A Literary Criticism ~
A Literary Criticism of “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea is a story about an old fisherman named Santiago, the faithful young Manolin, his prized catch - the marlin, and the struggles that the old man had as he was in the sea. The story revolved around them beginning with the eighty-four days that old man Santiago went out to fish in the sea and catching nothing. On the eighty-fifth day, Santiago went out to sea again with the faithful young Manolin assisting him with his needs as he went out to fish. While rowing out farther into the sea, he had managed to hook a big fish and he held on to it despite managing to hook other fishes. Santiago battled it out with the big fish in terms of courage, endurance, strength and will for four days. He did not have enough water or food and all he had eaten was the fish he had brought aside whilst he had the big fish hooked and held steadfastly. When the time for the big fish has come to surface and circle the skiff, Santiago has already planned what he will do. Although he was an old man, Santiago managed to subdue the fish and spear him in the heart. When he was returning back to shore, sharks started to attack his catch and as he killed the sharks as each of them manage to tore a piece of meat from the marlin, his heart sank and he did not had the heart to look at his trophy anymore. When he came on land, all that was left of the marlin was its head, spine and tail. Santiago was so tired after the four day fishing. His body was exhausted and has surrendered to fatigue. The faithful Manolin found the old man in his shack and cried over his condition. It was then that Manolin has decided on his own to fish together with the old man, disobeying his parents for once.
Ernest Hemingway’s novella The Old Man and the Sea is a picture of man against nature and man against himself. Reading the story can provoke many emotions such as pity towards either the old man or the fish and rage towards the situation they are in. If you have no idea about neither fishing nor about life of fishermen it’ll be a difficult task to understand the story. Even though it seemed as if it was a simple narrative you can immediately see and judge its complexity when you try to decipher what the story is trying to mean or what it is trying to convey to the readers. You will find a lot of symbols such as the fish, and biblical allegories. Some critics often align the story with Christianity and moral values or anything that is of biblical meaning but I beg to differ. I have decided upon myself that what I wanted to do is to look closely at the characters of the story rather than the symbols within it. I want to judge and make meaning according to how the characters are portrayed and how they dictate their actions.
Santiago, the young old fisherman
Santiago is an old man. He is the protagonist in the story. To be a fisherman who knew a lot of things about the sea and its creatures I assume that he has been taught by his father like the father before him too. His life at sea has brought him to places far and wide like Africa and has grown fond with the image of lions playing along the shore. A description of Santiago follows like this:
Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.
Vibrant with life - that is how Santiago is described. His physical form did not deter the youthfulness in his eyes. This means that Santiago took a lot of effort taking care of his health. It is stated that his eyes were as blue as the sea, cheerful and undefeated. Therefore I assume that he is also like the young: carefree and curious, wild and adventurous, takes a lot of risks and has a lot of confidence of his skills and capabilities and he has exercised these characteristics within the story.
Santiago, chasing after his desire
What did Santiago really want? I do not know. Does he want to prove something that no one has ever done? Or does he want to show himself what his old self can do in the midst of battle between man and nature and man against self? Let us examine the first conflict. Santiago is already old; his physical body is slowly deteriorating but still held on because he feeds from turtle eggs and shark liver which made him strong. But he is powerless against a creature bigger than he is. An eighteen foot long marlin is heavy and powerful against a man who only stands half his size upright. Did Santiago really wanted to catch the marlin? In the first place, the answer is no. He only wanted to catch the big fish regardless of what they are. It was only luck that Santiago had managed to hook the marlin. For eighty four days, he had gone out to sea to fish and returns to shore empty. And on the eighty-fifth he had managed to catch a big one. Santiago once said to the young Manolin before he left that “Eighty-five is a lucky number”. It must be true or it could be simply a form of coincidence. When Santiago has finally decided and accepted the catch that he had hooked he formed his plan on what to do. He even declared that his fish is his brother. But because he is a simple fisherman this is what he has said:
“Fish,” he said, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends.”
And that is what Santiago exactly did. With what he has spoken, Santiago displays the character of humility and courage. The character of humility is in the sense that he considers the fish as his equal, even as his brother, and also he respects the fish not as a lesser creature but because it is a creature given by la mar.
What was Santiago trying to prove? Here applies conflict no. 2: man vs. self. Santiago chased after his desire which is to catch a big fish. Now that he has hooked it, what is his next action? He took the fish as his trophy that was what he did because he, after all, was not exactly prepared for his catch and has to improvise. The catch that he had made contributed to the matter with this conflict due to Santiago talking, contradicting and berating himself and his thoughts. The constant argumentative conversation that Santiago had with himself can be seen in the following examples:
“What kind of a hand is that,” he said. “Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good.”
“How do you feel, hand?” he asked the cramped hand that was almost as stiff as rigor mortis. “I’ll eat some more for you.”
“Be patient, hand,” he said. “I do this for you.”
My best wild guess is that Santiago is trying to prove to himself that his physical condition cannot deter his strength against fishing a creature bigger than him. Santiago is trying to say that even as an old man he can still fish and compete as the younger fishermen do. That even he is small against a big creature, his wisdom and knowledge about fish and fishing can bring him success. That even as he is but destitute, he has nothing to lose if he perseveres and pushes through with what he wanted. Santiago is a man of honor and he will honor what he had put first in his life goal despite times of uncertainty, unpreparedness and lack of resources. Fishing is a noble job; a fisherman is a noble and a wise man, he knows how to deal with the fishes in the sea and how to get the right timing to make a great catch.
