Full titleThe Old Man and the Sea
AuthorErnest Hemingway
Type of workNovella
GenreParable; tragedy
LanguageEnglish
Time and place written1951, Cuba
Date of first publication1952
PublisherScribner’s
In-depth Facts:
NarratorThe novella is narrated by an anonymous narrator.
Point of viewSometimes the narrator describes the characters and events objectively, that is, as they would appear to an outside observer. However, the narrator frequently provides details about Santiago’s inner thoughts and dreams.
ToneDespite the narrator’s journalistic, matter-of-fact tone, his reverence for Santiago and his struggle is apparent. The text affirms its hero to a degree unusual even for Hemingway.
TensePast
Setting (time)Late 1940s
Setting (place)A small fishing village near Havana, Cuba; the waters of the Gulf of Mexico
ProtagonistSantiago
Major conflictFor three days, Santiago struggles against the greatest fish of his long career.
Rising actionAfter eighty-four successive days without catching a fish, Santiago promises his former assistant, Manolin, that he will go “far out” into the ocean. The marlin takes the bait, but Santiago is unable to reel him in, which leads to a three-day struggle between the fisherman and the fish.
ClimaxThe marlin circles the skiff while Santiago slowly reels him in. Santiago nearly passes out from exhaustion but gathers enough strength to harpoon the marlin through the heart, causing him to lurch in an almost sexual climax of vitality before dying.
Falling actionSantiago sails back to shore with the marlin tied to his boat. Sharks follow the marlin’s trail of blood and destroy it. Santiago arrives home toting only the fish’s skeletal carcass. The village fishermen respect their formerly ridiculed peer, and Manolin pledges to return to fishing with Santiago. Santiago falls into a deep sleep and dreams of lions.
ThemesThe honor in struggle, defeat, and death; pride as the source of greatness and determination; kinship and connection
MotifsCrucifixion imagery; life from death; the lions on the beach
SymbolsThe marlin; Joe DiMaggio; the shovel-nosed sharks
ForeshadowingSantiago’s insistence that he will sail out farther than ever before foreshadows his destruction; because the marlin is linked to Santiago, the marlin’s death foreshadows Santiago’s own destruction by the sharks.
Post a Comment