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The Old Man and the Sea — Hemingway Spare Beauty and Unbroken Spirit

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Opening — The Sea on the Eighty-Fourth Day

There is an old man.

He is a fisherman who goes out alone in a small skiff on the Gulf Stream.

Yet for eighty-four days now he has not caught a single fish.

The villagers regard him as a man whose luck has run out.

Even the boy who used to follow him has, at his parents wish, moved to another boat.

And still, the next morning, the old man goes out to sea again.

Alone, and far out.

Ernest Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel published in 1952.

It is too slim to call a full-length novel.

It is too weighty to call a short story.

On its surface this work is an extremely simple tale.

An old fisherman struggles for three days to catch a giant fish.

That is all.

Yet into this simple story Hemingway poured a deep question.

It is a question about what it means to be human.

He won the Pulitzer Prize for it.

Thereafter it played a large part in his Nobel Prize in Literature.

In this piece we look at an overview of the novel.

Then we treat Hemingway distinctive hard-boiled style and iceberg theory.

We also examine the theme of human dignity and defeat, and the symbols.

We continue on to the context of the Nobel Prize, analysis of style, and the work meaning for today reader.

Because the work is so short, knowing the broad outline in advance does little harm to enjoyment.

But matters related to the ending are handled separately later.

1. An Overview — Three Days of Struggle

The skeleton of the story is astonishingly spare.

After a long run of bad luck, the old fisherman Santiago goes out far to sea.

There he hooks a giant marlin larger even than his boat.

The fish does not yield easily.

Hooked on the line, it tows the boat onward for three days and nights.

The old man does not let go of the line.

His hands are torn, and his back is near breaking.

Starved of both sleep and food, he holds taut against the fish.

There is something intriguing in this struggle.

The old man does not hate the fish.

On the contrary, he calls the fish his brother.

He pays homage to its majesty and courage.

There is a contest but no hatred.

Here a distinctive relationship is drawn.

Nature and human being oppose each other and yet respect each other.

For the old man the fish is an enemy to be conquered.

At the same time it is a dignified equal.

Throughout the work run the old man solitary murmurs and reminiscences.

He longs for the absent boy.

He recalls an arm-wrestling contest of his youth.

He admires a great baseball player.

These humble musings seep into the intervals of the struggle.

They make the old man not a simple hero but a living human being.

2. The Hard-Boiled Style — Sentences That Restrain Emotion

Hemingway is regarded as a writer who changed the style of twentieth-century English prose.

His sentences are short, clear, and free of excess.

He is sparing with adjectives and adverbs.

Rather than explaining emotion directly, he presents action and fact plainly.

This style is often called hard-boiled.

Speaking by Not Speaking

The core of the hard-boiled style is restraint.

He does not state that the old man is in pain.

Instead Hemingway shows his torn hands and his set expression.

He shows his repeated actions as well.

He does not write that something is sad.

He places a scene that makes us feel the sadness.

Because emotion is not directly stated, the reader draws up a deeper feeling from between the lines.

This style is not unrelated to Hemingway journalism career.

In his youth he worked as a newspaper reporter.

He was trained to write short, precise sentences.

There is a journalistic principle of putting fact first and reducing ornament.

That principle developed into his literary style.

The Old Man and the Sea is counted among the works in which this style is realized most purely.

Rhythm and Repetition

Hemingway sentences are simple but not dry.

There is a rhythm made by short sentences following one another.

And the repetition of certain words and images creates a poetic resonance.

Words such as the sea, the fish, the hands, and the stars recur.

They flow like a piece of music.

Behind seemingly easy sentences lies a precise calculation.

In fact Hemingway was famous for rewriting a single sentence dozens of times.

3. The Iceberg Theory — The Aesthetics of Omission

The key to understanding Hemingway literature is precisely the iceberg theory.

He compared his principle of writing to an iceberg.

There is a reason an iceberg floats with dignity.

The part visible above the water is only a fraction of the whole.

Most of it lies submerged beneath the surface.

The Power of Omitting What You Know

The gist of the iceberg theory is this.

What if a writer knows something thoroughly?

Then even omitting it rather than writing it all out, the reader still senses its existence.

There is something that matters.

The omitted part does not feel absent.

Instead it gives the story a heavy weight.

Hemingway once put it roughly this way.

If you know what you may leave out, the omission actually makes the story stronger.

Here lies the secret of how The Old Man and the Sea leaves a deep aftertaste while being short.

Hemingway does not explain Santiago life at length.

His past, his memory of his dead wife, his relationship with the boy are mentioned only briefly, in passing.

Yet behind those brief mentions a vast unspoken world lies submerged.

The reader fills it in with imagination.

This aesthetics of omission is precisely what makes the work deepen the more one chews it over.

4. Human Dignity and Defeat — Destroyed but Not Defeated

The most famous sentence of this novel comes from the old man mouth.

A man can be destroyed but not defeated.

Into this single line the spirit of the whole work is condensed.

Attitude, Not Outcome

There is a reason Santiago struggle is moving.

It is not that its ending is necessarily splendid.

On the contrary, the situation he faces is harsh.

And yet there is something he shows.

It is a human attitude that does not collapse in any situation.

He does not give up.

He carries out his work honestly to the end.

He faces his own limits head-on.

The dignity Hemingway depicts does not come from victory.

It comes from how one fights, how one endures.

To do one very best whatever the outcome.

To keep one bearing even amid suffering.

This is the human dignity Hemingway speaks of.

This idea connects to a theme he explored repeatedly across his works.

It is the so-called grace under pressure.

It is the image of a human being who does not collapse under the pressure life applies.

