Examination and Connection

Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea tells the story based around the great struggle between a simple elderly fisherman, Santiago, and the catch of a lifetime. Finally Santiago is able to catch the great marlin so as I the reader I believe the plot has reached its climax and it will be a happy story from then on. Although, the plot took an unexpected twist when his life's achievement was taken away from him. After catching the fish a blood trail was left attracting sharks, Santiago fights off as many as he can but they are too many and they eat all the meat of his fish leaving only bone. I admired Santiago's reaction to this tragedy because he did not let it defeat him. Even though his physical prize was taken away from him, he still knew for himself that he had caught it, he had done something incredible, and just because it was eaten by sharks does not take away from the fact that he made the catch of a lifetime. The example set by Santiago was inspirational to me, he did not let the tragedy ruin him and he realized that he did not need recognition from others that he caught the fish he only needed the personal satisfaction of making the catch of his life. One pattern in the novel is the reoccurrence of Santiago’s dreams about the lions playing on the African beach. These lions are memories from his past and they remind Santiago of his youth and they help him deal with this great struggle.  In addition, Hemingway may be identifying Santiago with a lion, because just as a lion has to go out and hunt and find food and shelter on its own, Santiago must go out everyday and fish in order to survive. Santiago still takes pleasure in remembering his youth, allowing me to connect with the story by instilling in me the message that I must enjoy my young age while I am still young.

Hemingway's Style

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is the misleadingly simple story of an old fisherman who undergoes the hardest struggle of his life. Even though it is rather short, the novel is full of meaning. Hemingway uses simple diction and language, with small words and straightforward sentences. In addition to his use of simple diction, Hemingway’s novel has an unassuming plot that is easy to follow. His use of simple language is deceptive because the novel as a lot of underlying meanings. Hemingway is attempting to express as much as possible with the fewest and simplest words possible. The fact that he is able to use simple language and in as few words as possible, and still be able to display a complex meaning is a testament to his ability as a writer. Hemingway integrated a lot of metaphors into the novel in order to get across his themes, one of which being the ability of one man to persevere through the most difficult times. Throughout the story is met with many hopeless situations yet he is never defeated, and he is able to find strength in thoughts of his youth, Joe DiMaggio, and thoughts of the boy Manolin. The fish becomes a metaphor reflecting Santiango’s mental and physical states as they develop a bond through the element that they are at the mercy of the sea. Hemingway also integrates the use of allusions to get across his underlying messages. For example, he makes multiple religious and Christ references in an attempt to associate Santiago with Christ, with their suffering. In addition, he helps to uncover important parts about the story by making historical and true-life references and allusions. Hemingway also used a lot of imagery in the novel, and his use of these vivid descriptions acted as a way to make the story more realistic and display important events, people, etc. The tone of the story is sympathetic of the old man and his struggles, but at the same time it is straightforward and factual. Ernest Hemingway’s mastery of language is put on display in this novel by the way he is able to use simple language and yet still create a story with so much meaning; therefore, his rhetoric does suit his purpose.

Never Defeated

In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway one quote of Santiago that held a lot of weight was "Man is not made for defeat, a man can be destroyed but not defeated." Santiago said this after he had lost his harpoon and all his rope after killing a shark. Even though Santiago killed the shark it still managed to take a huge chunk of Santiago’s massive marlin, and its blood began emptying out into the ocean attracting even more sharks, that Santiago would not be able to fight off because he no long had his harpoon or rope. Santiago was left helpless as the sharks stripped the meat of his great catch leaving only the bones. Santiago was crushed because he had physically lost the prize of a lifetime; all that was left of the marlin was bone. He had spent all that time at sea waiting, hoping to make a catch like this, and when he finally was able to it was taken away from him. The meaning of Santiago’s quote is that if even though his actual prize was taken away from him, he still knew for himself that he had caught it and just because it was eaten by sharks does not take away from the fact that he made the catch of a lifetime. The sharks taking away his physical prize may have “destroyed” him but it will not truly “defeat” him because he knows for himself that he caught the marlin, he accomplished what he set out to do. Santiago has come to the realization that regardless of the outcome of an event, it will never be able to defeat him as long as he knows for himself he accomplished what he set out to do, and as long achieved this; nothing can take it away from him.

The End

The ending to The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway held gravity and had a message, but it was not clear as to what the significance about it was. The basic ending to the novel was that Santiago was finally able to catch his great prize fish, although during his return to shore sharks eat it and he is left with only the mere bones of the great fish. I took away from the conclusion of the novel the feeling of having a prize so close to you before it is taken away and you cannot do anything about it. The ending leaves you asking the question what is the true prize: reputation or money? If reputation is the true prize, then Santiago is the victor because everyone knows he was able to catch an eighteen foot fish by himself, which is an amazing accomplishment. If money the true prize, then Santiago did not succeed because even though he was able to catch a massive fish no one will be willing to buy a massive fish carcass, the meat is what is important. In the novel, clearly reputation is the true prize, especially for Santiago, who is so old that he does not need to worry about money and he was finally able to mark his place in history with his amazing catch. Although, in the material world we live in today money is always the true prize; therefore, if you are looking at the situation from this perspective it would be easy to see that Santiago is the loser because even though he was able to catch the massive fish he will have nothing to show for it because he will not be able to make any money from it. Clearly having the bones to show he caught such a great fish is significant because it bolsters his reputation, but in the real world this is meaningless because the real reward is money and obviously no one is going to pay good money for the carcass of a fish. The fact that he was able to end his life as fisherman by making the catch of a lifetime, proving the other fisherman wrong, is a truly satisfying ending. You as a reader are at peace because you realize that Santiago will end his life in peace because of his final catch.