Abstrakt

The Biblical influence and symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea, autor Mariana

Szabóová, Univerzita: Žilinská Univerzita, Fakulta prírodných vied, Katedra: Anglický

jazyk a literatúra, vedúci bakalárskej práce Ján Kozoň, Žilina, apríl 2009

Cieľom bakalárskej práce je analýza biblických prvkov v diele Ernesta Hemingwaya

Starec a more. Táto práca sa zaoberá vplyvmi, ktoré má Biblia na postavy tohto

známeho diela.

Bakalárska práca pozostáva zo štyroch hlavných kapitol. Prvá kapitola prezentuje

základné a všeobecné informácie o historickom a literárnom pozadí doby, v ktorej bola

kniha napísaná. Druhá kapitola pozostáva zo základných informácií o  autorovi

Ernestovi Hemingwayovi a stručne opisuje štýl a literárny jazyk novely. Tretia kapitola

je zameraná na biblické prvky v diele a zaoberá sa analýzou hlavných postáv

a porovnáva ich s hlavnými postavami Nového Zákona. V poslednej kapitole sa

venujeme ďalším symbolickým prvkom, ktoré sú taktiež prepojené s Kresťanstvom.

Kľúčové slová: symbolizmus, biblické prvky, Ježiš Kristus, utrpenie, Kresťanstvo

Abstract

The aim of the bachelor paper is to analyze the biblical features in the novel The Old

Man and the Sea written by Ernest Hemingway. This paper deals with the influence that

Bible has on main characters in the famous novel.

Our paper consists of 4 essential chapters. The first chapter presents some general

information about the historical and literary background of the period in which the book

was written. The second chapter consists of the basic information about the author

Ernest Hemingway and briefly describes the style and figurative language of the novel.

The third chapter is focused on Christian features and deals with the analysis of the

main characters and compares them with the major figures in the New Testament.

In the last chapter we deal with other symbolic features that are accordingly connected

with Christianity.

Key words: symbolism, biblical features, Jesus Christ, suffering, Christianity

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Čestné prehlásenie

Čestne prehlasujem, že svoju bakalársku prácu som vypracovala samostatne a všetku

použitú literatúru uvádzam v zozname.

Žilina, 23. apríla 2009 ...............................

Mariana Szabóová

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Poďakovanie

Touto cestou by som sa rada poďakovala vedúcemu bakalárskej práce, PaedDr. Jánovi

Kozoňovi, PhD., za poskytnutú pomoc a užitočné rady.

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Contents

Introduction.......................................................................................................................6

1. Prologue to modernism and lost generation..................................................................7

1.2 Historical and literary background..........................................................................8

1.3 The iceberg principle...............................................................................................9

2. The life of Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)................................................................11

2.1 Literary period.......................................................................................................12

2.3 Style and Figurative Language in The Old Man and the Sea................................13

3. Christian features in The Old Man and the Sea..........................................................14

3.1 Numerology in The Old Man and the Sea.............................................................16

3.2 Santiago - a Christ-like figure...............................................................................19

3.3 Best known analogies between Santiago and Christ ............................................26

3.4 Manolin..................................................................................................................28

3.5 Marlin....................................................................................................................29

3.6 Pedrico and Santiago´s wife..................................................................................30

4. Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea....................................................................31

4.1 The title..................................................................................................................33

4.2 Manolin´s age........................................................................................................34

4.3 Use of baseball in The Old Man and the Sea........................................................35

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................37

References.......................................................................................................................38

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Introduction

The Old Man and the Sea is the last major work written by Ernest Hemingway. It won

the year’s Pulitzer Prize in 1954. A great deal of Christian symbolism is hidden in the

novel and one must be able to read between the lines to detect it. At the first sight the

novel might seem quite ordinary but after rereading it one has a feeling there is still

something concealed that might be discovered. The impact of the novel on the readers is

impressive.

The aim of our bachelor paper is to deal with the Christian features and symbolism in

The Old Man and the Sea and to accomplish the great influence of the Bible on main

characters in the book. To be more precise we deal with the parallels between Jesus and

Santiago, the main character in the novel. Biblical parallels among Jesus Christ and

Santiago are of profound interest to us. For instance, Santiago´s suffering represents the

suffering experienced by Jesus. We also deal with the criticism of some noted critics.

Our paper consists of 4 essential chapters. The first chapter presents some general

information about the historical and literary background of the period in which the

novel was written. Moreover, we tried to clear up Hemingway´s often used theory of

Iceberg.

The second chapter consists of some basic information about the author Ernest

Hemingway and briefly describes the novel´s style and figurative language.

The third chapter is focused on Christian features in the novel and deals with the

analysis of the main characters and compares them with the major figures in the New

Testament. The main character in the novel, Santiago, is in the center of our attention.

We also concentrate on the other characters – Manolin, Marlin and the Sharks, Pedrico

and Santiago´s wife. We aim to attest that all of them symbolize the major figures in the

New Testament.

The fourth chapter, the last one, deals with other symbolic associations that are also

connected with Christianity. We focus on Manolin´s age and application of baseball in

The Old Man and the Sea.

The following hypothesis arises of those mentioned thoughts: Ernest Hemingway

decided to construct his story to reflect upon the life of Jesus Christ. All of the

characters in the novel represent the major figures in the New Testament.

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1. Prologue to modernism and lost generation

The large cultural wave of Modernism, which gradually emerged in Europe and the

United States in the early years of the 20th century, expressed a sense of modern life

through art as a sharp break from the past, as well as from Western civilization´s

classical traditions. Modern life seemed radically different from tradition life – more

scientific, faster, more technological and mechanized. Modernism embraced these

changes.

In literature, Gertrude Stein developed an analogue to modern art. Using simple and

concrete words she developed an abstract, experimental prose poetry. The quality of

Stein´s simple vocabulary recalls the bright, primary colors of modern art. By

dislocating grammar and punctuation, she achieved new ´abstract´ meanings. Meaning,

in her work, was often subordinated to technique, just as subject was less important

than shape in abstract visual art. Subject and technique became inseparable in both the

visual and literary art of the period. Kathryn VanSpanckeren (1994) states: „The idea of

form as the equivalent of content, a cornerstone of post-World War II art and literature,

crystallized in this period“.

Technological innovation in the world of factories and machines inspired new

attentiveness to technique in the arts. To take one example: Light, particularly electrical

light, fascinated modern artists and writers. Vision and viewpoint became an essential

aspect of the modernist novel as well. No longer was it sufficient to write a straight-

forward third-person narrative or use a intrusive narrator. The way the story was told

became as important as the story itself. Many American writers experimented with

fictional points of view. To analyze such modernist novels and poetry, a school of

´New Criticism´ arose in the United States, with a new critical vocabulary.

Despite modernity and unparalleled material prosperity, young Americans of the 1920s

were “the lost generation” – so named by Gertrude Stein.

“Kathryn VanSpanckeren (1994) claims: “The secure, supportive family life, the

familiar, settled community, the natural and eternal rhythms of nature that guide the

planting and harvesting on a farm, the sustaining sense of patriotism, moral values

inculcated by religious beliefs and observations – all seemed undermined by World War

I and its aftermath.”

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1.1 Historical and literary background

The world depression of the 1930s affected most of the population of the United States.

Workers lost their jobs, and factories shut down. Businesses and banks failed, farmers,

unable to harvest, transport or sell their crops, could not pay their debts and lost their

farms. Kathryn VanSpanckeren (1994) points out: “Midwestern droughts turned the

´breadbasket´ of America into a dust bowl. Many farmers left the Midwest for

California in search of jobs, as described in John Steinbeck´s The Grapes of Wrath

(1939). At the peak of the Depression, one-third of all Americans were out of work.

