The Old Man and The Sea

What is theme of this novel “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA”?
The Human Condition

In his novella about a fisherman who struggles to catch a large marlin only to lose it, Hemingway
has stripped down the basic story of human life to its basic elements. A single human being,
represented by the fisherman Santiago, is blessed with the intelligence to do big things and to
dream of even grander things. Santiago shows great skill in devising ways to tire out the huge
fish he has hooked and ways to conserve his strength in order to land it. Yet in the struggle to
survive, this human must often suffer and even destroy the very thing he dreams of. Thus
Santiago cuts his hands badly and loses the fish to sharks in the process of trying to get his catch
back to shore. Yet the struggle to achieve one's dreams is still worthwhile, for without dreams, a
human remains a mere physical presence in the universe, with no creative or spiritual dimension.
And so at the end of the story, Santiago, in spite of his great loss, physical pain, and exhaustion,
is still "dreaming about the lions" — the same ones he saw in Africa when he was younger and
would like to see again.
Love
Against the seeming indifference of the universe, love is often the only force that endures. This
force is best seen in the relationship of Santiago and Manolin, which has endured since
Manolin's early childhood. Over the years, Santiago has taught Manolin to fish and given him
companionship and a sense of self-worth that Manolin failed to get from his own father. Manolin
in return shows his love for Santiago by bringing him food and by weeping for him when he sees
how much he suffered in fighting the marlin. Manolin also plans to take care of Santiago during
the coming winter by bringing him clothing and water for washing.
Santiago's love, of course, extends to other people as well. He loved his wife when they were
married, though when she died he had to take down her portrait because it made him feel lonely.
Similarly, even in his suffering he thinks of others, remembering his promise to send the fish
head to his friend Pederico to use as bait. Santiago's love also extends to include nature itself,
even though he has often suffered at its hands. His love for all living creatures, whether fish,
birds, or turtles, is often described, as is his love for the sea, which he sees as a woman who
gives or withholds favors. Some of the younger fishermen, in contrast, often spoke of the sea as a
"contestant" or even an "enemy."
Youth and Old Age
The comparison and contrast of these two stages of human life runs throughout the story.
Although Santiago is obviously an old man, in many ways he retains a youthful perspective on
life. For example, he is a keen follower of baseball, and admires players like Joe DiMaggio and
Dick Sisler for their youthful skills and abilities. His friendship with Manolin is also based partly
on Santiago's fond recollections of his own youth. For example, he recalls the time he saw the
lions on the beach in Africa or when he beat a well-known player in a hand-wrestling match that
lasted all day. His repeated wish that the boy were in the boat is not made just because that
would make it easier to fight the fish. He also misses the boy as a companion with his own
youthful perspective. Yet Santiago does not admire all youth indiscriminately. For example, he
contrasts his own attitude toward the sea as a woman with that of "some of the younger
fishermen, those who used buoys as floats and had motorboats," who think of the sea as a male
enemy who must be defeated. By the same token, Santiago is aware that not everything about old
age is attractive to youth. For example, he keeps from Manolin the knowledge that he doesn't
care very much about washing or eating on a regular basis. Santiago is also very aware of the
disadvantages of old age. Although he retains much of his youthful strength, for example, he
knows that at his age he is no longer able to fight off the sharks that attack his fish. Yet in the
end, despite his defeat, Santiago is still able to plan his next fishing expedition and to dream
again of the lions that perhaps represent to him the strength and the freedom of youth.
Luck vs. Skill
Many people believe in the concept of destiny, a concept in which spiritual forces and luck are
combined. When one is lucky, it is considered a sign that one has the spiritual qualities to
succeed. By the same token, when one has been unlucky, as Santiago is considered after eighty-
four days of not catching any fish, he is dismissed by Manolin's parents as salao, "which is the
worst form of unlucky," and therefore someone to avoid. Santiago himself believes to some
extent in the concept of luck. He senses that his eighty-fifth day of fishing will be a good one and
wants to buy that number in the lottery. Later in the story, when his big fish has already been
half-eaten by sharks, he says he would pay "what they asked" for some luck "in any form."
Topics for Further Study
• Throughout The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago expresses his feelings about nature.
Today, the protection of our natural environment is often in the news. Do some research
on environmental issues and write an essay comparing Santiago's attitude about nature to
modern theories of environmentalism. Would Santiago be considered an environmentalist
today?
• Manolin undergoes a change between the beginning and the end of the novel. What do
you think causes this change? Find specific examples from the story to support your
opinion. Then write an essay comparing the "old" Manolin from the beginning of the
story to the "new" Manolin who has emerged by the end.
• Most of Ernest Hemingway's heroes are young men, but Santiago, as the title reveals, is
an old man. Why do you think the author chose to tell this story from an older person's
perspective? How might the story have been different if the hero had been a young man?
