Hemingway uses this book The Old Man and the Sea to address
the universal themes of determination, and courage in the sight of defeat. He
also expresses the importance of personal pride and hope throughout the book.
Santiago has gone 84 days without catching a single fish
and has even been named a “salao” because his luck is believed to be completely
gone. Because he is a good and experienced fisherman, this bad luck streak is
very surprising. Normally, if someone has had that much bad luck, it would
knock them off their feet and make it very hard for them to get back up again
and keep trying. Some wouldn’t even continue to try. But Santiago doesn’t give
up. He even plans to go “far out” to increase his chances of catching fish, and
continues to get up every day and go out and try. (Hemingway pg.14) This is one
area where his determination really shines. Santiago also has a lot of hope,
and he comments to Manolin, “Tomorrow is going to be a good day with this
current.” (Hemingway pg. 14) He hopes each day that he will catch something.
And this hope and determination is what makes him get up each day and try.
Santiago’s determination and pride are seen a lot in his
struggle reeling in the Marlin, and his battle against the sharks. Though the
Marlin is huge beyond measure, Santiago continues to try. It is his own pride
in himself that pushes him to try and reel in the Marlin. Despite its size,
Santiago holds out, battling his own injuries and pain to accomplish his goal.
Santiago believes in himself. You also see Santiago’s determination when he is
battling the sharks. Even though they are overwhelming and almost completely overcome
him, Santiago fights. This part of the book is where we see the main example of
courage in the sight of defeat. Though the Marlin is huge, Santiago still has a
chance to catch it, but when the sharks come in overwhelming masses, that is
when readers know that there is no way Santiago can beat them all off and keep
the Marlin from being destroyed. Santiago knows it too. So, in sight of defeat,
Santiago says something that shows how
much courage he really has, “Fight them. I’ll fight them until I die.”
(Hemingway pg.115) He fails to save his fish, but he shows true courage even
though he knows he is going to fail.
Hemingway understands that sometimes we, as humans, suffer.
Things don’t work out the way we plan,
and sometimes bad things happen to us. But then it is our time to show courage
in that. To show courage in defeat. To “go down fighting” because that is the
honorable thing to do. He believes that even though we endure hardships, we
should never give up. We should keep getting up each day and “fishing”. We
should never quit.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York:
Scribner, 1952. Print.
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