An Existential Resonance

This attitude is often discussed in connection with existentialist philosophy.

The universe is not especially kind to human beings.

Effort is not necessarily rewarded.

And yet a human being can grant meaning to his own act.

In that way he can preserve his dignity.

Santiago is endlessly small before vast nature.

But in that very struggle he proves who he is.

He finds meaning in the process rather than the result.

He finds meaning in the attitude rather than the achievement.

This perspective resonates deeply with today reader as well.

5. A Sea of Symbols — The Fish, the Lions, and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea can be read as a simple fisherman tale.

But it is also read as rich in symbols.

There is one thing to remember, though.

Hemingway himself was wary of forced symbolic interpretation.

He once said the sea is the sea and the fish is the fish.

So symbols are not a single correct answer.

It is best to keep them open as possibilities of several readings.

[Major Symbols and Possible Readings]

The sea ----- the stage of life and the nature one faces; nurturing like a mother, yet cold
The marlin -- the dignified opponent the old man faces; a respected enemy, a life work
The lions --- the youth and strength the old man sees in dreams; nostalgia for lost days
The boy ----- hope that links the generations; a bond that eases the old man solitude

The lion dream the old man repeatedly has is especially striking.

It is a dream of young lions playing on an African beach.

This dream is commonly read this way.

It symbolizes the youth and strength the old man has passed through.

And it means the vitality he still holds in his heart.

This dream is placed among the weariness of the struggle.

It faintly illumines his unbroken spirit in contrast with his exhausted body.

The sea, in this work, is especially double-edged.

It is for the old man a ground of life and an object of love.

At the same time it is an indifferent and at times cruel force.

Hemingway does not romantically idealize nature.

Nor does he draw it as a simple enemy.

He shows the sea just as it is, dignified and indifferent.

6. The Context of the Nobel Prize — The Weight One Work Left

The Old Man and the Sea is a representative work of Hemingway later period.

Before this work, his literary reputation had been somewhat shaken.

Several preceding works had not met with a good critical response.

The Old Man and the Sea was published in that situation.

This work captivated both the public and the critics.

It became a signal flare of his comeback.

The work won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953.

The following year, in 1954, Hemingway received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Nobel Prize is given for a writer entire body of work rather than a single piece.

But there is one fact about which there is little disagreement.

The Old Man and the Sea was the decisive work that raised his literary standing again at the time of the award.

In effect, one short novel made a writer whole life shine anew.

Hemingway life itself was as dramatic as his literature.

He led an adventurous life as a war correspondent, a hunter, and a fisherman.

Those experiences are dissolved throughout his works.

The vivid depiction of the fisherman and the sea in this work is the same.

It sprang from his long love of the sea and fishing.

His later years, however, were deeply shadowed by various personal difficulties.

This can be read as overlapping with the work quiet, sober solemnity.

7. Analysis of Style — Why It Is Read So Long

The reasons The Old Man and the Sea has been loved for more than seventy years lie on several levels.

First, accessibility.

This work is short and its sentences are easy.

Even a newcomer to literature can finish it without strain.

It is often recommended to learners of English as well.

But easy does not mean shallow.

The surface is transparent, yet deep meaning lies submerged beneath it.

It comes across differently according to the reader age and experience.

It is a work worth rereading.

Second, universality.

This story is not tied to a particular era or region.

There are the themes of ageing, solitude, and confrontation with nature.

There is also the theme of accepting the outcome after doing one best.

These themes speak to readers of any culture.

So this work is translated and widely read all over the world.

Third, the perfection of style.

There are the hard-boiled style and iceberg theory examined above.

They are realized in this work in their most balanced form.

Sentences without excess, restrained emotion, and the rhythm of recurring images blend together.

They give the impression of a single, short but perfectly tuned piece of music.

8. Spoiler Warning — On the Ending

From here we briefly touch on the ending.

If you have not yet read the book, you may skip this.

Santiago struggle meets a double ending.

He finally succeeds in catching the giant fish.

But on the way back a pack of sharks swarms in.

The old man fights with his remaining strength to protect the fish.

But the force of nature is harsh.

In the end, what he brings back to the harbour is only the skeleton of the giant fish.

Here Hemingway core idea emerges.

Materially, the old man has gained nothing.

But there is the attitude he showed.

It is the very image of fighting to the end and not losing his bearing.

That is by no means a defeat.

The sentence that a man can be destroyed but not defeated gains its full meaning here.

The novel closes quietly.

The old man, exhausted, falls asleep and dreams again of the lions.

In that calm ending lies a quiet hope.

It is hope for the vitality of a human being who will rise again.

Closing — Those Who Go Out to Sea Again

The Old Man and the Sea asks us this.

Even when the outcome is not guaranteed, can you go out again?

Even when no one acknowledges it, can you go out to your own sea?

There is the old man pushing off his boat the next morning, even after eighty-four days of bad luck.

That back is also the image of all of us.

It is the image of us standing before the repeated challenge that is life.

Hemingway promises no splendid victory.

Instead he speaks of how one will fight.

He speaks of how one will endure.

There is a reason this short novel lingers so long in people hearts.

It is, perhaps, that it is not a story about success.

It is a story about dignity.

Questions to Ponder

  1. Do you agree that a man can be destroyed but not defeated? What is the difference between defeat and destruction?
  2. Is it foolish or dignified to do one best at a task whose outcome is not guaranteed? What is your criterion for that judgement?
  3. Like Hemingway iceberg theory, sometimes what is not said conveys more. When was such a moment in your own life?
  4. Santiago called the fish his brother. What does it mean to respect an opponent one fights against?

References

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