Present your ideas in an essay and use examples from the text to support your
conclusions.
Earlier in the story, however, before he has caught the big fish, Santiago reflects that "It is better
to be lucky [than unlucky]. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready."
In this reformulation of the luck-vs.-skill question, Santiago is clearly favoring skill. This
preference is shown by his actions throughout the novel, from the way he gauges the strength of
the fish by the pull on the line to the manner in which he calculates and conserves his own
strength for the battle he knows lies ahead. After his defeat he says the boy should not fish with
him because "I am not lucky anymore." Yet Santiago quickly changes his mind about going out
with Manolin when the boy says that "we will fish together now, for I still have much to learn."
Toward the end, Santiago asks himself "[W]hat beat you" and answers "Nothing. I went out too
far." So in the end, Santiago finds that it is matters of judgment and skill that determine success
not luck.
Q NO. 2: Write a brief note on Hemingway’s style?
Point of View
All novels use at least one point of view, or angle of vision, from which to tell the story. The
point of view may be that of a single character or of several characters in turn. The Old Man and
the Sea uses the omniscient, or "all-knowing," point of view of the author, who acts as a hidden
narrator. The omniscient point of view enables the author to stand outside and above the story
itself, and thus to provide a wider perspective from which to present the thoughts of the old man
and the other characters. Thus at the beginning of the tale, the omniscient narrator tells us not
only what Santiago and the boy said to each other, but what the other fishermen thought of the
old man. "The older fishermen looked at him and were sad. But they did not show it."
Setting
The Old Man and the Sea takes place entirely in a small fishing village near Havana, Cuba, and
in the waters of the Gulf Stream, a current of warm water that runs north, then east of Cuba in the
Caribbean Sea. Hemingway visited Cuba as early as 1928, and later lived on the coast near
Havana for nineteen years, beginning in 1940, so he knew the area very well. The references to
Joe DiMaggio and a series of games between the Yankees and the Detroit Tigers in which
DiMaggio came back from a slump have enabled scholars to pinpoint the time during which the
novel takes place as mid-September 1950. As Manolin also reminds readers, September is the
peak of the blue marlin season. The story takes three days, the length of the battle against the
fish, but as Manolin reminds the old man, winter is coming on and he will need a warm coat.
Structure
Like the three-day epic struggle itself of Santiago against the fish, Hemingway's story falls into
three main parts. The first section entails getting ready for the fishing trip; then the trip out,
including catching the fish and being towed by it, which encompasses all of the first two days
and part of the third; and finally the trip back. Another way of dividing and analyzing the story is
by using a dramatic structure devised by Aristotle. In the opening part of the story, or rising
action, the readers are presented with various complications of the conflict between the other
fishermen's belief that Santiago is permanently unlucky and Santiago and the boy's belief that the
old man will still catch a fish. For example, readers learn that some of the other villagers, like the
restaurant owner Pedrico, help Santiago, while others avoid him. The climax of the story, when
Santiago kills the fish, marks the point at which the hero's fortunes begin to take a turn for the
worse. This turning point becomes evident when sharks start to attack the fish and leads
inevitably to the resolution (or denouement) of the drama, in which Santiago, having no effective
weapons left to fight the sharks, must watch helplessly as they strip the carcass of all its
remaining meat. Perhaps showing the influence of modern short story writers, however,
Hemingway has added to the ending what James Joyce called an epiphany, or revelation of
Santiago's true character? This moment comes when the author implicitly contrasts the tourist's
ignorance of the true identity of the marlin's skeleton to Santiago's quiet knowledge of his skill
and his hope, reflected in his repeated dreams of the lions on the beach, that he will fish
successfully again.
Symbolism
A symbol can be defined as a person, place, or thing that represents something more than its
literal meaning. Santiago, for example, has often been compared to Christ in the way he suffers.
His bleeding hands, the way he carries the boat mast like a cross, and the way he lies on his bed
with his arms outstretched, all have clear parallels in the story of Christ's crucifixion. In this
interpretation of the story, Manolin is seen as a disciple who respects and loves Santiago as his
teacher. In this context, the sea could be said to represent earthly existence. Humans, as stated in
Genesis, have been created by God to have dominion over all other living creatures, including
the fish in the sea. Yet humans like Santiago still suffer because of Adam and Eve's original sin
of eating the apple from the tree of knowledge. Santiago, however, says he does not understand
the concept of sin. Santiago can also be seen more broadly as a representative of all human
beings who must struggle to survive, yet hope and dream of better things to come. Hemingway
himself does not seem to mind if his characters, setting, and plot have different meanings to
different readers. He once said that he "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."

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What is theme of this novel “THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA”?

The Human Condition

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