Many saw the Depression as a punishment for sins of materialism and loose living. “

The depression turned the world upside down. The United States had preached a gospel

of business on the 1920s. Many Americans supported a more active role for government

in the New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Federal money created

jobs in public works, conservation, and rural electrification. Artists and intellectuals

were paid to create murals and state handbooks. These remedies helped, but only the

industrial build-up of World War II renewed prosperity.

Kathryn VanSpanckeren (1994) emphasizes: “After Japan attacked the United States at

Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, disused shipyards and factories came to bustling life

mass-producing ships, airplanes, jeeps, and supplies. War production and

experimentation led to new technologies, including the nuclear bomb.”

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1.2 The iceberg principle

Ernest Hemigway, in his message to the Swedish Academy, claims: „Things may not be

immediately discernible in what a man writes... And by these, and a degree of alchemy

that he possesses, he will endure or be forgotten.“

Hemingway believes that if a writer knows what he is writing about and is writing truly

enough, he may omit things that he knows and the reader will have a feeling of those

things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. Ernest Hemingway even states:

„The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above

water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow

places in his writing.“

According to P.G. Rama Rao (2007) the iceberg theory points to the literary technique

of suggestion which means implied expression rather than explicit statement, or a subtle

hinting at something by creating an impression through suppression. When carried

further, it leads to symbolism, kind of literary expression which is non-transparent and

which beckons us beyond the literal meaning to a meaning or meanings lurking

elsewhere. P.G. Rama Rao emphasizes that anything that signifies something else is

a symbol, in a broad sense. A concrete thing may connote an abstraction; an event may

stand for a complex situation; may have an anagogic or mystic significance. Symbolistic

writing is thought-provoking and makes possible the reader´s active participation in the

business of literature. Symbolism is like an invisible bridge linking up the seen and the

unseen, the known and the unknown. As it functions in this capacity, sometimes, it may

have a certain indefiniteness about it.

P.G. Rama Rao (2007) claims that Hemingway uses symbolistic techniques in a closely

controlled way. He scarcely ever loses his control over his writing techniques, just as his

protagonists or he himself would handle with the greatest control a gun or a fishing rod

or a glass of liquor. But he is quite conscious of the possibility of the symbols carrying

more meanings than intended. Hemingway also seems to believe that a writer´s use of

symbolism is always unconscious. He thinks that what a writer makes truthfully may

mean many things. A writer may not insert symbols artificially in his work, but, as his

conscious mind is occupied with making real things, his unconscious mind sort out

things in such a way that the things so made have a symbolic or ironic significance and

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all the writer´s intellectual and moral equipment including his training, tradition, and

honesty goes into this kind of creation.

P.G. Rama Rao points out: “It is difficult to agree with Hemingway when he says that in

a good book symbols are never arrived at beforehand and stuck in. Hemingway´s own

practice, at times, does not uphold this view. Hemingway´s remarks to interviewers

should be taken with a grain of salt, for he never liked to be interviewed and was either

impatient or attitudinizing during the interviews. But he is truthful and precise in his

writings and his theory of “The Iceberg” throws considerable light on his technique of

understatement and symbolism (“The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only

one-eight of it being above water”). Symbolism is a kind of understatement. The writer,

who consciously uses a symbol, omits certain things and leaves it to the symbol to

suggest them. The writer may have a literary allusion in mind, a mythological or

religious allusion, or may be very strongly aware of a situation, physical or

psychological, but may no say it in so many words and only suggest it by some subtle

touch. The allusions in the writer´s mind also serve the purpose of lighting up a

situation and making the general meaning clear.”

“The dignity of movement of an iceberg,” Hemingway once said, “is due to only one-

eighth of it being above water. His short stories are deceptive somewhat in the manner

of an iceberg. The visible areas glint with the hard factual lights of the naturalist. The

supporting structure, submerged and mostly invisible except to the patient explorer, is

built with a different kind of precision – that of the poet-symbolist. Once the reader has

become aware of what Hemingway is doing in those parts of his work which lie below

the surface, he is likely to find symbols operating everywhere, and in a series of

beautiful crystallizations, compact and buoyant enough to carry considerable weight.”

Carlos Baker (1972: 117)

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2. The life of Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

Like many other fine novelists of the 20 th century, Hemingway came from the U.S.

Midwest. Few writers have lived as colorfully as Ernest Hemingway, whose career

could have come out of one of his adventurous novels. He was born in Illinois, and

spent childhood vacations in Michigan on hunting and fishing trips. Although his

parents wanted him ho became a doctor, he had no interest in continuing in his studies

after high school and began his writing career as a sports reporter.

When the country entered World War I in 1917, he was anxious to take part in it.

However, because of an eye problem, he was only accepted as a member of ambulance

corps in Italy where he was badly wounded and hospitalized. While spending six

months in a Milan hospital, he experienced his first serious romance with an American

nurse – material for A Farewell to Arms published in 1929. After the war, as a war

correspondent based in Paris, he met American writers Sherwood Anderson, Ezra

Pound, F.Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein. Gertrude Stein, in particular, influenced

his spare style. In 1925, supported by Aderson and Fitzerald, he published his first

collection of short stories, In Our Times. His first novel The Sun Also Rises, appeared

one year later and immediately established his reputation as a novelist along with his

characteristic “Hemingway style” of the tip of the iceberg.

On a safari in Africa, he was badly injured when his small plane crashed. Still, he

continued to enjoy hunting and fishing, activities that inspired some of his best work.

The Old Man and the Sea (1952), a short poetic novel about a poor, old fisherman who

heroically catches a huge fish, won him the Pulitzer Prize one year later and in 1958 the

Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize for Literature.

“Discouraged by a troubled family background, illness, and the belief that he was losing

his gift for writing, Hemingway shot himself to death in 1961.” Kathryn

VanSpanckeren (1994).

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2.1 Literary period

Hemingway was a modernist who succeeded in developing his own unique style.

Modernism omits the explanation, interpretations, connections, summaries, and

distancing that provide continuity, perspective, and security in traditional literature.

Zuzana Fabianová (2004) states: “A typical modernist work will seem to begin

arbitrarily, to advance without explanation and to end without resolution, consisting of

vivid segments juxtaposed without cushioning or integrating traditions. It will suggest

rather than assert, making use of symbols and images instead of statements.” Modernist

writers simply incline more to suggestion, vividness and directness and so the form of

texts changes as well. Their content in the American background is based on real

experience and protagonists are usually outsiders or marginal people unable to uncover

the truth.

Hemingway was one of the members of the Lost Generation – a group of artists

disillusioned and sceptical about the post-war world and man´s fate deprived of firm

securities in life. As a stoic, he portrays a courageous patience of a person suffering

physically or mentally. Most of his characters are physically or mentally impotent

people and most often reach some kind of defeat. They are tested in various crucial and

border situations of their lives to find out whether they are morally strong. Although his

protagonists are often defeated physically, they gain a moral victory and learn how to

lose with honor.

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2.2 Style and Figurative Language in The Old Man and the Sea

The style of Ernest Hemingway is very simple, influenced by his experience as a

journalist. He tries to catch the maximum of the present moment. He focuses more on

showing the emotion rather than describing the emotion itself. His diction is neutral and

simple from an every-day repertoire acquiring new values in the context. He avoids

using extra adjectives and necessary are only those that fit the situation and directly

communicate the meaning.