Santiago, for whom is the catch, and Manolin
When Santiago had proven to himself that it was indeed the fish he desired the question to which the catch is for arises. Let us set aside that the big catch is for him, we already know that, and pretend that it is directed to someone else, like Manolin. Santiago has already surpassed his challenge of catching the big fish and therefore brings is ashore for Manolin to see. Manolin is the boy whom he taught fishing at the age of five. It was Manolin who assisted him whenever they fish. And he loved the boy as if it was his own.
I think Santiago dedicates his catch to Manolin seeing that the boy is as devoted to him as mother to a child. Manolin has been very worried about Santiago fishing alone because he had already gone for eighty-four days without a catch and thus forced his parents to take him away from the old man. Maybe, Santiago thought that if he shows to Manolin the catch he had made, he will be very proud for him and stop worrying over his situation.
Manolin, the devoted young fisherman
As I have mentioned, Manolin is a devoted young boy to the old man Santiago. He practically grew up fishing in the sea with the old man. I think the reason why Manolin is very fond of Santiago is because he thinks of the old man as his grandfather. In the story, we will find that Manolin and his parents had little interaction with him. Manolin seeks guidance and affection in the form of the grandfather figure of Santiago who willingly provides him of what he has to offer. Evidence of Santiago’s affection to the young boy can be seen in the following lines:
The old man looked at him with his sun-burned, confident loving eyes.
“If you were my boy I’d take you out and gamble,” he said. “But you are your father’s and your mother’s and you are in a lucky boat.”
In behalf of Santiago, I want to say that Manolin has brought his life a different light. He is a widow and he has no child and so he thinks of Manolin as his own. He treated the child with affection and constantly guiding him in life by telling him what could be good for him and his life.
The fish in the life of Santiago and Manolin
The fish did it. It was what brought Santiago and Manolin closer than before. It was when the fish was brought ashore that Manolin cried his heart out and finally decided, on his own, that he should be with Santiago whenever the old man goes out into the sea to fish. If it wasn’t for the fish, mandolin would have remained submissive to his father’s wishes. The fish made a man out of the young boy. He made Manolin decide for himself and express without fear his devotion to the Santiago. Have it not been for the fish, Santiago would have remained an old lonely fisherman.
Of Santiago and DiMaggio
I believe Santiago likened himself to Joe DiMaggio, the famous New York Yankee batter. Santiago likes DiMaggio because one, he’s father is a fisherman like the fathers before him, and two, DiMaggio was able to get through life even if he had the bone spur. For Santiago, DiMaggio’s bone spur is akin to his destitution. Santiago had nothing else of worth that when he took the risk to catch the big fish for four days and nights he gave it his all.
DiMaggio’s fame brought him fortune. Santiago had really wanted to meet him. He had admired the batter and followed his games by reading the papers. DiMaggio served as an inspiration in Santiago’s life. To make evident the kind of life Santiago is living, the following lines will make you see it:
“What do you have to eat?” the boy asked.
“A pot of yellow rice with fish. Do you want some?”
“No. I will eat it at home. Do you want me to make the fire?”
“No. I will make it later on. Or I may eat the rice cold.”
“May I take the cast net?”
“Of course.”
There was no cast net and the boy remembered when they had sold it. But they went through this fiction every day. There was no pot of yellow rice and fish and the boy knew this too.
Isn’t it sad for an old fisherman to have nothing at all? He had no family and no fortune. No one except Manolin and few fishermen cared for Santiago. But despite this, Santiago is contented and pleased whenever Dimaggio was brought up in conversations he had with the young boy just as a father spending time with his son.
“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
True to his words, Santiago may have been defeated by the sharks that tore a piece of meat from the marlin he had caught. That every time, the sharks came to taunt him with their sharp jaws and crushing bites of his trophy, his euphoria of catching the big creature dies down. Santiago later lost interest in having the marlin as his trophy and he regretted the fate the marlin was brought to yet he never lost the will to fish in the seas that gave him life. La mar has been good to him. The sea gave him what he needed and Santiago was thankful of the lessons he learned. He was destroyed, yes, fatigue was his destruction but he was never defeated because not once did he say that he gave up on fishing.
The experience he had while in the sea made him realize of important things other than his trophy. He realized that material things are gone easily. But losing the marlin made him realize that he can go farther than expected. It was a test of endurance, perseverance, courage and will. It was a test of humanity because the experience brought out the compassion hidden in the society Santiago lived in. The experience brought out the best of him and it also brought out the worst of him.
Despite having to talk aloud even if he was alone, he had never considered himself as crazy. Santiago’s habit of talking aloud was when the boy was taken away from him. His loneliness was brought about by affection to the boy. His loud musings was his way to comfort himself and at the same time entertaining himself away from straying into lonely thoughts. Now that Manolin has decided to be with Santiago, he will be no longer lonely. And for once they’d been honest with each other.
Santiago is right, “Eighty-five is a lucky number”. Indeed, it is a lucky number.