The Old Man and the Sea is Hemingway’s masterpiece of human will and solitude. This article explores the nature and symbolism of the work through the struggles of an old man.
The Old Man and the Sea was published by Ernest Hemingway in September 1952 and went on to win him the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. The Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway’s last published work, and it was a pivotal novel in his career. It was written at the height of his literary career, condensing many of his life’s experiences, and he had suffered a decade of writer’s block before The Old Man and the Sea was published. Hemingway hoped that this work would restore his reputation as a writer, and it did, as it was immediately received enthusiastically by readers and even won him a literary award.
An avid fisherman, Hemingway got the inspiration for the novel from a fisherman named Montespene whom he met while traveling in Cuba. Hemingway used the fisherman’s story and his own personal experiences to create The Old Man and the Sea, striving to bring every element of the novel to life with vivid realism. The fishing tackle and process used throughout the novel is so realistic that it could not have been done without experience, and Hemingway actually caught a large marlin himself.
But it’s not just the descriptive power that readers love about The Old Man and the Sea. It’s because they are moved by the idealized portrait of man and life, and by the succinct and compelling way in which it captures the idea of a man struggling in the vast ocean of life to achieve a single goal: catching fish.
“The Old Man and the Sea” is a short, simple novel. An old fisherman named Santiago hasn’t caught a fish in 84 days, but one day he goes out to sea and encounters a very large fish. The old man wrestles with the fish for two days and finally succeeds in catching it, but the fish is too big to fit in the boat, so he ties it to the side of the boat and returns home, only to be attacked by sharks who smell blood. Desperately trying to keep the fish, the old man gives it up to the sharks and is left with nothing but bones and a skull. The story ends with the old man returning home and falling into a deep sleep.
This is the ultimate in futility, as the old man endures 84 days of waiting, hunger, the pain of his wounded hands, and loneliness in order to catch the biggest fish of his life, but in the end, he has nothing.
But the old man doesn’t take it all in pain. Rather, he adjusts to the situation and accepts the reality of the rough sea. For the old man, the sea is life itself, giving him everything and taking him to his death. The sea gives the old man food, embraces him like a mother, and gives him whims like a young woman. And the old man faces the sea with courage and passion, or he embraces it with manliness, and he humbly accepts the consequences. And like the sea, he manfully accepts and willingly allows his humble life and reality. He is responding positively to his reality with a mature attitude. Thus, readers can take to heart the image of the old man as an eternal winner, even if he has nothing and returns to his bed to collapse and fall asleep.
However, “The Old Man and the Sea” is not only about the heroic way the old man faces hardship. The old man also shows a delicate, feminine, and tender side through the presence of a boy. The boy is a young fisherman who is the embodiment of the old man.
As a fisherman, he respects the old man, but he never forgets to honor and care for the old man. The boy provides comfort and encouragement to the old man, and the old man humbly relies on the boy rather than acting like a man or an adult, forming a different kind of friendship. The boy expresses tenderness, charity, and human bonds through his existence.
The boy praises the old man as the best fisherman and offers to fish with him, despite the disapproval of everyone around him. The boy refuses and goes out to sea alone, but whenever the old man faces difficulties, he misses the boy and thinks about how great it would be if the boy were with him now. The boy is the younger version of himself that the old man recalls, and he is also a beautiful being who inspires him with strength and courage.
Thinking of the boy when he is fighting alone in the Great Sea of Doom is a great symbol of the meaning of human solidarity and bonds. The boy also allows the old man to show his tender, feminine side and reveal his very human side. The old man is also shown to be very human, revealing his tender, feminine side, and his love for the sea, birds, fish, and everything else in nature.
Hemingway depicts all of this in his characteristically concise style. He uses tremendous compression, fast-paced action, and understated language, with very little emotional expression. But that’s what makes The Old Man and the Sea such a moving and imaginative novel, with small symbols that convey so much. It allows the reader to conjure up a vivid picture of a situation that is more maximized than any formula or emotional expression.
The old man, the big fish, and the sea in “The Old Man and the Sea” are similar to our lives. The old man, the big fish, and the sea are similar to our own lives. The moving story of an old man who never loses hope in the face of misfortune and adversity is a story of process and mental victory rather than outcome. The extreme spirit of perseverance, responding positively to misfortune without giving up, shows that we are willing to turn defeat into victory. In addition, the equal and interdependent love and sharing shown by the old man and the young boy makes us reflect on true humanity and sincerity. This is perhaps why this novel has touched and endeared itself to readers for so many years.
“Man may be doomed, but he cannot be defeated.”
Hemingway’s words show the beauty of the beliefs that humans have, and that humans are capable of having. I hope that readers will long reflect on and savor the deeply moving world that emanates from that unwavering conviction.
