“[…] he wrote about pity: about something somewhere that made them all: the old man who had to catch the fish and then lose it, the fish that had to be caught and then lost, the sharks which had to rob the old man of his fish; made them all and loved them all and pitied them all” – in such a way Faulkner described the main theme of Hemingway’s The Old Man and Sea (1951) (Bloom 5). I cannot but agree that the feeling of pity pierces the novel through. However, I believe that the main idea that the author managed to render is that human virtues like courage, dignity, pride and the ability to guard oneself against defeat are unconquered no matter what hardship a man undergoes.
Unlike most of Hemingway’s works that emphasize what men cannot do, The Old Man and the Sea stresses what people can do and admit the significance of men’s courage, a dignity that fills the world with heroic deeds. Though the universe inhabited by Santiago, the old Cuban fisherman, “is not free of tragedy and pain but these are transcended,” the affirming tone of the novel is in sharp contrast with pessimism; the novel gives the readers hope for better that doesn’t die till human courage, dignity and pride exist (Bloom 13).
From the first lines of the novel, the reader understands that Santiago is the man struggling against defeat. For eighty-four days, he came back home from the sea without fish. Still, he does not want to accept the status of “salvo” (Hemingway 5). The sail of Santiago’s skiff resembles “the flag of permanent defeat,” but at the same time, it is a symbol of the old man’s constant struggle. (5) He resolves to sail out farther than ever, where he expects to catch the biggest fish.
Santiago lands the marlin after a cruel three-day fight and keeps on warding off sharks from eating his prey, even realizing the game is not worth the candle. What inspires Santiago to fight is his life principle: “man is not made for defeat… A man can be destroyed but not defeated” (103). As the novel develops, we see that in spite of the three injuries during the fight with the marlin – a cut on his head (52), cuts to his right hand (55), and his left hand severely cramping “into a claw” (58) – Santiago is not destroyed.
The theme of resistance to defeat is revealed in many ways in the novel. Referencing baseball is one of them. Sports are a domain in which human courage and dignity acquire special importance. Along with hard work and self-discipline, they constitute preconditions of a sportsman’s success. The same happens in The Old Man and the Sea. Being thrice-injured, Santiago thinks how he “must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel” (68). “I will show [the fish] what a man can do and what a man endures” (66), Santiago believes, and then wonders, “Do you believe the great DiMaggio would stay with a fish as long as I will stay with this one?” (68)
Santiago’s unflagging determination to catch the fish and bring it to shore is motivated by his pride. The marlin would have been the greatest victory of his. He is willing to die to bring it in. He does not care about his life when struggling with the sharks. This determination to act, to fight, to never give up helps the fisherman to avoid defeat. Though Santiago comes back home without the trophy, he was fighting for three days, and two nights; he knows that he acted bravely. Santiago can be proud of himself. Hemingway’s message is that not a victory enables one to feel the moment of glory, but his/her ability to struggle up to the very end, regardless of the final outcome. The honor Santiago gains come from his pride and fortitude to fight.
It should be noted that courage, dignity, and pride are not displayed by Santiago only; the marlin also does. They both experience the inevitability of the eternal law: to kill or to be killed. In the man’s case, human virtues help him to survive; the fish lets Santiago live.
Contrary to the belief that might appear at first, The Old Man and the Sea is not a novel about the salesman’s failure to gain profit. The author presents the reader from accepting his work in this way. Taking us through every moment of Santiago’s three days and nights at sea and forcing us to assess the merit of Santiago’s actions and the final outcome of his efforts according to other than the exclusively material criterion, Hemingway encourages us to respect Santiago’s indomitable will, courage, and self-discipline that eventually help the fisherman guard himself from defeat.
Reading the pages of the novel, one learns that courage, dignity, and pride help to overcome different life difficulties. In extreme situations like the one described in The Old Man and the Sea, these are moral virtues that make a man resistant to negative surprises that life holds in its store. The old man’s courage, dignity, and pride skillfully depicted by the author are those eternal virtues that helped the character not only win the dangerous fishes but to gain a victory over himself as well. The latter seems to be even of greater importance than the former, as when one is able to overcome one’s weaknesses, further victories will definitely come soon.
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold. Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Chelsea House, 1999.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. Hueber Verlag, 1975.