“The Old Man and the Sea” is the story of a battle between an old, experienced fisherman, Santiago, and a large Marlin. The novel opens by telling the reader that Santiago has gone 84 days without catching a fish, considered "Salao", the worst form of unluckiness. He is so unlucky that his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with him and been told to, instead, fish with successful fishermen. The boy visits Santiago's shack each night, hauling his fishing gear, preparing food, talking about American baseball and his favorite player Joe DiMaggio. Santiago tells Manolin that on the next day, he will venture far out into the Gulf Stream, north of Cuba in the Straits of Florida to fish, confident that his unlucky streak is near its end.
On the eighty-fifth day, Santiago takes his skiff into the Gulf Stream, sets his lines and, by noon, has his bait taken by a big fish that he is sure is a marlin. Unable to pull in the great marlin, Santiago is instead pulled by the marlin. Two days and nights pass with Santiago holding the line. Though wounded by the struggle and in pain, Santiago expresses a compassionate appreciation for his adversary, often referring to him as a brother. He also determines that because of the fish's great dignity, no one shall eat the marlin.
On the third day, the fish begins to circle the skiff. Santiago, worn out and almost delirious, uses all the strength to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon. Santiago straps the marlin to the side of his skiff and heads home, thinking about the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed.
On his return, sharks are attracted to the marlin's blood. Santiago kills a great Mako shark with his harpoon, but he loses the weapon. He makes a new harpoon by strapping his knife to the end of an oar to help ward off the next line of sharks; five sharks are slain and many others are driven away. But the sharks keep coming, and by nightfall the sharks have almost devoured the marlin's entire carcass, leaving a skeleton consisting mostly of its backbone, its tail and its head. Finally reaching the shore before dawn on the next day, Santiago struggles to his shack, carrying the heavy mast on his shoulder. Once home, he slumps onto his bed and falls into a deep sleep.
A group of fishermen gather the next day around the boat where the fish's skeleton is still attached. One of the fishermen measures it to be 18 feet (5.5 m) from nose to tail. Tourists at the nearby café mistakenly take it for a shark. Manolin, worried about the old man, cries upon finding him safe asleep. The boy brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again. Upon his return to sleep, Santiago dreams of his youth of lions on an African beach.
The relationship between the humans and the natural world of the sea in “The Old Man and the Sea” is a mixed relationship, as is the case in real life. Santiago loves the ocean, the colors, the patterns in the waves and the feel of the salty air. At the same time, he recognizes the power and the potential for danger inherent in that body of water. Santiago feels kinship with some of the animals of the ocean. Indeed, he relates closely and with great respect to his great fish.
“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.”
(Hemingway 92)
Through it all, the old man recognizes his dependence upon the sea for his livelihood. He understands that he has to work hard for what he gets from the ocean, but he also takes pride in his knowledge and his ability to be able to make his living from nature, as a fisherman.
The old man is unique in his relationship to and understanding of the natural world. He talks about the sea as though it were a woman, the birds as friends, the sharks as personal enemies. He examines the relationship between sea-tortoise and jellyfish, between fish and birds. The creatures and the natural world become a lens through which we examine the old man; they become parables and analogies that allow us to gain insight into his character.
Nature plays a very huge part in the novel since the setting is the sea and the fish is Santiago’s counterpart. There are two possible ways to look at nature in “The Old Man and the Sea”. It can be seen as itself when we just look at how it is described and how Santiago’s relation to this nature (his environment, the animals that surround him etc.) looks like. On the other side nature can be interpreted as a symbol.
When talking about the nature in “The Old Man and the Sea” it is quite obvious to first of all have a look how this nature is presented in the novel. The environment of the fisherman Santiago seems to be at first sight something completely ordered and in perfect harmony. In Santiago’s world everything is in its place. There is the sea with its creatures in it, the birds, the sun, the moon, the stars etc. The relation between the animals and Santiago is more like a friendship. We can see that in the novel where a little bird comes round to Santiago’s skiff. A small bird came toward the skiff from the north. He was a warbler and flying very low over the water. The old man could see that he was very tired. The bird made the stern of the boat and rested there. Then he flew around the old man’s head and rested on the line where he was more comfortable. ‘How old are you’? the old man asked the bird. ‘Is this your first trip’? .The bird looked at him when he spoke. It looks like the old man feels pity for the little bird. He talks to him like if he really could understand. This shows that the animals, especially the fish are like fellow-sufferers, to Santiago.
The old man totally depends on the nature, because it provides his livelihood. From this point of view nature can be called a living donor. There is of course not only this positive image of nature. It can be destructive and hostile as well. The nature that seems to be so peaceful at first sight also sometimes likes an enemy. When we just look at the first page of “The Old Man and the Sea” we see that nature brings misfortune.
Santiago”[…] fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream
and he had gone eighty four days […]without taking a fish.
(Hemingway 5)
It becomes clear that man, even though he is a part of nature, is sometimes totally inferior to it. Because of his experience we can’t assume that Santiago is a good fisherman, being unlucky. Santiago’s destiny is closely connected to the tempers of his environment. The cruelty that goes along with nature from time to time is shown when the old man’s outer appearance is described. His whole body shows signs of the destructiveness of nature.
The sun assailed his skin, leaving “[…] brown
Blotches of the benevolent skin cancer […]”
on him. His “[…] deep creased scars from
handling heavy fish on the cords”.
(Hemingway 5)
The sun, the blotches, the deep creased scars somehow witness the long struggle Santiago had with nature. Of course there are also the sharks that take away the old man’s catch in the end. It looks like nature takes away what it gives. The sharks too are a part of this unity; here they represent the destructive force of nature. Destruction and creation are closely connected to each other and both are a part of this nature.
Another aspect of nature as it is described in “The Old Man and the Sea” is its changelessness. Changelessness is also what describes Santiago’s life the best way: fishing is probably the only thing he ever learned and the only thing he has done his whole life long. It can be assumed that the old man starts fishing again as soon as he recovers from the strains on the sea and since the ocean is unchanged for centuries. This changelessness is represented in the sea itself.
In this novel, the protagonist Santiago gave more stress to the utility of nature. He simply utilizes the fishes in the sea. He caught them for his food and also to prove he is not an unlucky fisherman. In this novel, Santiago himself believes that he is a part of the sea, and must respect nature if he is going to coexist with the sea. It leads him to a deeper understanding of faith and unlucks.
Nature as personified by the sea in this novel is not a character, but instead it is a pure setting. As a setting, the sea is vast, and contains different types of fishes and other animals and plants. In this fashion, Santiago utilizes the richness of the sea.
The main impact of nature is solitude. In “The Old Man and the Sea”, Santiago goes to the Gulf Stream alone. While he spends much of his time on catching a big fish in the sea, he does wish for Manolin with him and barely mentions the Birds, the Dolphins, which obviously do not provide much companionship. He believes that He believes that he has been lucky; without the Birds, the Dolphins on the sea, his work on the sea would become harder.
For livelihood, Santiago makes a good and strong relationship with nature. He is an experienced fisherman but being unlucky. He can able to catch big fishes. As a part of it he makes a good relationship with the animals of the sea and he began to reappraise his duty to God.
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