Hemingway
...starts crying as did Mary. In the previous pages Hemingway even says that the old man produces a noise similar to that of a man feeling the nail going through his hands and into the wood (107). Moreover, Hemingway also makes a parallel between the crucifixion of Jesus and the old man carrying his mast: “He picked the mast up and put it on his shoulder and started up the road. He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.” (121). This passage explains that, like Christ, he struggles against his weakness and tiredness, in one of the gloomiest moments of his entire life. If we compare the entire story of the book and the bible we can also remark other similarities. For example, he has been at sea during 40 days without catching and eating anything like Jesus in the desert during the Lent before he starts his mission. Moreover, the old man’s trip is three days long (From the Good Friday to the Sunday of Easter). Throughout this voyage, he often says he is dead and the last day when he comes back at land “he slept face down on the newspapers with his arms out straight and the palms of his up” (122) ‘picturing the image of Jesus suffering on the cross. But then, he wakes up and he is ready to go fish again, like Jesus’ resurrection. Thus, religious imagery takes an important place in the plot. In the other hand, although the writer denies every metaphor in his book in a letter he wrote to one of his editors (http://www.gs.cidsnet.de), I cannot prevent myself of seeing sharks as the obstacle and difficulties that we must overcome through our lives. This confirms my allegation: “He also drank a cup of shark liver oil (…) Most fishermen hated the taste. But (…) it was good for the eyes.”(37). ‘Nobody likes difficulties when one is trying to achieve something, but if they are present through our path it is to m...