should include heart, soul, spirit, and raw, truthful emotion into their writing. “Love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice” (Faulkner) should all be frequently embraced – it is the duty of authors to do so. If these young and adolescent authors ignore this message and duty, the already endangered state of literature will continue to diminish until its unfortunate extinction.
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.
Meter, M. An Analysis of the Writing Style of Ernest Hemingway. Texas: Texas College of Arts and Industries, 2003.
...n, it is apparent to say that Hemingway has a distinct writing style, where he is simplistically brilliant in the way he portrays reality in minimal details. The main conflicts throughout the novel are between traditional and liberal views, strength taken for weakness, the powerful drive of sex, as well as individuals fixating their despondency on aimless interests in pursuit of happiness. It is vital to find a true path through realization of ones own self, in order to gain strength as an individual. One must learn to view life realistically and relish it for what it is, rather than what it cannot be. When euphoric illusions shatter, realization is necessary in order to move on; pain must first be felt and accepted before the healing process can begin. The course of redemption is essential in the final cycle of acceptance, in order to experience emotional rebirth.
Ernest Hemingway, viewed as an American hero of his time, wrote novels that enrich the minds' of his readers, creating a lasting image that goes far beyond the actual content of the story. But while reading Hemingway, I learned that his style was far from complex. Through pre-meditated sentence structure, he creates a rhythm that parallels the action in the story. He wants the sentences themselves to be easy to understand, so the reader can use more energy focusing on the symbolism Hemingway's stories create. He skillfully places symbols and metaphors throughout his novels. In his own writing, Hemingway doesn't explain in detail his metaphors. Rather, he forces the reader to discover the deeper meaning hidden in his stories. His use of the "Tip of the Iceberg Theory" leaves the reader searching deeper into Hemingway's writing to find its true meaning. [VGC1]
There are many authors in this world, but there are also many legends. Legends who changed the face of literature. One of these legends was none other than Ernest Hemingway. Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21st, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. He was born to a physician and former opera performer named Clarence and Grace. Hemingway showed a talent in writing when he was in high school. He wrote for the school’s newspaper and yearbook. After he graduated at the age of 17 in 1916, he began his writing career as a reporter for a newspaper called, the Kansas City Star. After he worked as a reporter for six months, he dropped out because he wanted to join the U.S army during World War I. But because he failed the medical test, he joined the American Field Service Ambulance Corps in Italy. Unfortunately, while he was delivering supplies, Hemingway was wounded, which ended his career as an ambulance driver. Because of this, he spent lots of time in hospitals and met a nurse named Agnes von Kurowsky, with whom he fell in love with. Sadly, she didn’t return his feelings so Hemingway was heartbroken. This incident inspired him to write one of his well known books, “A Farewell to Arms”. Like this book, many other of his famous works came to be because of incidents in his past. His pieces of literature started to be known and read worldwide which provided him a route to become one of the most celebrated authors of his time.
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...
The Cambridge Companion to Ernest Hemingway; edited by Scott Donaldson; Cambridge U. P.; New York, NY; 1996
... experiences of love with Agnes von Kurowsky. That being said, the two main characters of the text can be psychoanalytically depicted through the use of the id, the ego, and the superego, which helps uncover how complete happiness is unachievable. The protagonist, Fredric Henry could not obtain complete happiness due to the situations he encountered himself in. Catherine also could not acquire absolute happiness because of the loss of her fiancé. Lastly, the rain symbolizes tragedy and the dissolution of happiness, which can be seen through the soldiers on the battlefield. Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954 because of his ability to capture the art of narrative. Later on, Hemingway committed suicide on July 2, 1961 (“Ernest Hemingway- Biorgaphy”). “In order to write about life first you must live it” (Ernest Miller Hemingway, 1899 – 1961.”).
Earnest Hemingway’s work gives a glimpse of how people deal with their problems in society. He conveys his own characteristics through his simple and “iceberg” writing style, his male characters’ constant urge to prove their masculinity.
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.
One might say we are presented with two fish stories in looking at Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, a marlin in the former and a whale in the latter. However, both of these animals are symbolic of the struggle their hunters face to find dignity and meaning in the face of a nihilistic universe in Hemingway and a fatalistic one in Melville. While both men will be unable to conquer the forces of the universe against them, neither will either man be conquered by them because of their refusal to yield to these insurmountable forces. However, Santiago gains a measure of peace and understanding about existence from his struggles, while Ahab leaves the world as he found it without any greater insight.
During his life, Ernest Hemingway has used his talent as a writer in many novels, nonfiction, and short stories, and today he is recognized to be maybe "the best-known American writer of the twentieth century" (Stories for Students 243). In his short stories Hemingway reveals "his deepest and most enduring themes-death, writing, machismo, bravery, and the alienation of men in the modern world" (Stories for Students 244).
Reading through the novel The Old Man and the Sea one, as a reader, can perceive several themes in the book. Hemingway suggests certain subjects for discussion which built up the whole plot, therefore giving us options to choose the one we believe is the main one. In the past weeks we have been discussing, in a debate, which is that main theme. My group’s theme was “Man Defeated” and although it is hard to affirm that this theme was the prevailing one of the book, we firmly defend it. Various arguments were established. 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.
As it can clearly be seen, Earnest Hemingway has reflected his life throughout his works. This outlet of expression has proven to be worth the time and effort he had put forward in crafting these stories. It is unfortunate that factors such as human suffering as well as intimate harm were present in Hemingway's life, but it is thanks to those themes that such great works came about. In the short stories "Indian Camp," "The Old Man at the Bridge," and "Hills Like White Elephants," Hemingway has proven that he was indeed the voice of his generation and has crafted a path for future authors and writers to write in a similar manner and style.