Comparing Santiago And Jesus Christ In Hemingway's The Old Man In The Sea

In Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Manolin and Santiago went out fishing together every day, but they never caught any fish. Manolin’s parents told him he wasn’t allowed to fish with Santiago anymore because of his constant “bad luck.” Manolin was distressed, and he still visited Santiago every day. One day Santiago went far out to sea on his own to catch a marlin. He went on a terrible journey which had an even more dreadful outcome. Santiago caught the marlin, but had to return home empty handed because sharks tore his fish to pieces. When Manolin saw Santiago had returned, he was overjoyed to see that he was still alive. “The boy saw that Santiago was breathing and then he saw the old man’s hands and he started to cry. He went out very quietly to go bring some coffee and all the way down the road he was crying” (Hemingway 122). Manolin felt compassion for Santiago because he had to embark on a solitary, godawful journey. Manolin felt very close to Santiago, and he had feared that he had passed away at sea. Once Manolin discovered Santiago survived, he was so relieved that he burst into tears. This all goes to show how vulnerable Manolin was because of his compassion for Santiago. In The Bible, Jesus tells a parable about a Good Samaritan. In it, a man is mugged and left to die on the side of a road. “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him,

The mast Santiago carries resembles a cross and his apparent suffering is likened to Jesus'.  However, the deep attunement with nature and what are, in effect, Taoist principles of balance of opposites illustrated by Santiago's character are quite different from the obvious Christian metaphors used by Hemingway (Waggonner 5).  The acute awareness that Santiago brings to his everyday life is much more in tune with Buddhist rather than Christian ideology (Waggonner 5).  He says, "I'll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys.  But I cannot say them now" (Hemingway 87).  These are definitely not the thoughts of a devout Christian.  His "religious" thoughts and prayers are a mere augmentation of his subconscious resolve and determination to choose a positive outlook at every turn.  Clearly, his inner dialogue illustrates these qualities.

The forces of the universe have crucified both Santiago and the marlin.  We see this when Santiago carries his mast cross-like to his shack and the author's description of his exhausted repose "face down on the newspapers with his arms out straight and the palms up" (Hemingway  122).  Yet, through this struggle, through this pride that made him go far out beyond all people, Santiago learns the meaning of life in a meaningless universe is humility and love.  We see this expressed most clearly in his mentor-like relationship with Manolin.  Human solidarity and interdependence may not make a man any more capable of beating the forces of the universe, but they are sustaining as much as the courage and dignity with which Santiago faces life "the boy keeps me alive, he thought.  I must not deceive myself too much" (Hemingway  106).  Before coming to shore, Santiago recognizes he has gained humility and he is loved.  He is appreciative the other fishers will worry about him.  They bring him food and newspapers to

In the book The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway uses the flashback technique in order to characterize Santiago and develop key themes of the novel, such as Santiago’s connection with nature and what it means to be a hero. Hemingway employs several flashbacks as an effective technique that develops Santiago’s character as he recalls past occurrences in order to renew his strength of will. There are three flashbacks in particular that are critical to the development of this story. The first flashback describes a time when Santiago associated himself with the marlins. The second flashback occurs when Santiago arm-wrestled the town’s strongest

It was “on the third day of rain” that the Pelayo family found “a very old man, lying face down in the mud…impeded by his enormous wings” (1). By stating in the first line that it had rained for three days, the significance of the rain is exemplified. Being a symbol of rejuvenation and rebirth, the old man can be seen as being reborn on this day. This imagery is further reinforced by the fact that Jesus also was reborn from the dead after three days. Being found in mud also correlates to how Jesus was born among commoners. Many people come to witness the flesh and blood angel. However, the “consolation miracles” performed by the angel were said to show his “certain mental disorder” (4). This again parallels the way God performs strange works. Like Christ, the old man’s apparent disillusion discredited him. All these similarities to Christ give the old man a particular significance.

Christian symbolism, especially images that refer to the crucifixion of Christ, is present throughout The Old Man and the Sea. During the old man’s battle with the marlin, his palms are cut by his fishing cable. Given Santiago’s suffering and willingness to sacrifice his life, the wounds are suggestive of Christ’s stigmata, and Hemingway goes on to portray the old man as a Christ-like martyr. As soon as the sharks arrive, Santiago makes a noise one would make “feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood.” And the old man’s struggle up the hill to his village with his mast across his shoulders is evocative of Christ’s march toward Calvary. Even the position in which

Another component that stood out in the novel to make Santiago’s death appear evident was his image as a Christ figure. There were multiple times in the book that Hemingway compared Santiago to Christ. For example, when Santiago returns to shore, “he shouldered the mast and started to climb (121)”. This is similar to when Christ carried the cross bar on his shoulders up to Calvery. Santiago fell three times on his way back to his hut, as did Christ. Hemingway’s comparison of Santiago to Christ implies that Santiago will die just like Christ did.

Hemingway, the author of The Old Man and The Sea, purposely characterize Santiago as a Christ figure. A good example of this is seen when Santiago goes sailing for a few days trying to catch fish, which is portraying as Christ because Christ spend forty days in the wilderness alone. Santiago is alone in the middle of the sea, farther than another fisherman had ever went. As you see, Santiago isolates himself from everyone else to achieve his goals, applying as a Christ like figure. Another example of representing as a Christ appeared was when something had bothered to marlin and the passage stated, “Just then the fish...his hand was bleeding” (55-56). This quote clearly proves how Santiago is seen as a Christ even though he does not consider

Santiago of The Old Man and the Sea is the quintessential “Hemingway Hero”-a type of fictional character created by Hemingway in all of his books whose basic response to life appealed very strongly to the readers. The Old Man begins the narrative with all the elements of such a hero despite his senescence and poverty. He shows strength, determination, and dedication to himself despite his struggles. Santiago relates back to readers as a strong failure who picks himself up repeatedly.

Finding insightful commentary on the Santiago-as-Christ image is problematic at best. For instance, Joseph Flora's judgment that "The Old Man and the Sea illustrates the essence of Christian discipleship and does so in strictly biblical terms" (147) confirms perfectly the point that too many critics have overanalyzed the image of Santiago-as-Christ; this is far too reductive a statement to encompass the whole scope of Hemingway's superb novella. Yet we must acknowledge two facts about

Ernest Hemingway’s last piece of literature, “The Old and the Sea” includes many life lessons. These life experiences are known as parables. Technically, Parables are short stories with an underlying message. The main message of the story includes the theme of courage. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines courage as, “the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous.” Hemingway states that “courage is grace under pressure.” Santiago exemplifies this sense of courage all throughout the story.

In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago demonstrates the traits of the code hero. The Hemingway’s code hero covers the principal ideals of honor, courage, and endurance in a misfortune life. Throughout the novel, Santiago shows a contrast between opposite attitudes and values which associate his behavior with the guidelines of the code. In this case, the depiction of conflicting values, such as dignity despite humility, perseverance despite despair, and victory despite defeat are aspects that help to describe and understand the role of Santiago in the novel, and reflect the reason why this character is perfectly suited to the heroic conduct established by Hemingway.

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

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.

Throughout the book, The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway uses a writing style known as stream of consciousness which entails using uninterrupted thoughts and feelings of the main character. This writing style shows through the character Santiago while he is at sea. Santiago talks to himself which essentially correlates to how he feels at that moment. The usage of the technique stream of consciousness engages the reader into how the character feels during that moment making the reader connected to the character. Hemingway uses this technique to its fullest in the novel when the author shows Santiago talking to himself about DiMaggio and to then eventually thinking that he wanted to be the marlin.