“Concentrating on the nature, country, and the scene he complements the fact with the

feeling of loneliness. “To achieve this, he uses a so-called principle of the iceberg:

seven-eights of meaning, the characters´ motives and their deeds are under water for

every part that is shown.” Fabianová Zuzana (2004: 188).

Descriptive passages of the sea and the sky take turns with Santiago´s thoughts,

monologues and dialogues with his body, the fish and the sea. There are occasional

instances of figurative language, mostly similes, metaphors and a few personifications.

13

3. Christian features in The Old Man and the Sea

The major allusions to Christ and the Christian tradition in the novel are inescapable and

this chapter deals with them according to the theme of the work. Furthermore, biblical

influence in The Old Man and the sea has been widely recognized by many noted

critics.

When The Old Man and the sea appeared in 1952, Philip Young wrote that it was

a metaphor for which Hemingway indicated his deep respect and enlisted ours through

the enhancing use of Christian symbols. John Halverson (1964) states that if the reader

has been told that Santiago is in some way to be associated with Christ, he can hardly

avoid finding more subtle allusions, especially on rereading the story.

According to P. G. Rama Rao (2007) there is a strong religious streak in Hemingway´s

fiction even as it is pronounced in Hemingway´s life and his intense Catholicism.

Hemingway´s fiction has a religious theme and he employs symbols including

Christological ones. He points out that The Old Man and the Sea has a predominantly

Christian and Christological symbolism and it has more biblical flavor than any other

work by Hemingway.

Joseph Waldmeir (1957) points out that what Hemingway is really committed to is not

orthodox religion, but the Religion of man. He states: „Hemingway did not turn

religious to write The Old Man and the Sea. He has always been religious, though his

religion is not of the orthodox, organized variety. He celebrates, he has always

celebrated, the Religion of Man: The Old Man and the Sea merely celebrates it more

forcefully and convincingly than any previous Hemingway work. It is the final step in

the celebration.”

Other critic, Melvin Backman, claims: „When we reach The Old Man and the Sea, we

seem to have come a long way from the early works, but there is a pattern into which all

of them fall. It is true that the old man is the hero who is not left alone, at the end of the

story, with death or despair. He is old and womanless and humble. Yet in him we have a

blending of the two dominant motifs – the matador and the crucified.”

There are enough hints in the novel to suggest that Santiago is a Christ-like figure, that

his suffering and nobility do constitute what we may call the phenomenon of

Crucifixion, and that the novel does have its own Christian or religious association.

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„A close and careful study of The Old Man and the Sea gives us a definite impression

of the fact that here is a novel, the scope of which is not just limited to a presentation of

realistic details about an old fisherman´s desperate and protracted struggle with a huge

fish and the sharks; instead, we do realize that here is a novel which is indeed a

successful work of art, poetic, symbolical, full of images, and ambiguous in a rich and

positive sense.“ Ishteyaque Shams (2002: 109).

Halverson (1964) points out that the implicit call in The Old Man and the Sea is not to

the church, but to the example of Christ. Hemingway´s religion has been called a

„religion of man“, but this is not necessarily un-Christian. For theologians remind us

that if God became man in Christ, it is also true that man became God.

„And Santiago´s final stature, saintly and God-like, suggests apotheosis. It is probable,

furthermore, that in the Old Man´s struggle with the marlin, Hemingway meant us once

more to hear the echoes of the Crucifixion. The fish, a firmly established traditional

symbol of Christ, is harpooned at noon. The Old Man clearly feels an identity with the

fish, suggesting man becoming God and sacrificing himself. And the Christian

resonance is there not only to extend the dimensions of the principals´ example but also

to support the moral and spiritual lesson of faith, hope and charity. By such means

Hemingway also comments indirectly on the practice of Christianity, its

institutionalization in the contemporary world: Santiago´s personal commitment to his

religion is superficial, a matter of perfunctory prayers and observances; but his

unconscious example is profoundly Christian, indeed imitatio Christi.“ Halverson

(1964: 53-54).

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3.1 Numerology in The Old Man and the Sea

Some critics strongly emphasize that the key in The Old Man and the Sea is in the

numerology, especially the number three. Santiago´s return in three days from the

death-like sea parallels resurrection. According to Joseph J. Waldmeir (1986) the three-

day span in each of the last three Hemingway´s novels, published during his life-time,

looks like the Christological entombment symbol. In addition to the well annotated

references to the crucifixion itself and to the other events of Passion Week, G. R.

Wilson (1986) points out that the author has provided some helpful clues quite early in

the book.

We might begin with the precise number of days preceding the events of the novel. At

the beginning we are told that Santiago „had gone eighty-four days now without taking

a fish.“ Why eighty-four days of bad luck and not some other number? According to

John Halverson (1964) it is possible that Hemingway was counting the number of days

since Christmas, for the calendar of the novel corresponds almost exactly to the

religious calendar commemorating the life of Christ from the Nativity to Easter.

However, the date of Easter varies from year to year, so that the number of days from

Christmas varies accordingly .

„But one year fits the time scheme of the novel: the year 1951, when Hemingway was

writing it. Santiago´s homecoming – his carrying of the mast up the hill, his stumbling

under its weight, his collapsing in a cruciform position – seems to allude clearly to the

events of Good Friday. This homecoming takes place on the eighty-eighth day of the

novel´s calendar. Good Friday was the eighty-ninth day from Christmas in 1951. The

discrepancy of a day may be a deliberate inexactness; or Hemingway may have made

the common mistake of substracting 25 from 31 to get the number of days from

Christmas to the end of December and arriving at the number 6, forgetting that you have

to add one more day to get the right inclusive number. If we accept this discrepancy,

then we see that the events of the novel take place in a period corresponding to Holy

Week. Thus the calendar of the novel – looking back to the first eighty-four days,

accounting for five current days, and looking forward to three more – almost exactly

parallels the Christian calendar for the year 1951“ Halverson (1994: 51-52).

16

The importance of eighty-four period is also underlined by G. R. Wilson: „If we add to

this eighty-four day period the three days covered by the book´s action, we get a total of

eighty-seven days. Shortly thereafter, the boy recalls: „But remember how you went

eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.“

(p.10) In this way, Hemingway establishes two separate time spans of eighty-seven days

that are important in the old man´s life. The „forty days“ and the three days covered by

the novella´s action are clear references to Christ´s Passion, respectively, and have been

so noted by nearly every critic. We know that Hemingway was familiar with the

liturgical calendar, and the basic fact that he chose to make such heavy use of Christian

symbolism in The Old Man and the sea argues against coincidence.“ G. R. Wilson

(p. 389-370).

Wilson identifies that the first of two time spans in the old man´s life, the eighty-seven

days followed by the three fruitful weeks, suggests the liturgical Mystery of the

Incarnation. During this period the Christian liturgy commemorates Christ´s assumption

of his earthly life and the establishment of his claim as the Son of God. Similarly,

Santiago establishes his claim in the eyes of the boy and becomes the hero. In the

dialogue concerning doubt and faith (p.10) we can see the existence of a master-disciple

relationship between the old man and the boy. In the three weeks during which the old

man and the boy „caught big ones every day“ (p. 10), Hemingway is supposed to be

alluding to the three years of Christ´s public activity during which he was with the

apostles and taught them how to become fishers of men, a role paralleled by Santiago

who teaches the boy how to become a good fisherman. Furthermore, the faith of the

apostles in Jesus of Nazareth was affirmed by performing miracles, and the boy´s belief

in Santiago seems to be founded on the miracle of three bounteous weeks.

