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Theme of the old man and the sea literary analysis
The old man and the sea, critical analysis
The old man and the sea, critical analysis
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There is never a simple key to any writer worth much attention, but in the case of Hemingway there is something that looks so like a key… that it cannot escape any informed and thoughtful reader’s notice" (O’Conner 153). Ernest Hemingway was one such author. Very rarely did he summarize statements, therefore the only way to solve his puzzle was to take it apart and examine each components. One of the hidden elements that the reader must analyzie closely is the parallel between Santiago and Jesus Christ. In the novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway creates connections between Santiago and Jesus Christ that adds religious coloration to the story. Santiago can be compared to a Christ figure on the basis of his relationships with other characters in the novel. People look up to Santiago, as would a follower to Christ, hereby setting up a comparison between the two. (transition) Since the age of five, Manolin has aided the old man by working alongside him as an apprentice. Manolin is loyal to Santiago and looks up to him as if Santiago was his real father. According to Delbert Wylder, "Santiago has, in a sense been the boy’s spiritual father" ( 219). Manolin is in awe of the old man, who the town recognizes as an honorable fisherman. The boy states, "There are many good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only you." Like Santiago, Christ was also a spiritual father to his town; the town of Bethlehem. He performed miracles to heal the sick, and fed thousands of starving people. As Jim Auer says, "This demonstrates Santiago’s relation to Christ. They are both extremely unique, and were father figures in their communities" (15). ?The people of Bethlehem looked up to Christ as a father figure, and they had love and admiration towards him.? Likewise, "The love of Manolin for Santiago is that of a discipline for a master in the arts of fishing, it is also the love of a son for an adopted father" (Wagner-Martin 307). Through Manolin’s caring of the old man, he shows his love for Santiago. Even though Santiago is not Manolin’s biological father, he cares for him as though he was. "The old man was asleep in the chair and the sun was down. The boy took the old army blanket off the bed and spread it over the back of the chair and over the old man’s shoulders… and when he woke up he fed him supper" (... ... middle of paper ... ...e on a fish like this," he said. "Now that I have him coming so beautifully, God help me endure. I’ll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys" (Hemingway 80). In addition, "he also promises to make a pilgrimage to a shrine, the Virgin of Cobre, if heaven does come through and deliver the fish to him, or at least helps him bring it in" (Auer 63). Santiago, an avid Catholic, reaches out to the Higher Power when he is pushed to his greatest moment of need and desperation. As Samuel Shaw states, "The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway has often been characterized as a parable. A parable is a short fiction that expresses or implies a religious purpose. Jesus Christ himself usually delivered his moral preachments in form of parable, with no elaboration. In relation, Hemingway’s novel does not probe very deep into explanation into to characters, plot, or theme. Perhaps Hemingway’s book bears closest resemblance to a biblical parable. Hemingway extends his habitual economy of diction into an economy of structure and treatment. Santiago’s physical appearance is sketched rather than painted; the other characters are merely outlined."
This may be true in all cases, but it is clearly predominant in Ernest Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea. It is evident that Hemingway modeled the main character, Santiago after his own person, and that the desires, the mentality, and the lifestyle of the old man are identical to Hemingway's.
Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952, the last of his fiction stories to be published before his death in 1961 (Lombardi). The novella is still celebrated to this day as a riveting tale of man versus nature under the most dire of circumstances. The story’s protagonist, Santiago, is a man with supreme determination and hope. His battle with the great marlin is an illustration of human strength, physically and mentally, at its finest. These qualities about him, along with the decisions he makes throughout the novel, give him similarities to Christ, while other elements of Hemingway’s prose can arguably serve as Christian symbolism as well.
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.
Some states are currently threatening to leave the country because of the belief that the government has too much power over the people and the laws our country has to follow. In our society, we live by laws set by the government, and if any of them are broken, there is a punishment. These laws are set to make sure that the people of America are following the way things are ran so the country will not collapse. Although these laws are set for the safety of the people, sometimes when the government has that kind of power to make people follow certain things they should not have to follow, many issues arise. In the late 1800’s, many issues emerged between the South and the Union on whether the Southern states had the right to secede from the United States. The Southern states did have the right to secede because of political, economical, and social reasons. These reasons include numerous examples of the Union treating the South unfairly and violating the terms of the U.S constitution.
