Ernest Miller Hemingway's ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ as an Allegory of Struggle of Life
Ernest Miller Hemingway's (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ is a story of a historical fisherman's single-handed battle with a big combat in the Gulf Stream north of Havana. However, it has quite a number of allegorical interpretations. First, it may additionally be considered as a Christian allegory. Actually, an allegory is that the rhetorical strategy of extending a metaphor through a whole narrative. It has additionally been handled as an allegory of an artist's fighting with his material. But the story might also be considered as an epic metaphor for life. Human existence is right here depicted as warfare towards the unconquerable forces of the world, in which a sort of victory is although possible. Hemingway portrays right here Santiago, an easy historic fisherman who is successful of a magnificent dignity and heroism via capability of which he wins an ethical victory, even although he faces a heartbreaking defeat.
However, Santiago, an ancient Cuban fisherman, has long gone
eighty-four days except catching a fish. At last, a big fish named Marline is
caught in his hook. The fish is too effective for Santiago, who now fishes by
me having misplaced the assist of the boy, Manolin, who used to sail with
him. For forty-eight hours the historic man holds on whilst he is towed farther
out to sea. As the narrator states-
“You didn't kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for
food, he thought.
You killed him for pride and because you're a fisherman.”
Besides, Santiago kills the marlin. As he struggles with the
marlin, Santiago feels opposing thoughts of ache and victory. He feels the
fish’s ache as he is about to overcome the marlin. At the identical time, he is
decided to come out the victor in the struggle. The marlin’s eventual dying
breathes existence into Santiago’s deflating confidence. Capturing the marlin
boosts his willpower to succeed. As we find-
“It is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or
the moon or the stars.
It is enough to measure on the ocean and kill our true
brothers.”
Finally, he brings the fish alongside, harpoons it, and
lashes the useless physique to his skiff. He loved Marlin very much. He did not
want to kill the fish. At last, he had to kill the fish. As his love for fish is
expressed in the following lines-
“You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after.
If you love him, it's not a sin to kill him.”
Afterward, the sharks commence to assault the useless
Marlin. He kills countless of them however extra appear. He is finally left
solely with a damaged tiller to battle with. The combat is an unequal one. The
sharks devour away all the flesh of the Marlin, leaving solely the skeleton
which the historical man tows home, half of useless with exhaustion. He deeply
feels-
“Now is no time to think of what you do not have.
Think of what you can do with what there is.”
On achieving the shore, he goes to his humble shack, falls
asleep, and desires of different days.
Moreover, Santiago is Hemingway's code hero who illustrates
the values of existence that the latter cherished all his life- courage,
dignity, honor, dedication, endurance, etc. A man may additionally develop
historically and be totally down on his luck, however, he can nevertheless dare,
persist when he is defeated or thwarted, and as a result with the aid of the
manner of his dropping wins a victory. All this is relevant to existence as a
whole, to man’s earthly existence. Santiago demonstrates the necessity and the
actuality of heroism in his everyday work.
“Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky.
But I
would rather be exact.
Then when luck comes you are ready.”
Furthermore, Santigo's killing of the Marlin Symbolizes
man's attainment of his purpose and his lacerated fingers represent the rebuffs
that a man suffers in the path of his efforts to reap his ambition, whilst the
extended resistance of the Marlin suggests that gaining an excessive goal is no
convenient task. The sharks signify all these forces which take away from a man
the fruits of his tough labor. But the ancient man does not lose hope for the
future.
“Luck is a thing that comes in many forms and who can
recognize her?”
At last, ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ is an allegory of man's
existence on earth, his heroic fight and defeat. To find out glory, Santiago
does no longer prefers to extend himself previous to his animal nature through the ability to look to the photovoltaic or the stars. Santiago is a Christ
-figure who undergoes pain and suffering, and like Christ, he suffers a range of
martyrdom.
You May Need:
0 comments:
Post a Comment