„A later reference, also tied to a discussion of faith that immediately precedes it,

identifies this eighty-seven day span as a ´great record´ in the eyes of the boy, just as

Christ´s life on earth, as attested in the Gospels, constitutes a great record in a different

sense of the word. And when, to the boy´s comment, the old man responds, „´It could

not happen twice´“ (p. 19), he underlines the unique nature of his incarnation as hero.

Finally, the importance of all this is to be found in the theological concept that only

through the Incarnation of Christ, through his assumption of human form, can his

eventual sacrifice have redemptive value for mankind; were he only divine, the Passion

could have no human meaning because it would involve no sacrifice.

17

Similarly, Hemingway seems clearly to be establishing Santiago´s „great record,“ which

concluded with three triumphal weeks´ bounty, to render more meaningful the second

eighty-seven day span, which is to end with three days of agony and apparent defeat.“

G. R. Wilson (p. 370-371).

If the first span suggests the Mystery of the Incarnation, then the second span seems

correspondingly to suggest the Mystery of the Redemption. We are here concerned with

that period of the liturgical calendar beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on

Ascension Thursday. This period includes the mortification and death of Christ, the

instruction of the disciples in the meaning of Christ´s sacrifice by his repeated

appearances during the forty days following Easter and two mysteries – the

Resurrection and the final Ascension into Heaven. G. R. Wilson assures that looking at

The Old Man and the Sea with this in mind may clarify several matters: „First, the old

man, like Christ, achieves a triumph in apparent defeat. While Christ´s triumph is over

physical death, Santiago triumphs over the dentuso and the galanos which, though they

destroy the great marlin, cannot diminish the heroism that has led to the union of man

and nature climaxing the battle between fisherman and fish. In addition, Santiago is

able, again like Christ, to return to his disciple with the evidence of the hero-deed that

he has accomplished. The redemption that Santiago brings back to the world is to be

found in a recognition of the deep resources of human strength made possible when man

is properly attuned to his world, a strength that the old fisherman has painfully and

heroically exemplified.“ G. R. Wilson (p. 371).

The liturgical gloss of incarnation and redemption is important because it strongly

underlines the mythic dimension of The Old Man and the Sea. G. R. Wilson adds:

“Contrary to those critics who would minimize this work, the Christian symbolism is

not simply a pat overlay attempting to give weight to an otherwise mundane story, but

rather it constitutes the basic technique by which Hemingway presents his view of man

as a coherent and intrinsically important part of the cosmos in which he must find

value.” G.R. Wilson (p. 372).

Joseph J. Waldmeir (1986) claims that the novel with its heavily Christian metaphors

and symbols – ranging from an intricate numerology to the almost explicit portrayal of

the Old Man as a Christ figure – was at once a metaphor for what he identified as Ernest

Hemingway´s religion of man, and itself the culmination, the ultimate statement of that

credo.

18

3.2 Santiago - a Christ-like figure

The novel itself consists of several protagonists, of which we can see two of them as

main, who represent the major figures in the New Testament. These are Santiago and

Manolin. In following pages our aim is to discover and analyze the parallels between

them and major figures in the New Testament.

Santiago is the Spanish name of Saint James. He is called ´the best fisherman´ by

Manolin, the boy who admires the old man and loves him. Jesus taught Peter, John and

James how to ´catch men´ instead of catching fishes. He gave them a new life and made

saints out of ordinary fishermen. The same kind of conversion comes to Santiago, who

is like any other fisherman in the beginning.

„As we go through The Old Man and the Sea, we find that it is the old fisherman,

Santiago, who is projected as the main symbol in the novel, and that all other symbols,

including the sea as a symbol, revolve round this very main symbol.” Ishteyaque Shams

(2002: 95).

Carlos Baker (1956) point out that the man Santiago is only a simple fisherman, like his

namesake the son of Zebedee, mending his nets by the shore of Galilee and Santiago

shows, in his own right, certain qualities of mind and heart which are clearly associated

with the character and personality of Jesus Christ in the Gospel stories.

According to Ishteyaque Shams (2002) it is important to take note of the fact that

Santiago thinks of and speaks out in the name of Christ when the big fish is about to be

hooked and when he gets a vague idea of the huge size of marlin. ´Christ knows,´ says

Santiago, ´he can´t have gone;´ or, ´Christ,´ says he, ´I didn´t know he was so big.´

Moreover, Shams points out that it is significant that we see the old fisherman offering

prayers so that he may be able to catch the big fish.

„Santiago undergoes every possible pain and suffering to be able to catch the fish or to

kill it, and this element of pain or suffering coupled with the twin elements of piety and

compassion for the fish, does have its own Christian association. And in the present

novel we get the first inkling of Crucifixion in Santiago´s uninhibited, spontaneous

reaction to the arrival of sharks near the dead fish: ´Ayo,´ he said aloud. There is no

translation for this word and perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make,

involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood.“ Ishteyaque

Shams (2002: 104).

19

„And as Hemingway gives us Santiago´s Picture in sleep ´with his arms out straight

and the palm of his hands up,´ we immediately see his resemblance with Christ, and the

very phenomenon of Crucifixion is brought vividly before us.“ Ishteyaque Shams

(2002: 95).

As the novel opens on Monday of Holy Week and ends on Good Friday, John

Halverson (1964) points out that the Old Man´s journey from the shore to his shack is

another parallel with Christ. The shack reminds the Holy Tomb. When Santiago lies on

his bed, Manolin brings him a clean shirt, like Joseph of Arimathaea brought clean cloth

to wrap the body of Christ. The boy also brings some things for Santiago´s injured

hands, as ointments were brought for the dead Christ. Furthermore, Manolin stays with

Santiago and keeps watching him as a watch was set over the tomb of Jesus Christ.

„A three-day brisa is expected, when the Old Man will presumably be resting and

sleeping and recovering; at the end of this time, he and the boy will go out again. This is

surely a parallel to the period of Christ´s burial (and descent into Hell, according to the

Creed) and resurrection on the third day.“ John Halverson (1964: 52).

Halverson (1964) states if the idea of the Crucifixion hover behind and about Santiago´s

agony, as it seems to, it will not be gratuitous to look further into the significance of the

Crucifixion and the Old Man´s relation to it.

There are a lot of parallels between the Old fisherman and Christ when Hemingway

describes his famous fishing. A majority of the connotations occurs, in fact, when the

old man is out in the ocean. The Santiago´s endurance is admirable when he fights

against the fish. He states he will stay with the marlin forever on three separate

occasions. He claims he will continue the battle with the sharks when he says: „I´ll fight

them until I die“ (p. 102). His intention to persist is very similar to Jesus Christ´s

intention when he decides to stay on the cross till the end. Santiago´s hope and faith are

similar to the Christian faith, hope and love. Compared to Jesus on the cross, Santiago

was left alone when he had to agonize with the big fish. During the battle with the fish

the thought of his idol is a source of inspiration, satisfaction, and even a sense of

obligation for Santiago: „I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio.“ The famous

baseball player symbolize Jesus Christ whose followers want to deserve. In fact,

Santiago is able to do everything to be resultful. He even risks his life and nothing in the

world can stop him.

20

On one occasion Santiago is called by Manolin „the best fisherman“. Jesus, too, was so

called by apostles. Santiago hopes that no fish will be strong enough to change Manolin

´s opinion: „I may not be as strong as I think. But I know many tricks and I have

resolution“ (p.25). There is the expression implying the willful acceptance of suffering:

„he took his suffering“ (p. 71). Jesus before his captivity felt fear and was resolved to

suffer in the similar way. In either event it is the victory in defeat.

„Suffering and gentle and wood blend magically into an image of Christ on the cross.“

Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967: 4). Santiago´s battle against the sharks is very dramatic.

