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20201112201143the_old_man_and_the_sea_pl.pptThe Old Man and the Sea
By Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway’s Accolades
- May 1953: Hemingway wins a Pulitzer Prize for writing The Old man and the Sea
- October 1954: Hemingway wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
- He is known for his Code Hero, a man who is stoic and stays strong against sometimes unbeatable odds.
Marlin
Setting
- Time Period: The Late 1940’s
- The book spans a period of 5 days
- Place: --A small fishing village near Havana, Cuba in a shack; --In a boat on the waters of the Gulf of Mexico
“Fish he said I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day end”
- Nature plays a huge part in the novel since the setting is the sea and the fish is Santiago’s counterpart.
- In Santiago’s environment everything is in its place and in perfect harmony. [There’s the sea with its creatures in it, the birds, the sun, the moon, the stars etc. The relation between the animals and Santiago is more like a friendship.
- Hemingway attempted to explain the novella in a letter to Bernard Berenson, writing that "The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy, and the fish is a fish. The sharks are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is s…”
A Possible Interpretation that Hemingway will resist
Life is an endless struggle with illusory rewards. In order to gain nobility in life, a person must show bravery, confidence, courage, patience, optimism, and intelligence during the struggle. Then, even if the prize is lost, the person has won the battle, proving himself capable of retaining grace under pressure, the ultimate test of mankind.
Santiago’s struggle in the sea is an extended metaphor for the human condition---how we all struggle to survive and take risks in a sea of unknowns.
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The Old Man and the Sea and not the Old Man and the Fish
- According to Hemingway:
- In his view of himself, Santiago is nothing more or less than one of the creatures in the sea.
- The old man and the sea are one thing that can’t be disunited, complementing each other..
- The old man totally depends on the nature because it provides his livelihood. From this point of view nature can be called a living donor.
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Nature as harmony
- The animals, especially the fish are like fellow-sufferers to Santiago. In his world every element is somehow united in harmony or love almost. He feels for the bird like he feels for any other creature he meets during his time on the sea. He calls the flying fish “his principal friends on the ocean“, and he’s sorry for the turtles that are killed by other fishermen from other boats.
- “A small bird came toward the skiff from the north. He was a warbler and flying very low over the water. The old man could see that he was very tired. The bird made the stern of the boat and rested there. Then he flew around the old man’s head and rested on the line where he was more comfortable. ‘How old are you?’ the old man asked the bird. ‘Is this your first trip?’ The bird looked at him when he spoke.”
The Turtles
- Santiago is sorry for the turtles that are killed by other fishermen from other boats.
- “He had no mysticism about turtles although he had gone in turtle boats for many years. He was sorry for them all, even the great trunk-backs that were as long as the skiff and weighed a ton. Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle's heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too and my feet and hands are like theirs. “
The Marlin
- Santiago calls the marlin “his brother”; considers it his equal and a very worthy opponent
- He has a great deal of respect and admiration for the marlin
- Although he had a harpoon through his heart, he was mighty enough to jump one last time to show his power and greatness.
- The larger species include the Atlantic blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, which can reach 5.968 metres (19.58 ft) in length and 818 kilograms (1,800 lb) in weight
The Lions on the Beach
When the lions appear in their adult majesty, they suggest and signify great strength and nobility and provide Santiago with inspiration, a nobility of purpose, and a sense of vitality that goads him toward fulfilling his ambition.
In the first two dreams, they represent youth (innocence and playfulness)
In the last dream, they represent the circular nature of life. (Manolin will fish with Santiago from now on, learning all of his skills, expertise, and love and respect of nature. Through Manolin, Santiago’s legacy will live on!)
Also, because lions are fierce predators, playing, his dream suggests a harmony between opposing forces such as: life and death, love and hate, and the destruction and regeneration of nature.
Perseverance is a Universal Law
- Hemingway writes: “brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks…and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords.”
- Santiago’s body is marked by its long battle against the hostilities of nature, but his scars are not ugly. Instead, they are appropriated and made beautiful by the exalted struggle in which they were formed.
- Animals are much the same. Looking toward the sky, the fisherman begins to feel "sorry for the birds…Why did they make birds so delicate and fine as those sea swallows when the ocean can be so cruel?”
Man and Beast Are More Similar Than We Think
- Santiago does not hate his adversarial marlin, rather, he reveres it. This is the single difference he is able to delineate between fish and the human species: “They are not as intelligent as we who kill them; although they are more noble and more able.” He feels respect for the fish in his fight. The marlin has its powerful virtues, and he has his. Santiago understands that out in the wilds of nature, all life is equal. The sea does not pick favorites. The noble fisherman refuses to designate himself as a righteous overlord over the animals, instead recognizing his grand fraternity with all around him.
The Mystery of Being
- Santiago figures that it is unjust to have killed the fish in all his “greatness and his glory.” For whom is he to kill this gorgeous, dignified creature? He considers that it may have been a sin to kill the fish, although he did so to feed himself and others. Santiago resolves to set this sense of cosmic culpability aside, deciding to let more qualified people think about matters of sin. He reconciles his actions by saying to himself, “You were born to be a fisherman as the fish was born to be a fish."
Knowledge as a key to respect
- After Santiago arrives on shore, tourists spot the white spine of the Marlin “that was now just garbage waiting to go with the tide.” A Spanish-speaking waiter tries to explain the sight and manages to say “Eshark.” The curious tourists misunderstand, and instead think that the skeleton belonged to a shark, creatures which are, after all, boneless.
- Man, even though he’s a part of nature, is sometimes totally inferior to it. You never know what might happens, and therefore Santiago’s destiny is closely connected to the “tempers“ of his environment. The cruelty that goes along with nature from time to time is shown when the old man’s outer appearance is described. His whole body shows signs of the destructiveness of nature. The sun assailed his skin, leaving “[...] brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer [...]“ on him. His “[...] deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords“, somehow witness the long struggle Santiago had with nature. Of course, there are also the sharks that take away the old man’s catch in the end. It looks like nature takes away what it gives. The sharks too are a part of this unity; here they represent the destructive force of nature. Destruction and creation are closely connected to each other and are both a part of this nature.
The Old Man and the Sea Versus
Melville’s, Moby Dick
If we compare both novels, we can see that Nature for Melville represents the enemy, while for Hemingway nature represents harmony and partnership with humanity.
Hatred and revenge versus comradeship and empathy
Unlike with Santiago, for Ahab, as with nature at large, the whale is a malicious force, and all the universe is evil
Ahab’s need for revenge ultimately kills him and all those under his command.
How are we to approach Nature?
- This is one of the major question of our time.
As we experience more and more “Punishment” by Air, Fire, Earth and Water
At least 20 people have died from the mudslides that swept over parts over Southern California early this week -- impacting the same area that was ravaged in December by the Thomas Fire, the state’s largest wildfire on record.
Tubbs Fire in Sonoma County is most destructive in state history -- 36,432-acre
Obliterated 2,900 homes and killed 25 people
The biggest in modern California history
Drought
Floods
Last years Christmas in California
Flashbacks
- His wrestling match with the El Negro en Cienfuegos from when he was younger and in his prime
- The pictures of his wife suggesting his past life with her
- The memories of the two marlins that he and Manolin encountered on a previous fishing trip.
- He remembers when he fished with Manolin and would talk to him to prevent becoming lonely
