The Old Man And The Sea

•Brief Analysis By: •

• Abeer Ibraheem El Farra 220091658

•Nisreen Mohammad Ismail 220090967

•To: Dr.Ayman Al Hallaq

The Story In Lines.… The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by

the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba ,

It was 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

Santiago, an aging fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream .

The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and was cited by

the Nobel Committee as contributing to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to

Hemingway in 1954.

Main Characters:He is the hero of this short novel . He is an old fisherman of about 80 years. He has no

wife or children . He has a long fighting with the giant Marlin .He is the most unlucky

fisherman , but the best for Manolin.

Santiago:

The large-size sea fish with extreme power. It’s considered the hero with Santiago .It

took him long time to catch .

Marlin:

The young boy with about 14 years. He is like a son to Santiago . He admires Santiago for he has learnt from him every thing about the art of fishing. He joined other ships after

the misfortune of Santiago.

Manolin :

After 40 days Manolin stopped working with the

old man .

He shifted to work with Sb

more successful.

84 days passed but Santiago

fished nothing.

The 85th day seems to be

different.

The trip started and

last for 5 days.

Santiago’s 84 unlucky days.

Santiago’s struggle with Marlin.

The five days witnessed a tough struggle :

Santiago faced many types of sharks that ended with the loss of all the meat of his Marlin and ends with

nothing.

Individualism Santiago is a champion of individualism because he

braves all dangers by himself and remains un frightened till the

end.

The “code hero” is typically an individualist and free-willed. Although he believes in the ideals of

courage and honor he has his own set of morals and principles based on his beliefs in honor, courage and

endurance .A code hero never shows emotions; showing

emotions and having a commitment to women shows weakness. Burhans says, “Santiago represents a

noble and tragic individualism revealing what man can do in an indifferent universe which defeats him, and the love he can feel for such a universe and his

humility before it” (447)  .

In Santiago case, he never breakdown to kill the sharks, the creature that he has to defeat, in

order to keep his “heroic individualism

The old man finally realizes his true solidarity and

interdependence with the rest of mankind, Burhans says, when he gets back to shore, and finds

that it is “pleasant to have

someone to talk to instead of speaking only to himself and to

the sea

Religion 

           The author chose to not only use the various animals as symbols, but seemed to compare Santiago to Christ.Santiago had cramps in his

hands from holding the fishing line all night while he and the boat were being

pulled by the strong fish.Hemingway wrote that the sounds Santiago made

while having the cramps were the same as the reaction "someone would

have while having a nail passed through their hand and into wood."This

was the same experience Christ had while being crucified.Hemingway

included this reference purposefully so the reader would be able to compare

and understand the similarity .

After his voyage was completed Santiago was exhausted and weak.  While bringing in the mast from his boat he stumbled three times under the weight resting upon his shoulders.  This resembled Christ's walk

carrying his heavy cross to the hill where he was crucified.  Also when Santiago was back in his shack he fell asleep on his bed with his arms outstretched resembling Jesus on the

cross.  At this point Manolin awoke Santiago and Santiago realized he had completed his

last challenge and that his time as a fisherman was up.  He passed on the sword

from the great fish to Manolin for continuation of the skills he had taught his apprentice.  Manolin was comparable to a

disciple left in charge of continuing the work the Master had started.

2 -life is an endless struggleSurvival in this context doesn’t mean

merely physical survival , but it has broader implications: It means to survive

with dignity and self-respect.Santiago kills the fish not merely for

keeping him alive , but for pride and self-respect. The fish is a symbol of what man

can achieve and therefore without his achievements his life would have been

meaningless.

Symbols

 Joe DiMaggio

 Joe DiMaggio represents many things to the old man.  Santiago sees DiMaggio as an equal.  One whose father was a poor fisherman just like he is.  When he was out

fishing he thought to himself, would the great DiMaggio ever stay this long as he did and quickly replied to

himself that DiMaggio is young and strong and that his father was a fisherman so of course he would stay.

 This made him feel better because now he could compare himself to his hero.  Santiago thought that

DiMaggio would understand him because of their background being the same.  He wanted someone like the boy that would listen to him but understood him

more and  he believes DiMaggio could be that person.  Joe DiMaggio also represents hope that the old man has for Manolin.  He wishes that the boy will grow up and be

like the great DiMaggio so that he will not be a poor fisher like he is.

4- Manolin: The boy is a powerful symbol of youth ; Santiago thinks of him to

get the inspiration from his thoughts and extra energy and confidence in his heroic fight

against the Marlin and the sharks. The old man is childish in his illusions and the boy is wise far beyond years to shatter these

illusions.

.  Manolin symbolized the disciples of Jesus.  The ones who would follow him

to his death and then go out and preach his ways.  He believes in the old man

and takes charge and tells all the other fisherman to stay away from Santiago after his return.  He would take care of the old man when he said to him "Keep

warm old man.  Remember we are in September."  Manolin only wanted good

things for Santiago, he did not want anyone to hurt him or put him down for his accomplishments.  He wants to learn from the old man and to listen to what

he had to say about him as a young man or of Joe DiMaggio.

3-Many meanings of Sharks:

1- They symbolize evil that permeates the world and

exists for its own sake.

2- The one who enjoys others suffering and stop their success.

Significant quotation “You did not kill the fish only to keep

alive and to sell for food, he thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it

more?”

He attempts to explain to himself his reasons for killing the fish, and admits

that his desire to hunt the fish stemmed from the very same quality that led to its eventual destruction: his pride. He then justifies his behavior by claiming that his

slaying of the marlin was necessitated by his love and respect for it. Indeed,

when Santiago kills the fish, the loss of life is somehow transcendently beautiful,

as opposed to the bold, senseless scavenging on the part of the sharks.

Thank you for listening