Ambibolities And Ambiguity In The Old Man And The Sea

In The Old Man and The Sea, Santiago teaches us about endurance, honor and faith, throughout his three day journey with the marlin. The Old Man has mot caught a fish in 84 days. He fishes alone on a skiff off the coast of Havana. Every day he comes back empty handed, not even the tiniest fish. One day, Santiago followed his daily rutine to go out to fish and expected to come back empty handed because this time he went on a three day journey out by himself far out into the ocean.

In both competitions, Santiago demonstrates a great sense of will power and perseverance. For example, the arm wrestling match was also a test of endurance, just like his battle with the marlin: “They had gone one day and one night with their elbows on a chalk line…the odds would change back and forth all night…but [Santiago would] raise his hand up to dead even again” (70). Similarly, he fights the fish for three long days and does not give up. After this twenty-four hour arm wrestling game, “everyone called him The Champion” (70). This defeat was important for Santiago because it proved that Santiago once had enough strength to beat the strongest man on the docks, who is implicitly compared to the marlin. It is also interesting to note that during this part of the narrative, Santiago also remembers another worthy opponent: Joe DiMaggio, another hero who shows an amazing strength of will that helps him overcome adversity. With this flashback, then, Hemingway establishes a sense of heroic virtues as spiritual rather than physical qualities.

“He did not truly feel good because the pain from the cord across his back had almost passed pain and into dullness that he mistrusted.”(74) Once both the fish and Santiago had reached the breaking point of conflict the story seemed to slow down in time to exemplify the adverse conditions that both characters were suffering from. The old man proves himself worthy of personal suffering with the cuts and scars on his hands and back along with all of the pulling and slipping the cords had upon his fragile body. Hemmingway shows in a big way how an out of proportioned conflict with an old fisherman and an 18 foot long marlin helps to magnify the significance of Santiago searching for his rebirth to manhood. With constant abstraction describing the fish and the sea in relation to brotherhood create interesting questions for Santiago to ponder. His rationalization for his fishing is that he was born to do it. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (103) Hemmingway proves that this fish represents all of Santiago’s built up tension to total the size of a gigantic marlin that is perceived as devastating but not unconquerable. The old man’s hopes and aspirations can overcome the adversity of the marlin’s size, along with the conditions of the old, hungry, and exhausted fisherman. Through outright suffering Santiago achieves a goal above his previous manhood by combating pain and

Death is the unavoidable force in the novella, the one fact that no living creature can escape. But death, Hemingway suggests, is never an end in itself: in death there is always the possibility of the most vigorous life. The reader notes that as Santiago slays the marlin, not only is the old man reinvigorated by the battle, but the fish also comes alive “with his death in him.” Life, the possibility of renewal, necessarily follows on the heels of death.

Santiago valued all of the things he loves, respects, and honors, such as his boat, the boy (Manolin), baseball, and the fish. “Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great Joe DiMaggio.” (Hemingway 17). During this quote, Santiago and Manolin are talking about baseball statistics and such from the paper. The Yankees were and still are a very good baseball team. The old man’s favorite baseball team is the New York Yankees and his favorite player is Joe DiMaggio. Santiago looks up to Joe DiMaggio and follows all of his stats in the paper. DiMaggio wasn’t fully healthy one season, but he finished the season very well and never told anyone he was hurt. So when Santiago was in pain when he was catching the fish, he was trying to be just like his favorite Yankees player, and not complain or make excuses.

In the novel The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway uses the literary device of metaphors. Hemingway uses the metaphor of the ocean to symbolize life, and to depict the role that individuals play in life. Hemingway uses the metaphor of the lions to signify people who live their lives as active participants. The tourists in the novel represent the individuals, who in observe their lives and are not active participants. In the novels that Ernest Hemingway writes, he uses metaphors to reflect his life experiences and opinions. The ocean in The Old Man and the Sea is a metaphor, which represents Hemingway 's personal view of life. Hemingway believes that in life everyone must find their own niche and uses the metaphor of the ocean and the

Biblical is a type of allusion used in this book because the old man carries the mast up the hill to his shed and Jesus carried his cross up the hill where he got crucified.

