Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 –1961)

Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist.

His distinctive writing style (iceberg method) is characterized by economy and understatement and had a significant influence on the development of twentieth century fiction writing. Hemingway's protagonists are typically stoics, men who must show "grace under pressure." Many of his works are considered classics in the canon of American literature.

Hemingway, nicknamed "Papa", was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, as described in his memoir A Moveable Feast, and was known as part of "the Lost Generation", a name he popularized. He led a turbulent social life, was married four times, and allegedly had various romantic relationships during his lifetime. Hemingway received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

In 1961, he committed suicide using a shotgun. He was 61 years old.

(1950) Across the River and Into the Trees

(1952) The Old Man and the Sea

(1970) Islands in the Stream ( Posthumous publication)

 

The Old Man and the Sea is a novella by Ernest Hemingway written in Cuba in 1951 and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon an aging Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Though it has been the subject of disparate criticism, it is noteworthy in twentieth century fiction and in Hemingway's canon, reaffirming his worldwide literary prominence and significant in his selection for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.

The Old Man and the Sea recounts an epic battle between an old, experienced fisherman and a giant marlin said to be the largest catch of his life.

It opens by explaining that the fisherman, who is named Santiago (but only directly referred to outside of dialogue as "the old man"), has gone 84 days without catching any fish at all. He is apparently so unlucky that his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man and been ordered to fish with more successful fishermen. Still dedicated to the old man, however, the boy visits Santiago's shack each night, hauling back his fishing gear, feeding him, and discussing American baseball—most notably Santiago's idol, Joe DiMaggio. Santiago tells Manolin that on the next day, he will venture far out into the Gulf to fish, confident that his unlucky streak is near its end.

Thus on the eighty-fifth day, Santiago sets out alone, taking his skiff far into the Gulf. He sets his lines and, by noon of the first day, a big fish that he is sure is a marlin takes his bait. Unable to pull in the great marlin, Santiago instead finds the fish pulling his skiff. Two days and two nights pass in this manner, during which the old man bears the tension of the line with his body. Though he is wounded by the struggle and in pain, Santiago expresses a compassionate appreciation for his adversary, often referring to him as a brother.

On the third day of the ordeal, the fish begins to circle the skiff, indicating his tiredness to the old man. Santiago, now completely worn out and almost in delirium, uses all the strength he had left in him to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon, therby ending the long battle between the old man and the stubborn fish.

Santiago straps the marlin to his skiff and heads home, thinking about the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed. The old man determines that because of the fish's great dignity, no one will be worthy of eating the marlin.

While Santiago continues his journey back to the shore, sharks are attracted to the trail of blood left by the marlin in the water. The first, a great mako shark, Santiago kills with his harpoon, losing that weapon in the process. He makes a new harpoon by strapping his knife to the end of an oar to help ward off the next line of sharks; in total, seven sharks are slain. But by night, the sharks have devoured the marlin's entire carcass, leaving only its skeleton. The old man castigates himself for sacrificing the marlin. Finally reaching the shore before dawn on the next day, he struggles on the way to his shack, carrying the heavy mast on his shoulder. Once home, he slumps onto his bed and enters a very deep sleep.

Ignorant of the old man's journey, a group of fishermen gathers the next day around the boat where the fish's skeleton is still attached. Tourists at the nearby café mistakenly take it for a shark. Manolin, worried during the old man's endeavor, cries upon finding him safe asleep. The boy brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again. Upon his return to sleep, Santiago dreams of lions on the African beach.

Symbolism of character

The Old Man and the Sea allows various interpretations. Hemingway emphasizes that

No good book has ever been written that has in it symbols arrived at beforehand and stuck in.... I tried to make a real old man, a real boy, a real sea and a real fish and real sharks. But if I made them good and true enough they would mean many things. (Time, July 7, 1999)

The style of the work, the simplicity and the concreteness of its descriptions, provides a rich opportunity for symbolic interpretations. Some insights follow.

Santiago as a defeated hero. Santiago, the main character in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, may be seen as a defeated hero. He represents the courage, strength and endurance of the human race. He, like all men, struggled with faith (the fish) and both hated and loved life (the sea). The thing that truly defeated Santiago was his pride.

Santiago represents humankind. Hemingway compares him to Jesus Christ on several occasions. Santiago "...picked the mast up and put it on his shoulder and started up the road. He...[sat] down five times before he reached his shack" (121) much like Jesus did on the journey to his crucifixion, carrying the cross. Later Santiago sleeps "...face down... with his arms out straight and the palms of his hands up" (122), the position of Jesus on the cross. All throughout the book the old man wishes for salt, a staple seasoning in the human diet. He is a fisherman, similarly to Christ's disciples.

The marlin represents religion; the fish has been a symbol of Christianity since its early days, and the sea represents life as it is thought to be where life began, and is a staple in our survival as humans. The marlin swims through the sea as religion weaves through life. Santiago struggles with the fish as humans often do with their faith. Santiago loves the fish as men love their gods, and he hates the fish as men hate their gods. The fish was beautiful and huge and Santiago felt a connection with it, he considered it his brother. Hemingway says that Santiago is not a religious man, but he seems to have some faith as shown by his offers to say his "Hail Marys" if he catches the marlin.

Santiago is ultimately defeated by his pride. He goes too far out to sea and thinks that he can conquer the sharks. Santiago questions sin, and pride is the ultimate sin in Christian discourse. He even apologizes to the fish, as a man would apologize to his god, for his pride. The old man's pride breaks his heart and he spits it out in the night.

Santiago is a hero, but he is defeated. He wins over his adversary, whom he considers his brother, but is still not victorious because he does not reach his goal. He wins over his religion (the fish), but life (the sea) makes sure he does not get what he wants by sending the sharks to destroy what he has won. Santiago did not give up; he ultimately won over his main adversary but did not get the meat of the fish as he had wanted. The ordeal destroyed him, but he did not give into the pain. Although he lives in the end of the book, a part of him died. But it died a hero.

Santiago as an undefeated hero. Santiago's contemporary fishermen go out to fish with nets, which is a commercially profitable practice. It, however, requires little skill; it is nothing more than a chore. After 84 days without catch, Santiago sustains himself on what little food a bartender sends him out of pity. Yet he still waits for his big fish. It is more important to him than hunger. And the big fish finally arrives.

Santiago ignored hunger to prove his fishing prowess, but he is not entitled to keep his catch. His amazing fortune is balanced against his material loss. While being able to come out on top in his struggle against the fish and against the pain and frailness of his own body, this is to be his only reward. His fortunes turn when he refocuses from passion for catching the fish to greed for profiting from it. The sea does not reward greed.

Yet Santiago has not lost. One recurring theme in Hemingway's works can be summarized by his quote: "A man can be destroyed but not defeated." Santiago is punished for his greed, but nothing can take away the glory of his achievement.