Literary Essay on The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
This novel has earned Ernest Hemingway the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1953 and played a major part in him winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954.1 The Old Man and the Sea is a short fiction novel, a narrative fable about an old fisherman on his quest to catch an enormous marlin in the Gulf of Mexico. Although it is very simply written and it is this American author’s last production, this literary piece of work regenerated Hemingway’s writing career. This novella was a huge success when it was released and it is still read by many nowadays. In the novel, the religious symbolism is very explicitly demonstrated as similarities between the life of the protagonist, Santiago, and occurrences of the life of Jesus Christ are presented through different literary elements such as characterization, Christian imagery and plot.
To begin, through the characterization of the main character, Santiago, an old fisherman who has become unlucky, similarities to Jesus Christ as well as similarities between their journeys are presented. First, Santiago never gives up and never feels defeated, even though he has spent eighty-four days without catching a fish and that his journey in the Gulf of Mexico is extremely painful. His determination is a virtue similar to Jesus Christ’s in the way that he also never gave up when he was tortured before his crucifixion. In addition, their journeys are similar because they are based on a need to be worthy of someone they looked up to. Santiago wants to catch a big fish in order to be worthy of the great DiMaggio, a baseball player to whom he looks up to. The role of DiMaggio for Santiago is similar to the role God played in the life of Jesus Christ as Jesus attempted to live up to God.
To continue, throughout the novel, Christian imagery is explicitly presented. First, Santiago is compared to Jesus being crucified as Hemingway describes his painful scream as «a noise such as a man might make involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood»2. Also, at the end of his journey, Santiago is described carrying his mast up to his house as followed: «He started to climb again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder. He tried to get up. But it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and looked at the road. »3 This description reminds us of Jesus’s march to Calvary, the place where he was crucified, as he had to carry the cross.
Finally, the days of the week during which important actions take place in the novel correspond to the ones during which important events in the New Testament. First, Santiago succeeds in catching a fish after eighty-four days on a Friday, an event that could correspond to Good Friday, which is the day Jesus was crucified. Then, on the second day after he catches the marlin, Santiago prays while waiting anxiously for the marlin to rise to the surface in order for him to harpoon the fish. This corresponds to the second day after the death of Jesus, when his followers prayed while waiting for his resurrection. To finish, it is on a Sunday that the marlin finally rises and that Santiago is able to kill him. This victory corresponds to Easter Sunday, the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
In conclusion, through the novella The Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway, the religious symbolism is demonstrated efficiently through the protagonist’s personality and journey, through different examples of Christian imagery and through time in the plot that correspond to time in Jesus Christ’s life.
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2 HEMINGWAY, Ernest, The Old man and the Sea, p. 107
2 HEMINGWAY, Ernest, The Old man and the Sea, p. 107
3 HEMINGWAY, Ernest, The Old Man and the Sea, p.121
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