The main arguments in this source is the old man 's dependents on the boy, feminizing the sea and the respectful engagement of its feminine presents, and Interspecies kinship—brotherhood between man and animals, as well as with nature. The purpose of this source is to show the reasons why the old man feels defeat with old age. This source relates to The Old Man and the Sea because many times throughout the novel when Santiago was in the sea, he wished Manolin was there to help him because he has a rough time doing some things nowadays, but his old age still does not stop him from catching that
The topic of secession, the art of formally withdrawing from membership in a federation or political state, has played a tremendous role in the history of our nation’s past. As far as its legality goes, the constitution does not prohibit secession by any means. The birth of secession came from the year of 1776 when South Carolina threatened to separate because the Continental Army was going to tax all the colonies. South Carolina also had another secessionist movement in the 1828 due to the Tariff of Abominations, as it threatened their economy, in which John C. Calhoun later helped protest for. (http://www.ushistory.org/us/24c.asp) As we find out from the past, people felt very strong-spirited about secession, whether they were pro-secession,
In attempting to describe the origins of Revolution, American abolitionist Wendell Phillips once stated, “Revolutions always begin with the populace, never with the leaders. They argue, they resolve, they organize; it is the populace that, like the edge of the cloud, shows the lightning first.” However, when looking at the foundations of the American Revolution, this was simply not the case. Yes, while it is true that the colonists did organize and argue over how to communicate their grievances effectively with Great Britain, the idea of cutting their ties from Britian was the last thing that came to their minds. In this sense, it was the the British Parliament and King, not the populace, who instigated the American Revolution. The Parliament did this by ignoring the Colonist's protests through passing the Tea Act, which was viewed by many in the colonies as a way to tempt people from their boycott of British goods, and the King did this by refusing John Dickinson's Olive Branch Proposal – a proposal which showed the last of Colonial attempts to mend the problem Parliament started without going into Revolution.
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...
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]
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).
Santiago is a complex character who learns a lot through the course of this story. He is a very good, humble man and loves Manolin, his apprentice. Santiago is a poor man and is regarded as bad luck by others because he was not caught a single fish in 84 days. One cannot help feel sorry for him because he is very alone. His wife died and the book suggested that he never had any children. Yet he was humble and did not complain at all about his hard life. Santiago is a very persistant and determined character. He fought the huge marlin that he had caught for three agonizing days desopite feeling intense pain. He often had contradictory feelings and thoughts. One that I found strange was when he felt sorry for the marlin while he joyfully pondered how much money he would get for selling the fish.
In the novel The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway develops the concept of
... the character of Santiago. He is not as determined as Ahab when it comes to his own nature. He is able to accept that humility and love do not take away his pride and in fact they are life sustaining. Ahab cannot give up the only thing he knows, his passions. Knowledge does not come in the face of a world that remains as mysterious and evil when we leave it as it was when we entered it. For Santiago, there is some measure of relief from the indifferent universe through the interdependence of human beings. Ahab never finds this measure of relief. Yet, they both retain some measure of dignity because they know they cannot conquer the universe but they do not let it conquer them either.
Hemingway has a way of making his readers believe that the feats and strengths that his characters obtain in his novels are actually possible. Although this statement may be too critical, and maybe there is a man out there, somewhere on the coast of Cuba who at this very moment is setting out to the open sea to catch a marlin of his own. The struggle many readers have is believing the story of Santiago’s physical powers and his strength against temptation bring forward the question of whether or not The Old Man and the Sea is worthy to be called a classic. Hemingway’s Santiago brought Faulkner and millions of other readers on their knees, while to some, believed Hemingway had swung his third strike. As we look further into Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, we can analyze the criticism and complications of the character Santiago. He is portrayed as a faulty Jesus, an unrealistic and inhuman man, and again still a hero to those who cannot find happiness in their life.
In this world, there is quote after quote after quote on people’s stances on life. Readers are exposed to those millions of opinions with every story they pick up. Ernest Hemingway shared his judgments on life through a classic novel that seems to connect to many of those readers. What seems to be his belief on life was that though this world may seem to be destined for defeat, it’s imperative in life to attain triumph, bravery, respect, and love in the end. That message in The Old Man and the Sea is exposed through the minor themes, the major, overall theme, and the symbolism in the novel that contributes to the the major theme.