The Old Man trains his body and mind and uses them with great economy, risking his

body without reservation only if necessary. When his body does not satisfy his

demands, then he despises it. He endures his suffering like Jesus did. He decides to

show the boy „what a man can do and what a man endures“ (p. 73). Santiago yearns,

too, to give his performance in front of spectators, in front of his pupil, his model and

idol, and his fellow fishermen. Since this is not possible, he performs for an invisible

forum. „His struggle becomes a testimony of self and the experience of his own

championship. Finally, Santiago stages his performance for the great marlin.“ Wolfgang

Wittkowski (1967: 6).

The sharks represent those who would tear apart anyone´s success. The sharks might

symbolize the enemies which Jesus had, especially, when he was giving his life.

There is a big alikeness between Santiago and Jesus, when Santiago calls the fish as

„brother“. Christ loved everyone, even enemies, and treated them like his own brothers

and sisters. However Wolfgang Wittkowski (1957) states that Santiago only loves

certain people and animals, while detesting the others. He also identifies that Santiago is

not „gentle“ like Jesus, but rather like the fighters who still do not feel as Christians do.

Santiago calls the fish brother as an equal, ideal opponent and sharer in his destiny. In

such union and kindship with his opponent, it is no wonder that Santiago feels

compassion for the fish between rounds, and when the pride of his victory has faded,

compassion remains. „Beyond any and all Christian feelings he is bound to the fish in

antagonism toward the sharks and in the pride of the fighter and the killer. In the end, it

is not a question of the marlin or the sharks, but simply of the fact that the old man has

been defeated.“ Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967: 6).

21

After the sharks begins to mutilate the carcass of the marlin, Santiago expresses his

sorrow at having killed the marlin.

He starts to love and respect his opponent. Had he known this in advance, he would not

have gone out so far and would not have killed the marlin. Santiago´s unhappiness

about what has happened, and about the marlin, are legitimate. He has feelings of regret,

sin, and guilt. He tries to ignore such sentiments every time and exhorts himself to

continue fighting. At the end of the story Santiago still thinks and acts contrary to those

ideas. According to Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967) it was within the relationship of

Santiago and the marlin that critics thought they had uncovered a decisive

transformation from pride to love and humility in Santiago, a cessation of the previous

coexistence of pride and love, of the greatest sin and the greatest virtue.

Santiago even wonders whether it is not a sin to kill the fish. He tries to satisfy his

conscience and relieves himself: „You were born to be a fisherman as the fish was born

to be a fish.“ He next claims: „You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and sell for

food. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman.“ Critics consider his

mention of pride as self-reproach. „Those who give the story a Christian and moral

interpretation are thus correct that allegiance to the code of the fighter and a feeling of

sin are mutually exclusive. The voice of remorse turns out to be – as in the discussion

about sin – a hidden challenge to the Christian and moral way of thinking, the ´pride of

the devil´.“ Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967: 8).

At the end of his journey Santiago asks himself what actually was the thing that beat

him and replies: „Nothing. I went out too far.“ After Christ´s death some people have

asked what caused his defeat. The answer they have given is - Love – love made him to

go so far. Nobody defeated him. Santiago also remains champion. „The fight with the

marlin is kept separate from the fight with the sharks. The defeat in the latter does not

count.“ Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967: 10).

„The figure of Christ on the Cross occurs in the early dialogue „Today is Friday.“ The

legionnaires argue the merits of the crucifixion as if it were a fighting match, as if Christ

´s conduct were that of a fighter in the ring. The central leitmotif is the repeated

commentary, „He was pretty good in there today,“ and Jesus „took his suffering.“ As

with all Hemingway heroes, in his defeat Christ preserves to the end the unity of

suffering and fighting.

22

One can now clarify the meaning of the analogies between Santiago and Christ on the

Cross. In spite of clear allusions, for instance the great DiMaggio „who does all things

perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur“, Santiago shares exemplary stature with

Christ only in very general terms. Specifically, he shares with him affirmation of

genuine virtue in the fighter. In the moment of Santiago´s total exhaustion, he detects

a copper-like sweet taste in his mouth and spits. It may have been the taste of vinegar on

a sponge. The blood on Santiago´s face reminds the blood beneath the crown of

thorns.“ Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967: 14).

Santiago´s hand is also covered with blood and scars like Christ´s hands. Some critics

believe that throughout his entire struggle Santiago thinks about his hands like a person

crucified. Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967: 14) states: „Drawing parallels between his scars

and those of Christ, between him and Christ, is a rather provocative equation.“

When Santiago is locked in a battle with the fish, he wishes to show Manolin what sort

of man he is. He has proved it thousand times but it ´meant nothing´. He says: „I had

told the boy I was a strange old man. Now is when I must prove it.“ Santiago yearns to

show the boy what a man can do with his confidence, skills and tricks despite his age.

Jesus had a similar attitude. The apostles knew his mastery, however, he kept proving

them that he is the Son of God. Before his captivity he took Peter, James and John on

top of the hill and showed them his glory. He wanted to reinforce their faith in him.

Santiago is not only old but also companionless. Manolin is his only friend. When he

sails, he looks all across the sea to learn how alone he is. He wishes to have the boy to

help him. He says aloud: „I wish I had the boy. To help me and to see this.“ Jesus felt

similar desolateness when everybody left him. On the cross he cried with a loud voice:

„My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?“ The only person who has never left

Jesus was his mother. Mary believes in her Son like Manolin believes in Santiago.

Santiago is a man of humble birth. He lives in a shack that is made of the royal palm.

There is only a bed, a table, a chair and a place on the dirty floor to cook with charcoal.

He is very poor, however, he does not miss anything. When Manolin proposes to get

him another soap, a shirt or some shoes, he does not accept help easily. He is a very

simple person, like Jesus, and leads ascetic way of life. He often goes fishing without

eating. When he battles with the fish, he eats raw fish to give him strength. Santiago

seems to treasure Christ-like simplicity and humility very much.

23

Santiago is very tolerant, thankful and grateful to everyone. If anybody does something

good for him he feels obliged and tries to repay it. Pedrico has also done something

good for him and when he comes back with a big fish, he instructs Manolin: „Don´t

forget to tell Pedrico the head is his.“ The same attitude showed Jesus, when he

promised his followers to be blessed when they give up everything for him.

Santiago´s sleeplessness is another parallel with Jesus. During his fight with the fish he

wants to relax but he refuses it immediately. When he battles he cannot sleep. It is

known that Jesus often did not sleep quite. Instead of sleeping he was praying.

„Like Christ he has capacity for intense suffering for a great cause. In spite of feeling

dizzy and weak with exhaustion, he continues battle. With his prayers said, he feels

much better but suffering exactly as much and perhaps a little more but he consoles

himself saying that „...pain does not mater to a man“. He remains undefeated even in

his failure with the sharks. What makes him great is his determination, endurance and

capacity for intense suffering.“ R.N. Singh (1999:12).

„Towards the end of the novel, the old man turns desireles, indifferent and stoic. When

he visualizes the endless game of killing going on in the universe, he sheds fear and

turns indifferent to death for he learns that for to the on that is born death is certain and

certain is birth for the one that dies. He performs his appointed task to the utmost of his

ability and skill and is crowned with the glory of the prestigious prize. He feels satisfied

and does not bother about the fate or the fruit of his action for he knows that to action

alone he has a right and never at all to its fruits. Abandoning attachment, with an even

mind in success and failure, gain and loss, he sleeps of this worries and anxieties

Over and above, he has unique poetic sensibility unstained by reason. He is gifted with

an imaginative insight of a poet with which he can see the fish deep into the sea and feel

how his adversary is hungry, tired and sleepless. He identifies himself with the fish to

feel his suffering. From the manner of his behavior and movements, the old man

realizes how great and dignified his adversary is. It is this quality that distinguishes him

from other fishermen and makes him great, loveable and intensely human.“ R.N. Singh

(1999:13).