Hemingway personifies the sharks to counteract the Marlin after being killed, as their presence of stalking the Marlin tests Santiago’s diligence. In the story, Santiago’s industrious efforts pay off, as he attains the long awaited Marlin. Far from home, the old man makes the treacherous return to society, shortly confronting numerous sharks, all for which he doesn't respect comparative to the Marlin. When two sharks begin attacking, Santiago shares his adverse notion towards the sharks as “They would hit a man in the water, if they were hungry, even if the man had no smell of fish blood nor fish slime on him” (108). Furthermore, the old man's depiction of the sharks delivers as a connotation of their lack of pride, as they feed upon what Santiago’s diligence caught. As far as his efforts go, he returns to the favela with nothing but a skeletal shadow of what was, however Santiago feels his journey was not one wasted, more so a figurative paramount of respect and patience. Although, the sharks took what they could from Santiago’s pride, he stuck to what was important deeming the sharks actions invalid. In society sharks have become the lower end of the stick, and I have myself, understood that I have my own sharks. As for me, my sharks come in many external and internal forms, however my greatest shark is those who doubted my ability to succeed. When I suffered from

Throughout the journey, Santiago encountered many struggles and hardships, however he never gave up. Throughout The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway wants to show Santiago’s perseverance and Santiago as Christ. Santiago is faced with many struggles throughout his journey of catching the marlin yet he preservers through his struggles. Santiago was once known as the champion fisherman by locals, however he had not caught a fish for eighty-four

One might think that destruction is like defeat, but it is not. Think of it like someone rebuilding a house after it was destroyed by a storm; the house might have fallen apart, but it is not gone forever, it is eventually going to return better than ever. The parable, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway shares similar characteristics with the boxing drama Rocky directed by John G. Avildsen. The Old Man and the Sea is set in a fishing village near Havana, Cuba during the 1940s, and Santiago is the protagonist. Rocky Balboa from the movie Rocky that takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1975 displays the same theme as The Old Man and the Sea.

Within the book, strong and enduring Santiago battles the marlin for days, although he has nothing but his hands to hold the line, and, then, fights against the fish with his knife and his old hands. When the Mako shark comes and eats the flesh of the marlin that is tied to the side of the boat, Santiago continues to fight for the marlin; however, the shark takes much flesh from the marlin. The sharks symbolize destruction in Santiago’s life; however, The Old man perseveres as Hemingway pulls out his thoughts, “But I killed the shark that hit my fish, he thought. And he was the biggest dentuso that I have ever seen. And God knows that I have seen big ones.”(pg103) Here, Hemingway exemplifies that even when the Old Man has experienced destruction, he overcomes

The marlin brings out the best in Santiago as fishing does for Hemingway. The fish and Hemingway have a connection between suffering a battle. Hemingway suffered from mental health and sadly it got the best of him. He is like the marlin, never surrendering at any cost. Hemingway believed in fighting the good fight. Whether he won or lost, he fought the best that he could. Along with the marlin and the old man. Santiago did not want to go another day without catching a fish. Fishing was his passion. Despite others calling him unlucky he fought the good fight. Suffering a hand injury and the group of sharks, he fought the best that he could. Just like the old man, Hemingway did not stop writing and continued his passion of expressing himself. He was never through as a writer. He spent almost 16 years writing this novel because he believed in it. He believed that he could do it. He was inspired by his friend Gregorio Fuentes and his dedication for fishing. Their friendship is represented through Manolin and Santiago. Manolin did not want to fish without Santiago just like Fuentes did not believe in fishing without Hemingway. It was their passion, and their friendship is more important than any fish. Although they had a love for fishing, nothing compares for the love others have for their friends. Hemingway suffered through many obstacles, but the surrounding love and his passion for writing and

The nobility of character of the old man prevents him from feel hate and rancor toward the other fishermen. Despite the taunts of the other fishermen, Santiago is quiet and admits having a bad streak of luck. This makes him an honorable man, which avoids any conflict and is able to recognize his flaws as a fisherman. Although the sea has given him several bitter drinks, he is able to keeping on loving it. “A man is honest when he acts honestly, he is humble when he acts humbly, he loves when he is loving or being loved.” (Waldmeir 165). Perhaps, the crowning act of humility in Santiago is when he is forced to recognize that by his own forces he will not be enough to grab the fish, and decides to carry out prayers to the Almighty. At the end of the hunting of the big animal, Santiago does not become conceited. His simple and humble soul thanks with a prayer for the outcome of his effort. Although the fighting has been severe and bloody, the old man was not self-styled "hero”. Santiago humbly considers himself as one fisherman more, and the categorization as a hero depends on the readers. “It is the knowledge that a simple man is capable of such decency, dignity, and even heroism, and that his struggle can be seen in heroic terms, that largely distinguishes this book.” (Young 131). The evident relation between his humility and dignity helps to place Santiago as a perfect

Many of Ernest Hemingway’s stories are either literally or figuratively based on his life experiences. The Old Man and the Sea is a novella written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Bimini, Bahamas, and published in 1952. It was the last major work by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. Its writing was influenced by his life around him. This is shown through the way the novella is written and key events and parts within it. The Old Man and the Sea can be interpreted as an allegory of Hemingway’s life and career at the time he wrote it.

“Santiago’s ordeal, first in his struggle with the big fish, and then in fighting against the sharks, is associated by Hemingway with Christ’s agony and triumph,” (Bloom 2). When Santiago sees the second and third sharks coming, he shouts “Ay,” and Hemingway notes: “There is no