I’ve always wanted to read Ernest Hemingway’s books. I have a copy of ‘For whom the bell tolls’ glaring at me from my bookshelf. Must get round to reading that. Still, although this is a short book, it’s considered one of his best so a good start.
The fisherman Santiago is the protagonist in this story. Actually, let’s upgrade that – he’s the hero of this tale. An aged yet skilled fisherman, Santiago is experiencing a remarkable unlucky streak.
On the eighty fifth day of fishing with nothing to show for it, he decides to go out further than he has before. Further than anyone has before. On this voyage he catches the largest fish he has ever heard of or seen, but this is far from an easy task.
Santiago suffers inhuman hardships in his quest to capture the fish. He has very little food to sustain him and has almost no sleep during the three day struggle. He near cripples his hand and passes out from exhaustion shortly before summoning the strength needed to finally harpoon the Marlin through the heart.
Through this saga, the old man gains a deep respect for his opponent which eventually transcends into brotherhood. He admires the Marlin greatly, but knows that all creatures must obey the natural law. Indeed, though it is undeniably sorrowful that one of them must die, it is a great honour for both of them to struggle in such a worthy conflict. As Santiago muses “You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?”.
There are obvious Christ parallels in this book which I won’t dwell on but will mention for the sake of completeness. Santiago’s palms are cut by his fishing line in emulation of the holy stigmata, when the sharks arrive Hemmingway describes Santiago as making a sound “similar to that of a man having nails driven through his hands”. Also, his trek back to his house with his mast borne on his shoulder is reminiscent of Christ’s’ walk to Calvary and his final collapse on his bed with his arms out straight…well, I shouldn’t really have to explain that one.
I’ve never heard of Hemingway being especially religious, so I assume that this is more symbolic than spiritual; Santiago has embraced his suffering and turned it into redemption.
A quick read with a parable like tone, this is a light and easy book to read. However, there is a lot to dwell on here and plenty to think about after the book has been finished.
As I said in the other review, this was an interesting choice to read alongside ‘All quiet on the western front’. As I see it, both books show situations far outside the human norm and monumental struggles undertaken by men (yes, I’m sure women can have monumental struggles as well, it just so happens these are carried out by men). However, whereas ‘All quiet on the western front’ shows man broken by conflict, ‘The old man and the sea’ sees it as something to be overcome. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”.
Rating: 