R.N. Singh (1999) emphasizes that Santiago by the end of the novel is not what he is in

the beginning. He is a man completely transformed – a man spiritually re-born. He is

a saint, an enlightened one. He does not change or progress in the ordinary sense.

24

„The development in his character that does occur might be best compared to the

spiritual progress, a saint might achieve as a result of an ordeal that tests character traits

already acquired. As a saint should, he lives and moves within a medieval world of

sorts, with a clearly defined chain of being. The story of Santiago is posed in terms of

paradoxes central to religious faith, and the protagonist successfully practices the

fundamental natural principles of harmonious opposition, compassionate violence and

victorious defeat.“ R.N. Singh (1999:14).

25

3.3 Best known analogies between Santiago and Christ

When the Old Man sees the ´galanos´ coming, he says: „Ay“ – a noise such as a man

might make, feeling the nail go through his hand and into the wood. Santiago is the man

crucified and the ´galanos´ are the soldiers of the crucifixion. Overleaf Santiago is

himself crucifier and killer. „As he leans against the wood and so reminds one of Christ

on the Cross, he says: „I will kill him though. In all his greatness and his glory.“ (73).

Indeed, he drinks shark oil, and the teeth of the ´dentuso´, the great Mako shark,

resemble his fingers, especially when they are bent into claws. ´Dentuso´ is the

strongest fish of the sea, a champion like Santiago. It has killed many sharks and yet ´all

his greatness and his glory´ calls to mind Christ on the Cross. The struggles between

Santiago, the marlin, and the sharks are evidence that „everything kills everything else“.

Each is sent out into life to fight and to suffer, to crucify and to be crucified.“ Wolfgang

Wittkowski (1967: 15).

Analogy when Santiago lies on his bed „face down with his arms straight and the palms

of his hands up“ (134) is very disturbing. Santiago falls into his face whenever the

marlin pulls him off his feet. „It is the same force of habit which makes the fighter

assume the ´facedown´ position in a given situation, though the only purpose for the

gesture is an artistic one; a variation of the Christ-analogy in which the protagonist

refuses to admit defeat. This is the obvious purpose of one allusion to the Passion“.

Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967: 15).

Santiago comes ashore. Although he is exhausted he shoulders the mast and climbs up

the steep bank. On the top he falls and lies there „with the mast across his shoulder.“ He

tries to get up, however, it is too difficult. He sits with the mast on his shoulder and

looks down the street. Finally, he struggles to his feet and goes on. The mast brings

reminds Christ making his way towards Golgotha. „All allusions to Christ on the Cross

are simultaneously allusions to the fighter in the ring. On the contrary, it sanctifies

a non-Christian ethos. It implies that a perfection, an authenticity is only possible on the

bases of this ethos. Thus the fighter-in-the-ring model subsumes the Christ model. The

Christ analogy is, at the same time antithesis. Stated differently, in Santiago the fighter-

metaphor intensifies the combative elements of the Christ model“. Wolfgang

Wittkowski (1967: 16).

26

Santiago falls down many times before he reaches his shack much like Christ kept

falling on his way to Golgotha. When Santiago takes the mast he does it without

hesitation. „Actually, he carried the mast already at the beginning of the story, and when

he finally does return home empty-handed, after 87 days, he has repeated his record

streak of bad luck.The ´permanent´ defeat does not detract from his accomplishments.

On the contrary, it reinforces what matters: the affirmation of „what a man can do and

what a man endures.“ Wolfgang Wittkowski (1967: 16).

„When Santiago cries out as a man might „feeling the nail go through his hands and into

the wood,“ the simile fairly leaps the page. He climbs a Calvary-like hill, though in the

night, he falls under a cross-like mast, but five times rather than the traditional three, he

goes to sleep in a cruciform position, but face downward and palms up, which does not

exactly correspond to the image of Christ on the cross.“ Halverson (1964: 51).

27

3.4 Manolin

Halverson (1964) claims that the salvation brought by the Crucifixion is represented by

the boy Manolin, the ´new man´. At the end of the novel Manolin is assuming

responsibility and initiative and he is growing up to take the Old Man´s place. John

Halverson adds that perhaps this direction and promise are indicated in Manolin´s name,

a Spanish form of Emanuel, meaning „God with us.“

Quite obvious parallel is the teacher-disciple connection between Santiago and

Manolin. The boy learns from Santiago not just the tricks of fishing, but everything:

„you can teach me everything,“ Manolin says. The same attitude had also apostles to

Jesus who was not just a friend but first of all he was their Teacher. Manolin believes in

the old man and takes charge of 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.“ 

Nevertheless, the boy makes the choice between family and the Old Man: „What will

your family say?“ Santiago asks. Manolin´s answer is clear: „ I do not care.“

„Manolin is an excellent specimen of a faithful and devoted disciple ready to sacrifice

all for knowledge and service of his master who is, indeed, an enlightened one.“ R.N.

Singh (1999:17).

As we have already mentioned, Santiago´s name is symbolician as well. Saint James,

the apostle of Jesus, is his namesake. Saint James was fishing with his brother John

when Jesus called him to be his follower. The Christ´s words: „Follow me“, changed his

life. He forsook all, and followed Jesus without hesitation. In the same way Manolin

wants to be with the Old Man and follow him.

„In imitation of Christ he taught, won converts, suffered, and died a martyr. Through

long generations of official and unofficial apostolic succession the call has been

repeated: Follow me. And Manolin in turn hears it from his Saint James.“ Halverson

(1964: 53).

28

3.5 Marlin

Christological element can be seen not only in Santiago but also in marlin. Many critics

also points out the parallel between the marlin´s death and the crucifixion of Jesus

Christ. The marlin´s strange death occurs at noon and Santiago had an unforgettable

vision of it. „It is, perhaps, worth remembering also that while Christ did not die at

noon, His ordeal began then, as does the marlin´s and that the observers of his death

also had a strange vision.“ P. G. Rama Rao (2007: 68).

P. G. Rama Rao (2007) compares the passage when the old man drove his harpoon into

the fish´s side with the vision of Jesus on the cross high up in the air with a spear

piercing his side. The Christological symbolism moves back between the marlin and

Santiago. The marlin is harpooned first and lashed to the wood of the boat. As for

Santiago, there is a vivid image of the old man as he settled against the wood of the

bow, and took his suffering as it came, telling himself: “Rest gently now against the

wood and thing of nothing” (58).

„The huge fish, Santiago´s prize catch, is not only the marvel of creation, it is also

something akin to Christ, for, as we have pointed out earlier, fish has been traditionally

associated with Christ. The next symbol that deserves mention at this point comes to us

in the form of the sharks which represent the forces of death and destruction. In its own

turn, the sea, with all its depth and vastness, symbolizes both mystery and immensity,

and Santiago´s feeling of loneliness during his drift on the sea is quite natural and

understandable.

Besides these major symbols – Santiago, Manolin and marlin, there are other symbols

as well in it in the form of Pedrico, the boy, Manolin, Santiago´s love for the baseball,

and his dreams.” Ishteyaque Shams (2002: 106).

