Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea. Santiago, an aging fisherman, tackles a giant marlin in the Gulf of Mexico. Lions on the beach and crucifixion are tale themes.
In the story, Santiago dreams of lions on the beach before, during, and after his fishing excursion. The cubs represent his childhood. Adults represent nobility and power. Santiago is motivated, ambitious, and vital because of this. These dreams reflect life's circle nature: harmony between love and hatred, life and death, destruction and regeneration.
Santiago is associated with Christ through crucifixion imagery. Santiago is humble like Christ, and the old guy carrying his mast uphill parallels Christ's trip to Calvary. Santiago's bloodied arms sprawled out on his bed like Christ on the cross. The author uses Christ's crucifixion to illustrate transcendence by turning defeat into triumph, loss into gain, and death into regenerated life.
The story's topic is heroism. Santiago's resilience helps him overcome hunger, pain, and solitude. He doesn't blame the sharks for taking the marlin, but he admits it was his error to go so deep into the ocean. A lack of fish has plagued Santiago for the past eighty-four days. He doesn't give up, sailing farther than ever before. Despite tiredness and suffering, he fights the marlin. He battles sharks after catching them. When things become challenging and he's near despair, he employs numerous strategies to defeat his opponents. He prays and dreams of his youthful strength. Santiago is fearless in danger. The giant marlin reveals his potential. The result is less important than the struggle since he also fights sharks. Not bringing the marlin home is less significant than winning the battle and being a hero.
"Man can be annihilated but not vanquished" is the story's black hole. Santiago represents man's survival. No one can escape death, just as Santiago couldn't get the marlin to the mainland. Santiago's battle shows that escaping death isn't the primary concern. Near the end of his struggle with the marlin, Santiago hears the words "a man can be destroyed but not vanquished." Thus, overcoming the inevitable doesn't characterize a man, and his fight against fate defines him.
Annotated Bibliography
Afro-Cuban religion, cultural imperialism, and Santiago's failures in "The Old Man and the Sea" by Philip Melling 16 to 24 pages about Ernest Hemingway
Melling says Santiago's fight with the sharks is essential since he utilizes a broken oar. Santiago's desire to use a bat is critical. This source is valuable since the author utilizes Santiago to recreate the exploits of American baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. As a youngster, DiMaggio sneaked out to practice with a broken oar at local sandlots. Santiago lacks DiMaggio's abilities but has a baseball player's brains. Lee Brown's band sang a song on DiMaggio's role during WWII. Post-war media coverage piqued Santiago's interest in DiMaggio.
"Hemingway's Tragic Vision of Man." Clinton S. Burhans, American Literature of the 1960s, Volume 31.
According to this account, Santiago learns self- and world-awareness at sea. He sees the water as a woman who grants favours. He befriends and loves dangerous and unexpected creatures. His strongest affection for the marlin comes when he realizes he must catch it for his job and dignity, not for food. The author employs rich images to explain that, unlike other fish, the marlin was a spiritual being in Santiago's eyes. He proves that Santiago's opponent is worthy. Santiago kills the marlin because he considers them equals and his brother. Santiago feels guilty and lonely for sailing into the sea to slaughter the fish he loved. He thinks he betrayed the fish and returns home empty-handed.
Sam S. Baskett. "The Old Man and the Sea's 'Fifth Dimension." 269-286 in 1975's Centennial Review.
Baskett analyses The Old Man and the Sea from biblical connections to Santiago's odd atmosphere, which contributes to Hemingway's fifth-dimensional writing. Baskett provides various examples of Hemingway's fifth-dimensional writing; such as how Santiago is often called "the old man" He explains the biblical allusions in Hemingway's masterpiece. Many biblical texts and Santiago's lion visions are compared.
Psychoanalytic Theories critique
This straightforward narrative has a deeper meaning. It's about a man's persistence, pride, respect, and desire to succeed despite difficulties. Santiago's unconquerable spirit represents a life philosophy, and his journey offers numerous lessons.
Men aren't meant for loss. The older man owns a decrepit shack and a boat. His scarred, wrinkled, sun-spotted skin shows his sufferings. He cruises farther into the Gulf after 84 days without a catch. A guy does his best no matter what trials he faces. Despite problems and disappointments, a man's spirit may stay undefeated because it may inspire a man to keep trying.
A man shouldn't rely on luck. Santiago's Cuban fishing community calls him salao, which means bad luck. This makes him an outsider, and Manolin's parents won't let him fish with them. Santiago is hungry and poor, although other fishermen catch fish every day. Anyone may have luck, but not everyone has endurance, ability, and desire. Santiago realizes this and trusts his skills above chance.
Santiago thought luck was better than exactness.
Third, a guy must suffer without complaining. Santiago faces a monster marlin at sea. His left hand is seriously sliced near exhaustion. He cleanses the cut with seawater and dries it in the sun. The needle won't heal, so he can only use his right hand against the marlin longer than his boat. Santiago accepts his pain. He's comfortable yet hurting, though he denies it.
A guy seeks outside inspiration. Joe DiMaggio inspires Santiago, and Santiago admires him, and he tells him that to be successful, one must commit oneself to a task and persevere.
Review
The Old Man and the Sea have great characters and a grand narrative.One of Hemingway's best pieces from 1952. Written in simple terms, it's the story of a down-on-his-luck Cuban fisherman battling a giant marlin in the Gulf of Mexico. Ernest Hemingway modernizes the topic of courage amid loss. While it's lovely that the book covers a tale that typically takes a chapter, it's also a perfect technique to transfer the reader who wants anything to happen off the boat. This novel is enjoyable. Therefore I'd suggest it.
Popular Culture
Old Man and the Sea is a symbol-filled literary masterpiece. Pop culture resource: The story shows a worldwide trend of socio-economic transition in emerging countries. In rural Cuba in the 1930s and 1940s, the traditional fishing culture, which was insulated from the developed world and connected to extended families and tight-knit communities, began transforming into a modern fishing sector. Modern fishing relied on technological means to assure a profit and was less tied to local communities and extended families. Santiago is a passionate fisherman whose competence is vital to his identity, code of behaviour, and natural order. Hemingway portrays the younger fishermen as shark liver suppliers for America's cod liver oil business, who use their profits to acquire motorized boats and mechanical equipment.
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