The old man and the sea by Ernest Hemingway: summary, analysis and characters of the book

The old man and the sea (The Old Man and the Sea) is a short novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1952 and is one of the most famous works of the writer.

The book is made up of a simple structure and clear language, where topics such as nature and death are explored through of his protagonist, Santiago, who faces his imminent end alone, and refuses defeat amid the immensity of the sea.

It is a short work that leaves us with various teachings in its pages and is open to different readings and interpretations, some of them even of a symbolic nature. But what are the issues he deals with? What conclusions can we draw from this book?

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Santiago's bad luck

The story takes place in Cuba where Santiago, known as "the old man", is a lonely and experienced fisherman, but his professional career is not at its best. The man has not been able to catch anything for 84 days.

Manolín is a young man from the town who has accompanied him from a very young age in his work. One day his parents decide that he will no longer work with Santiago due to his bad streak as a fisherman, although the boy never stops accompanying him to give him support.

Adventure at sea

After 85 days, the old man resolves that that day he would end his bad luck and decides to jump into the sea in search of breaking his bad streak by getting some fish.

This time the old man goes alone and, in his adventure, his loneliness makes him have conversations with himself. At one point in the day he manages to catch a very goth fish.

The fisherman's fight

The fish begins a struggle to fight for his freedom and pulls the line. Meanwhile, Santiago moves farther and farther from the coast and, as he watches night fall, he holds the largest fish he has ever seen.

In the middle of the darkness the man experiences fear and miss the child who always accompanied him.

The battle to retain the fish lasts several days. The fisherman experiences physical pain and suffers some cuts. But he resists.

Everything gets complicated when Santiago has to face the approaching sharks.

Outcome

Despite Santiago's efforts, the sharks keep the fish that he had wanted so much to catch and the man returns to the port exhausted. Once again, without getting a reward, although with the remains of the swordfish. Soon the old man comes home and sleeps.

The next day, Manolín makes Santiago a promise and tells him that he will go with him despite the decision of his parents.

The book concludes with an ending open to the reader's interpretation.

Analysis

To analyze this story it is important to understand its author and the context of it. Ernest Hemingway is part of a group of American writers known as the Lost Generation. They are writers who forged their careers after the First World War and who, in their works, reflect the pessimism of the time.

In the case of the author, he participated in different military conflicts. In his works, as is the case with The old man and the sea, the main character faces nature alone and his own destiny: death.

Santiago is like a hero who has to face adversity but is unwilling to accept defeat.

The conflict unfolds through a linear narrative, over the course of five days, where short and precise paragraphs abound.

An omniscient narrator immerses us in this story that is subject to different readings, also to symbolic interpretation.

It is a story that barely attends to the slightest part of what it really means, since it presents the iceberg theory. This technique, coined by Hemingway, consists of offering only a small part of information to the reader, which he is going to be locked in the story or in the experiences of the characters, that is, he does not show himself in a explicit.

Let us understand, below, some themes and ideas latent in this story to know in its background.

The loneliness before the fight

Loneliness is one of the themes that this story delves into. This is present in the protagonist, who has lived alone since his wife died and whom he remembers.

The old man hardly maintains a relationship with the town's inhabitants, except with Manolín, who He becomes his faithful confidant, from start to finish, but he stops accompanying him when his parents tell her about it. they ask.

But the loneliness that this story shows us goes beyond a feeling caused by the lack or absence of someone.

The old man and the sea It explores the subject by looking at how human beings have to face many aspects of life alone. Are we not alone in many life circumstances? Faced with our decisions and their consequences?

Like the old man, sometimes we go into struggles, we try to overcome fears, and no one can put ourselves in our shoes to do it for us. It is our responsibility, no one can take the reins in our place.

Santiago faces something as individual as death alone, are we not alone before that too?

In the face of adversity, there is no defeat

One of the great lessons that this story leaves us is that of perseverance in the face of adversity.

At first glance, the protagonist has numerous reasons why he could drop everything. He is elderly and does not do well in his work.

He could just let me drift, he thought, and sleep, and loop the big toe to wake up if they sting. But today it's eighty-five days old, and I have to make the most of the time.

Often while reading, we can think of the word "failure." The situation of the protagonist raises two possible options: to be defeated or, on the contrary, to bet on coming out stronger, on resilience.

The tenacity that characterizes the old man makes him take on adversity to learn. He does not allow himself to be defeated. This reading invites us to think that there is no defeat and that all difficulties can be transformed into learning.

Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.

Death

Death is another obvious theme in the book. The fact of dying is presented as something inevitable from which we cannot escape. However, we don't have to accept it without a fight.

The old man and the sea presents us with a world full of predators. Turtles kill jellyfish, the eagle kill fish, and Santiago tries to kill the fish as he bravely faces his own demise. Throughout his adventure, the old man does not give up and convinces himself that he has to resist.

Finally, this theme is also intuited at the end of the novel, since this can also be interpreted as the imminent end of Santiago.

The greatness of the human spirit

So what could be considered the main message of this short novel?

Human beings are stronger than we think. We are all little combatants who, amid the immensity, face new obstacles every day. In these infighting, there is always a silver lining to keep going.

Interpretations of the symbolism of the work

In the different readings of the work, some investigations of this novel point to a more abstract meaning of the novel. Through the elements that appear in it, they have tried to contribute various interpretations that go from the religious to the spiritual sense. Here are some of them:

The sea

It is interpreted as a symbol of the universe in which Santiago is an isolated individual exposed to adversity. The sea, the waves, is like life itself when obstacles approach that we have to overcome.

The mast that Santiago drags

For some it denotes a religious sense. It has been compared to the cross of Jesus Christ.

Sharks

The forces and adversities of life. The shark is a strong creature that often symbolizes authority and bravery. In this sense we could interpret it as the natural laws of the universe, from which it is difficult to escape.

I dream of lions

Some interpretations suggest that this dream signifies the lost youth and the hope of the protagonist's eternal life.

Lions can also represent courage and bravery, faculties that characterize Santiago.

Main characters

Santiago

He is an elderly and lonely fisherman whose only company is a boy who has been taught the trade of fisherman. In the book it is implied that he spent his childhood in the Canary Islands although the story takes place in Cuba, where Santiago has spent his life as a successful fisherman. However, he does not have the best time of it and, despite his bad streak, he hopes to catch some fish after 84 days without luck.

Manolin

He is a boy who has learned the trade of fisherman thanks to Santiago. The young man is the fisherman's only company, but his parents force him to work on a more productive boat. Although Manolín is not part of his team and does not accompany him on his last adventure, the young man decides to support the old man morally and encourage him until the last moment.

Ernest Hemingway

He was an American writer and journalist who was born in 1899 into a wealthy family. After studying, he began to earn a living as a reporter. At the beginning of the First World War he participated as a volunteer in the war. Later, he moved to Europe, where he spent time in Paris and, later, participated in the Spanish Civil War. He also did it in WWII as a correspondent.

Among the most outstanding works of the author are: Parties (1926), Goodbye to guns (1929) or The old man and the sea (1952).

In the latter stage he won the Pulitzer Prize for The old man and the sea and the following year the Nobel Prize in literature for his complete work, which is considered a benchmark in 20th century literature.