29

3.6 Pedrico and Santiago´s wife

Most of the critics agree that another character in the novel, Pedrico, might symbolize

Saint Peter, one of Jesus´ closest apostles and a great fisherman. Peter was Jesus´ friend

and helped him fish for souls as Pedrico helps Manolin fish for food. Santiago gives

Pedrico the head of the marlin which symbolizes Saint Peter as head of the Christian

church.

The only female character in The Old Man and the Sea is Santiago´s wife, who appears

as an old tinted photograph hidden away in a corner of the room. According to P. G.

Rama Rao (2007) she is the repository of his religion and she now exists only as an old

photograph but the two relics, the pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin of

Cobre, symbolize the good woman and her values and faith. While the picture of his

wife gives him a sense of bereavement and makes him feel lonely, the pictures of Virgin

Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus comfort him and strengthen his heart and hence his

prayers to them during his struggle with the great marlin. Thus The Old Man and the

Sea marks the maturity of Hemingway´s religious symbolism.

“Furthermore, in his shack, he has a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and another of

the Virgin of Cobre. These were relics of his wife. Once there had been a tinted

photograph of his wife on the wall but he had taken it down because it made him too

lonely to see it and it was on the shelf in the corner under his clean shirt.” P. G. Rama

Rao (2007: 70).

„It is important to remember that Santiago, a name that takes us to Saint James,

a fisherman, apostle and martyr from the Sea of Galilee, is the central symbol in The

Old Man and the Sea and that all the other symbols of this novel revolve round this very

central symbol.” Ishteyaque Shams (2002: 111).

30

4. Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea

For a long period Hemingway critics have discussed allegorical overtones in The Old

Man and the Sea. The allegorical interpretation of the novel has been mentioned by

reputable critics and scholars. The first of the critical approaches construes The Old

Man and the Sea as an extended autobiographical allegory. According to Steven Scott

(1972) this reading is articulated most completely in the dissertation of Stanley David

Price: „Demonstrates that Hemingway consciously included in The Old Man and the

Sea a level on which there is revealed both allegorical and metaphysical overtones

concerning Santiago as the fisherman-writer, the marlin as the writer´s literature, and

the sharks as the critics who attack the author´s works. Furthermore this tripartite

division concerns not only writers in general but Hemingway in particular.“

Steven Scott (1972) points out the second major critical approach to The Old Man and

the Sea „as Hemingway´s tragic vision“ and points for its significance „to the novel´s

essential Christian morality“. These readings stress Santiago´s identity as „an idealized,

archetypical hero, even a saint if one considers that his name translates as ´Saint James´,

the patron saint of Spain, an apostle, and also a fisherman.

The third critical approach identified by Steven Scott (1972) uses Hemingway´s famous

statement: „I tried to make a real man, a real boy, a real sea and real fish and real

sharks...If I made them good and true enough they would mean many things“ (1954).

The life of Santiago is closer to the most of us than those of many of Hemingway´s

other heroes and we can see ourselves in him and thus find encouragement for our own

struggles. Steven Scott states that critics such as Leslie Fiedler dislike The Old Man and

the Sea precisely because its perceived realism does not quite measure up to the realism

that was expected of it. Fiedler calls the novel a „second-rate imitation“ of his best

work. Finally, in the research carried out by Steven Scott, there are numerous readings

that elaborate on Hemingway´s personal sources – adventures, trips, memoirs, library

holdings – for the Old Man and the Sea, and base their interpretations very strongly on

those sources. He says that Michael Culver, for instance, cites a fishing trip taken by

Hemingway, Henry Strater, and John and Katy Dos Passos as important to the novel´s

realization; Janice Byrne discusses the relevance to the Old Man and the Sea of the log

of Hemingway´s fishing boat, the Pilar; Kathleen Morgan and Luis Losada detect traces

31

of oral literature in the novel and suggest Homeric influences, from both the Illia and

the Odyssey.

P. J. Scharper (1952) states: „The appearance of Hemingway´s latest novel, The Old

Man and the Sea, seems to have done little to settle the current critical disputes as to his

eventual stature as a novelist. By and large, those who have considered him superbly

second-rate have only been strengthened in their opinion, while those who have hitherto

looked on him as a world novelist of frontline point to this latest work as complete

substantiation of their judgment.” P. J. Scharper (1952) points out that The Old Man and

the Sea is another presentation of the “Hemingway hero“ – substantially the same

person who has appeared in various guises. „This radical identity of the Hemingway

heroes has been so long and so widely recognized that critics are justified in calling

these various central characters so many sketches for the composite portrait of that

single person, the typical Hemingway hero. Most of his characters lack a personal

history; they are people without a past who live in and for the present moment – the

only portion of time which has any real meaning for them. Santiago, the old fisherman

alone on the empty sea, whose only link with the past is the fact that he dreams at night

of the lions he saw on the African beaches when he was a young man, is representative

of the intensely personal world of the Hemingway hero.“ P. J. Scharper (13, 1952).

Scharper also identifies the Hemingway´s theme – a secularized, attenuated version of

the Christian paradox that to gain life, one must first lose it. „His latest novel becomes

an affirmation of faith in his earliest artistic conviction that the only meaningful

experience in life is the display of raw courage in the face of a meaninglessly malign

universe.“ P. J. Scharper (13, 1952).

32

4.1 Title

In april of 1936, Hemingway published an essay entitled „On the Blue Water“

(A Gulf Stream Letter). Steven Scott (1972) point out that some critics argue not only

that this story was the original model for The Old Man and the Sea, but that the original

anonymous „old man“ was a Cuban fisherman named Anselmo Hernandez, who in fact

posed for more than one photo with Hemingway, and caused headlines when he

announced that „I knew Hemingway for thirty years ... He said he would write a novel

about me and he did.“ The Esquire story is widely recognized as the „original“ model

for Hemingway´s novel.

Steven Scott (1972) states that if the novel were realism and it were simply and

realistically titled, it would be called, for instance, The old man and the fish. The Old

Man and the Sea does not seem appropriate if this novel truly is a so – called standard

Hemingway venture into realism (with „a real old man, a real boy,“ etc). In addition, he

says that the phrase „Old Man of the Sea“ was, apparently, in relatively common use in

the 1930s, though it seems to have fallen out of common usage. in the 1990s: for

example, in the month before Hemingway´s „On the Blue Water“ appeared in Esquire,

a story by Arnold Zweig was published in Esquire entitled „The Old of the Sea“.

“The title of the The Old Man and the Sea is too simple and clear to call for any

explanation; this novel tells us about the adventure and struggle of an old man, an old

fisherman named Santiago, who, after months and disappointment, goes far out on the

sea, catches a huge fish all by himself on the eighty-fifth day, struggles with the fish in a

spirit of love and hate, and resists the sharks with all the fierceness and strength at his

command, but who, after all this ordeal, is able to bring to the shore only the skeleton of

the huge fish.” Ishteyaque Shams (2002: 95).

33

4.2 Manolin´s age in The Old Man and the Sea

Most commentators on The Old Man and the Sea refer to Manolin as „the boy“,

however, Malcolm Cowley and Carlos Baker indicate that Santiago´s devotee is more

than a lad, referring to him respectively as a „teen-age boy“ and as one standing „on the

edge of young manhood.“ Although Manolin in his sensitivity toward his mentor is,

indeed, „already a man“.

