Let's Discuss: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
We spent the last few days at sea with Hemingway’s famous old man. Let’s discuss our trip!
“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
In this issue:
Themes from The Old Man and the Sea
Let’s Discuss
Further Reading Suggestions
Thank You
Vote for November’s Well-Read Weekend
Themes from The Old Man and the Sea
There are many recurring themes throughout The Old Man and the Sea. Let’s explore these as the basis of our discussion.
Epic
“His choice had been to stay in the deep dark water far out beyond all snares and traps and treacheries. My choice was to go there to find him beyond all people. Beyond all people in the world. Now we are joined together and have been since noon. And no one to help either one of us.”
Had this novella been written in verse, it may have been considered an epic like The Odyssey. (I certainly could not help seeing similarities throughout my reading!) Hemingway’s old man is our epic hero at the mercy of the sea, which Santiago believed to be “something that gave or withheld great favours,” like Fate. The phosphorescence from the fish sparkles on his hands and against the side of his boat, acting as some visualization of luck or a blessing, and the flying fish appear in times of need or good favor. The old man even drinks “a cup of shark liver oil each day” for his eyesight, like some mystical elixir.
The setting around his journey transforms in ways to reflect epic surroundings, even though the old man is only at sea. “The clouds over the land now rose like mountains” and later, the clouds looked “like friendly piles of ice cream”. At one point, the old man sailed into “a great canyon of clouds”. The reader is also placed in Africa with the lions through the man’s memories and dreams, far from the waters of Havana.
Battles, past and present, fill the pages. The old man skillfully and unrelentingly holds onto the fishing rod and line, remembering how he once arm wrestled a man for three days before emerging as The Champion. Now, he fights against and admires the giant marlin. Once he subdues him, the sharks battle him as a he navigates the waters back to the glow of Havana.
Mythology
“Then the fish came alive, with his death in him, and rose high out of the water showing all his great length and width and all his power and his beauty. He seemed to hang in the air above the old man in the skiff.”
The great marlin seems to be a god—a Posiedon—as it emerges from the water. He is bigger beyond the man’s belief. He is a towering figure of the sea that flies in the air. Santiago even thinks of him as “his fortune”.
The old man often muses that he and the fish are brothers. In typical fashion of mythology involving two brothers, only one can go on living:
“You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to.
Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.”
With the sea playing the part of Fate, other gods and legends are also at play. Most notably, the “great Dimaggio” stands in as a kind of Achilles, complete with weak footing, having suffered (in real life) of bone spurs in his heel. The old man encourages himself, saying:
“I must have confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel.”
The tales from “the baseball” continually strengthen the man’s resolve.
Faith
“Then he added, “Blessed Virgin, pray for the death of this fish. Wonderful though he is.”
Santiago is a name for Saint James or Jacob, which means the supplantor or heel-grabber. How fitting is his name for this tale! In the Bible, Jacob is the one who wrestles with God or God’s angel. Here, Santiago is on the figurative heels of the fish—the greatest fish he has ever seen—and when he catches him, it’s as if the old man has wrestled with a god.
Aspects of religion infuse the story: Santiago prays Our Fathers and Hail Marys in hopes of catching the great fish (although catching him is not the same as keeping him). The old man’s wife has passed and her picture is now a relic in his home. He later regards the caught fish "as a saint in a procession.”
The great fish stands as some icon of Christ. It takes three days to catch the fish. Santiago observes the marlin’s final moments as peaceful, as if the fish offers himself up as a sacrifice:
“He took all his pain and what was left of his strength and his long gone pride and he put it against the fish’s agony and the fish came over onto his side and swam gently on his side, his bill almost touching the planking of the skiff and started to pass the boat, long, deep, wide, silver and barred with purple and interminable in the water.”
Afterward, the fish’s body—the meat, at least—is carried back into the ocean in an ascension to the sea. Could we argue the sharks were communing with or further crucifying the great fish? Did the fish’s sacrifice ensure the old man’s survival? Or was Santiago persecuted as an apostle carrying the marlin’s gospel?
Eyes
“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.”
There is a prominent emphasis on the eyes in this story. The eyes seem to reveal demeanor, competency, and life itself at several points. The old man’s eyes reflect his spirit and his connection to the sea, in bright contrast to his patched sail that “looked like the flag of permanent defeat”.
When it comes to fishing, it seems the eyes—and by extension sight—are key to success. Santiago spies a man-of-war bird circling dolphin in the sea below. He watches the skies and sea for time, direction, and weather. He tracks his fishing lines for the fish’s depth and trajectory. When he asks the boy about the fisherman his parents have him assisting, the boy replies, “He is almost blind”.
And remember that shark oil Santiago drinks each day? “It was good for the eyes.”
Age; Life & Death
“Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle’s heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too and my feet and hands are like theirs.”
This may be the most apparent topic within the novel. The man is very old and this comes with both wisdom and weakness. His hand cramps as he holds the fishing line, while his other hand recovers from a wound. However, Santiago can read the waters, winds, and the fish itself with exact accuracy that can only be done through years of experience.
What do you make of the comparison the old man makes between himself and the boy? How does the old man reflect upon his own youth? Santiago’s “hands had the deep-creased scars" from his years fishing at sea, “but none of these scars were fresh.”
We learn of the man’s accomplishments against the men and fish of his past, and we see Santiago summon all his strength in his old age to contend with the giant marlin. Could he have accomplished this alone in his youth? What has wisdom afforded him?
Let’s Discuss
What stood out to you the most? What quote is still floating around in your mind?
Did you notice the same themes? Did others stand out to you instead?
And what do you make of the lions on the sandy shores of Africa? (This, I think, is most fascinating!)
Jump into the comments, and let’s discuss!
Further Reading Suggestions
If you enjoyed The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, you may also enjoy…
This superbly written Time Magazine piece on Hemingway from 1954.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
The Odyssey by Homer.
Call of the Wild by Jack London.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
Do you have more suggestions? Drop them in the comments!
Thank you
To all of those who joined in on this first-ever Well-Read Weekend, I sincerely thank you!
You’re joining me on a journey that should prove fun and rewarding, and I’m so happy to have you here.
What You Can Expect
Each month, we will plan one Well-Read Weekend focusing on a short classic (of roughly 200 pages or less). Some weekends may be double-features if the stories are particularly short!
There will be posts 1) announcing the month’s short classic, 2) introducing the text or author in some way, 3) discussing the work(s), and 4) voting on the upcoming Well-Read Weekend’s short classic.
Starting in November, a reminder email will also go out at the start of the designated Well-Read Weekend. (Make sure you see the WRW in your inbox and not your junk folder!)
Future Plans
Finally, I’d love to grow a community around this endeavor. There are other post series I would like to include in this publication, as well as eventually organizing more than one weekend for a WRW per month. (If time and equipment allow, I may even branch this into a podcast. If that interests you, let me know below!)
Vote for November’s Well-Read Weekend
Next week, I’ll be sending out a poll to select our short classic for November.
Want in on the vote? Consider supporting the Well-Read Weekend as a paid subscriber to help this community grow! (It is absolutely optional but appreciated.)
Subscribers—paid or free—can always drop suggestions for upcoming WRWs in the comments of public posts!