Old Man and the Sea
The novel The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, revolves around the struggle of the central character, an old man by the name of Santiago. The old man is engaged in an existential stuggle to obtain the goal of self worth, while inspiring his young apprentice, manolin to see the goodness ago in his character. ... Hemingway incorporates metaphors and other literary devices such as symbolism, imagery, allusions and so forth to describe a man who is trapped in the struggle of self definition, existence and the legacy of his best qualities to be passed down to younger generations. ... The old man is not a sophisticated businessman, but rather a worn out, elderly fisherman who has based his life success on his fishing skills. The old man is described in everday language through images of his simple boat, meager house, and his old school fishing techniques. ... To describe Santiago, as a sophisticated man would be a false connotation of his true natutre, the use of superlative language would inaccurately denote his true essence as a man. The old mans existential struggle exists to teach the readers a lesson concerning life, therefore, the appearance of simple language offers the reader to receive a didactic lesson. ... The old mans life serves as a symbol that describes a system that he carried with him through his old age. ... In order to emphasize this fact, Hemingway employs a metaphor as early as the title The Old Man and the Sea;in putting together the two forces, the man and the sea, he is comparing both strength and making them equals. ... When Santiago is in the sea he looks at the sea as a female character. This implies some relation between the man and the sea. Santiago sees the sea not as a competitor, but as a friend, a comrade, "his eyes . ... were the same color of the sea"(10). What is seen is a kind of communion between Santiago and the sea. Reinforcing this idea is the importance of the gender of the sea. Being female, the sea and the fisherman are like a marriage, a union that cannot be divided. Using the Spanish language for calling the sea, la mar, Santiago expresses the importance of the sea for him, on the hand, the other fishermen call it el mar, treating it just as a source of wealth and as an adversary.The sea, or the female, is the center of the action because it is the physical location around which the story takes place.The sea is represents a major symbol because it stands for a life. ... Biblical imagery proliferates through the text The Old Man and the Sea. ... While out on the sea, Santiago speaks to the fish regarding them as brothers, "Fish, he said, I love you and respect you very much"(54).