C. Harold Hurley (1991: 71) points out: „Baker, as with Cowley, does no specify

Manolin´s exact age; but by associating the strength and confidence of Manolin´s

alleged „young manhood“ with that of Santiago´s when he distinguished himself as both

fisherman and arm wrestler, Baker leaves the clear impression that Manolin is more

a grown man than a young boy. Although Santiago refers to Manolin as „the boy“

nearly a hundred times during the book, Hemingway is himself never explicit with the

young fisherman´s age. That Hemingway intended to characterize Manolin as a boy not

yet in his teens is implied. Mature beyond his years, Manolin, by the story´s end, is

nearly ready to move out from under his parent´s domination. Desiring to be taught

everything by Santiago, and not just fishing, Manolin in the ways of the sea and of life

is in many respects already a man, doing what a man must do. But despite his

remarkable level of awareness and sensitivity, Manolin remains in years, if not in

outlook, neither a tee-age boy nor a young man but a small boy no older than ten.“

Luis A. Losada (1994) claims that Manolin´s statement: „The great Sisler´s father was

never poor and he, the father, was playing in the Big Leagues when he was my age“ has

been read as evidence that he is ten years old. On this argument the second „he“ refers

not to George, the father, as most readers would understand it, but to Dick, the son.

Dick was ten when his father finished his career. Losada (1994) emphasizes that the

same statement has been used to argue that Manolin is twenty-two. In this case the

second „he“ refers, as normal in English, to George, who was twenty-two when he

began playing in the major leagues. Another critic found something „quite wrong“ with

the idea that Santiago has been teaching Manolin to fish for seventeen years and

proposed that the passage is an example of a „stylistic lapse“ that competent editing

would have corrected. In the novel normal usage of the referent „he“ in the disputed

passage supports the conclusion that Manolin is speaking about the father, George.

In conclusion Luis A. Losada (1994) identifies that the statement is neither necessarily

determinative of Manolin´s exact age, nor a stylistic imperfection.

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4.4 Use of baseball in The Old Man and the Sea

The use of baseball is very extensive in The Old Man and the Sea. James Plath (1996)

states that baseball and fishing are so closely connected in the old fisherman´s mind that

they blur as much as the distinction between fisherman and fish throughout the novel.“

The baseball references in the novel are connected with American and National League

pennant races in 1950, and to earlier events and personalities in both major league and

Cuban baseball. The references are combined as if occurring in the same season. James

Plath (1996) states that baseball references in The Old Man and the Sea are as obvious

and frequent as allusions to Christian mythos. Many critics have felt that baseball stars

are the heroes of the simple man Santiago and adds to his heroic proportions. Some saw

in baseball references a simple thematic substitution for more familiar Hemingway

athletes-boxers or matadors, while others concluded that baseball provides initiation

talks in which Santiago is the teacher, Manolin the pupil, and baseball a topic through

which desirable attitudes and behavior are taught.

According to James Plath (1996) Hemingway invites the reader to consider the

significance of the external events recorded in the sports section to the internal events

delineated in the novel. It is known that baseball was in Cuba, when the novel was

written, an integral part of daily life. Baseball has always been so important to the

people of Cuba that they measure themselves according to baseball and baseball

players. It is no wonder, then, that The Old Man and the Sea begins and ends with

baseball. At the novel´s end, Santiago gives the boy the spear from the big marlin,

which had been described as being „long as a baseball bat“ (62). The symbolic transfer

is especially meaningful if one considers how important bats are to baseball players. In

the novel Santiago finds immediate comfort, strength and reassurance in thinking about

baseball which he understands very well.

The Old Man reflects on the famous baseball player very much during his great fishing.

He wants to be „worthy of the great DiMaggio, who does all things perfectly even with

the pain of the bone spur in his heel“ (68). Three times the old man thinks if he is really

worthy of „the great DiMaggio“ and he wonders if DiMaggio would stay with a fish as

long as he will stay with that one. Santiago after his victory over the marlin remarks:

„I think the great DiMaggio would be proud of me today.“

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From our point of view the famous baseball player represents Jesus Christ and the

baseball symbolize the faith. Baseball is real and inspirational for Santiago as the faith.

And when he has killed the Mako shark he speculates: „I wonder how the great

DiMaggio would have liked the way I hit him on the brain“. It is obvious that it is very

important for Santiago to compare himself to his Master as often as possible. Santiago

simply follows his hero in pain, endurance, and skill and nothing is hard for him. He is

simply ready to undergo everything. He affirms himself: „Man is not made for

defeat...A man can be destroyed but not defeated.“ Despite the fact there is only fish´s

skeleton at the end Santiago is considered to be the winner.

„The skeleton provides tangible proof of the great Santiago´s achievement, proof that

the old man may still, to a degree, be unlucky, but certainly not unskilled.“ James Plath

(1996: 79).

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Conclusion

The Old Man and the Sea is the main work in the later stage of Ernest Hemingway.

It has influenced American as well as world literature.

In our bachelor paper we aimed to attest that consciousness of God and Christian

lineaments are in the Hemingway´s renowned novel. We found out that Santiago,

the main character, represents Jesus of Nazareth. Particularly, there are many references

in the novel to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Santiago´s wounded hands, the dried

blood on his face, his climbing up the road with the mast on his shoulder, his falling

under its weight and the way he lies in his shack all remind the martyrdom of Christ.

We do accede with some critics who emphasize that the Bible had a powerful influence

on Hemingway´s thinking and writing. This becomes obvious when making an analysis

and also trying to understand the purpose of the author. Going through the novel we

have perceived that the story of the Old Man is as interesting and exciting as its

religious parallels and symbolism are meaningful and fascinating.

Repeatedly, Hemingway enlists us through the use of Christian connotations.

The names of the characters translated from Spanish into English are just one of those

many allusions. In point of fact, characters in The Old Man and the Sea are major

figures in the New Testament.

In addition, many Hemingway´s stories carry religious influence and symbolism. We do

agree with the statement of one critic that sometimes Ernest Hemingway is too

religious. The usage of numbers in the novel is an excellent example. Numbers three,

seven, and forty are key numbers in the Old and New Testaments and Ernest

Hemingway makes a  use of them. For instance, often used number three is, in fact,

a symbol of Holy Trinity. Evidently, numbers have a  mystical import and they are

Christians connotations in the story.

To summarize, The Old Man and The Sea has a predominantly Christian symbolism

and it has more biblical flavor than any other work written by Ernest Hemingway.

There is a strong religious streak in Hemingway´s The Old Man and the Sea as it is

pronounced in the author´s life and his intense Catholicism. First and foremost, in our

bachelor paper, we wanted to attest that consciousness of God and Christian lineaments

are in the Hemingway´s renowned novel.

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References:

1. Backman, Melvin. “Hemingway: The Matador and the Crucified.” Ernest

Hemingway: Critiques of Four Major Novels. 1962: 135-143.

2. Baker, Carlos. Hemingway, The Writer as Artist. Princeston University Press, 1972.

17. Nov. 2008

<http://books.google.com/books?id=yP-cgVNr55wC&hl=sk

3. Dunlavy Valenti, Patricia. Understanding The old man and the sea. Greenwood

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4. Fabianová, Zuzana. Sprievodca dielami Anglickej a Americkej Literatúry. Bratislava:

Enigma, 2004. ISBN 8089132146, 9788089132140

5. Halverson, John. „Christian resonance in The Old Man and the Sea.“ English

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6. Hurley, C. Harold. “Just ´a boy´ or ´Already a Man?´: Manolin´s age in The Old Man

and the Sea.” The Hemingway review. 1991: 71-72

7. Hurley, C. Harold. “Hemingway´s Debt to Baseball in The Old Man and the Sea: A

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11. Price, S. David. “Hemingway´ The Old Man And The Sea.” Oklahoma State

University. 1997: 5.

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12. Rama Rao, P.G. Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. Atlantic Publishers

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Sea”. The Hemingway review. 1972: 2-17.

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