Ernest Hemingway recounts to the readers of The Old Man and the Sea a story about an older man named Santiago who loves his life as a fisherman, although he lives in terrible poverty. The novel’s main event is Santiago’s lengthy fishing trip, during which he reels in one of the largest marlins that have ever been caught. He exerts much effort to prevent his catch from being stolen and to fend off the vicious sharks. When he finally makes it back to shore, he has nothing but the skeleton of the fish, and his body is worn out and injured. Hemingway unique manner and literary techniques let him paint a vivid picture of Santiago’s fishing trip. All this is tied together by the image of a happy, struggling Santiago and various other symbols and motifs. Hemingway worked tirelessly to perfect his writing style throughout his career, culminating in this masterpiece.
The common consensus is that Hemingway had one of the most recognizable and distinctive writing and storytelling styles of any novelist. Although Hemingway was technically a realist with a preference for physical exercise, he was ultimately a philosopher. He utilized theoretical structure, suggesting that the message conveyed by the initial image created by the words may not be the message that Hemingway wanted to convey (Shahwan 90). For example, his time spent in Cuba inspired the novel’s depiction of Santiago and the expansive sea. When writing most of his works, he frequently drew from his personal experiences and facts from the outside world to give the impression that the fictitious worlds he creates are more plausible and acceptable. The reader, therefore, feels a stronger connection to the imaginative worlds he creates.
The author Ernest Hemingway drew inspiration for a great deal of his work from his life, either directly or symbolically. Many of his stories are word-for-word accounts of some of the most significant occurrences in his life. The Old Man and the Sea was written in keeping with this autobiographical tradition. When viewed through the lens of Hemingway’s biography, the novel makes it very clear how Hemingway’s life experiences inspired his writing. One way the book can be read is as a metaphor for Hemingway’s life and work at the time he wrote the novel. In addition, he was lonely while writing the book, and the reader may see Hemingway’s feelings of isolation and loneliness reflected in the novel’s protagonist.
Santiago, the main character of this book, is a one-dimensional figure compared to the protagonists of other novels. The things that stand out the most about him are his many years of expertise, his determination, mad conduct and pride. Even though he has not been successful at fishing for eighty-four days in a row, he refuses to give up his passion (Hemingway 52). His desire to reel in the largest fish he has ever caught drives his fighting spirit and mentality; both are focused on the goal in front of him. Santiago’s eyes were the color of the ocean, and they shone with a brilliance that could not be overcome (Hemingway 35). Every other facet of him was a relic of a bygone era. Instead of focusing on the older man’s terrible luck, Hemingway wanted readers to contemplate the older man’s determination. The circumstance exemplifies Hemingway’s determination to return to writing after a decade during which he did not produce a new book for publication.
Due to the extended period between the publication of Hemingway’s book and his reputation as a great writer being tested, Santiago, much like Hemingway, felt the need to reaffirm his authority once more. Hemingway states in his writing that it did not matter how many times Santiago had already demonstrated his worth. It was time for him to prove his worth once more, now that the time had come. There was always a clean slate for him, he never once thought about the things he had done in the past when he was carrying them out (66). Both Santiago and Hemingway needed to save their reputations by either catching an impressive fish or writing an impressive novel. Hemingway’s desire to write a great novel is symbolic of Santiago’s effort to catch an impressive fish. Both men needed to do one of these things to save their reputations. In a figurative boat, the experienced elderly fisherman navigates the author’s subconscious in order to get the extraordinary story that the author has concealed there.
In addition, the sharks that attack and kill Santiago’s marlin serve as a metaphor for the critics who attacked Ernest Hemingway after reading his book Across the River and into the Trees. The sharks systematically dismembered the marlin and devoured one piece at a time. Since they analyze the story of Hemingway like the sharks analyzed Santiago’s harvest, the sharks are a metaphor for those who dissent with Hemingway’s work. The author, Hemingway, thought the book was one of the most important pieces of fiction ever produced (Yarup 134). Before the book was published, he remarked that he had finally accomplished what he had been working toward his entire life and felt a tremendous burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He says he felt he had been working toward this goal for the entirety of his life.
His most recent work, Across the River and into the Trees, was met with criticism from critics when it was released. Despite this, he never wavered in his view that the book was of outstanding quality, even though critics were not particularly optimistic about the book. Because of the poor attention that the book received, he compared his job as a writer to a profession in mathematics. He asserts that he has made individual progress in the foundational mathematical disciplines of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra and is now enrolled in classes for calculus (Yarup 133). These feelings serve as an illustration of how complicated the process is, demonstrating that one must be attentive in order to comprehend the idea. He believes that the reviewers have not grasped the meaning of the message he has been trying to convey to his audience through the publication of Across the River and into the Trees. Consequently, Hemingway anticipated that The Old Man and the Sea would be the subject of criticism in the same manner that his earlier novel would be.
Most references to women in the story are derogatory, which is not surprising given that Hemingway did not have a good track record regarding his interactions with women. The sea, frequently used to represent femininity, is characterized by its irrationality and lack of ability to exercise self-discipline because it cannot exert any control over itself. Hemingway explains in the narration that the waters were wild and could not protect Santiago and the marlin he had caught from the ocean’s perils, which is why the water behaved cruelly toward him. He believes that the feminine nature of the sea is the source of the water’s behavior (Hemingway 30). In addition, he further narrates the incident in which Santiago successfully captured a marlin and secured it on his boat. However, the waves, representing the female aspect of the ocean, put up a desperate, fearful, and ultimately hopeless fight (Hemingway 49). As a result of this, Santiago and Hemingway agree on the point that females are unable to engage in acts of self-discipline.
On the other hand, Santiago believes that men exhibit a high level of self-control on average. Before even looking at it, he recognizes that the marlin on his hook is a male. According to his observation, the marlin took the bait like a grown-up man, pulled like a man, and in its fight, showed no signs of panic (Hemingway 49). Hemingway presumed that to be considered a man, it is vital to behave in an honorable and dignified manner while exhibiting the utmost self-control.
Hemingway’s rejection by a teenage girl and his string of failed marriages contributed to his writing of the story. In 1918, Hemingway fell in love with Agnes von Kurowsky (Young par 2). Young highlights how Hemingway voiced his admiration for Agnes and his sense of isolation from her, although she did not reciprocate his feelings. During their association, she never had romantic feelings for Hemingway and never viewed him as anything other than a friend. He was married four times later, with his most recent union to Mary Welsh in jeopardy. While married to Mary, he revealed to a friend that he had previously encountered spouses moving in opposing directions (Nuriadi and Melani 1539). The personality of Santiago and the external challenges he experiences mirror Hemingway’s sentiments of solitude. Santiago was a lonesome man who had to confront his outward turmoil after the death of his wife. Hemingway claims he took a faded photograph of his wife from the wall because it made him feel too lonely to look at it (16). It demonstrates how lonely Santiago was, much like Hemingway, who had interpersonal difficulties.
Santiago’s one and only friend, Manolin, is no longer permitted to fish with him, another factor contributing to his isolation. When the rising action begins, and he has the marlin on the hook, he wishes he had the youngster with him (Hemingway 45). Throughout his journey, he keeps returning to this observation. Because Manolin cannot accompany him, Santiago will have to navigate his boat all by himself, beyond the reach of any other person in the world. He is hemmed in on all sides by what appears to be an infinite stretch of water. This seclusion contributes further to the overall idea of loneliness.
Ultimately, when writing the story, it is evident the author was impacted by his life experiences. There are numerous coincidences between Hemingway and Santiago. It had been ten years since Hemingway had published a well-regarded novel, and it had been eighty-four days since Santiago had caught a fish. As a result, they both had to establish their worth once more. Furthermore, the marlin Santiago observes being devoured by sharks is a metaphor for how the critics would interpret The Old Man and the Sea, as Hemingway anticipated.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952.
Nuriadi, Nuriadi, and Boniesta Z. Melani. “Ways of Self-Reliance Development: Comparative Study of The Old Man and the Sea and Robinson Crusoe.” Linguistics and Culture Review, vol. 5, no. S2, 2021, pp. 1533–1547.
Shahwan, Saed Jamil. “A Lacanian Study of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.” Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 10, no. 1, 2019, pp. 87–91.
Yarup, Robert L. “‘The Light on the Ceiling’ in Hemingway’s across the River and into the Trees.” The Explicator, vol. 77, no. 3-4, 2019, pp. 132–135.
Young, Philip. “Ernest Hemingway.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2022.