The Old Man and the Sea

Just reread this story

The Old Man and the Sea

The line went out and out and out but it was slowing now and he was making the fish earn every inch of it.

The pundits of instruction manuals, workshops, classrooms, and critique circles tell us that repetition is unacceptable in both prose and poetry. Nevertheless, this line stands out as a summary of the battle between a great marlin and the old fisherman, Santiago. Ernest Hemingway received a Pulitzer Prize for his novella, The Old Man and the Sea, repetition and all. Hemingway had other works in progress when he died, but this was the last long work of fiction published during his lifetime.

The story itself holds a form of conflict that barely exists in recent literature, the conflict of man against nature. One can substitute the word person for the word man, in the name of gender equality, but I use the terms as I learned them.

The three forms of conflict in literature, as I learned them, were man against God (or the gods), man against nature, and man against man. The first is exemplified by The Odyssey and the Book of Job. Examples of the second include Moby Dick and the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. Examples of the third include such classics as Hamlet and modern classics such as The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Other suggested conflicts such as man against himself (i.e. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), man against society (i.e. Fahrenheit 451), and man against machine (i.e. The Terminator) are all special cases of man against man.

The disappearance of man against nature as a recognized form of conflict came home to me in a recent writing workshop where the facilitator listed man against God, man against man, and man against himself. Nature was left out entirely, perhaps symbolic of a society which no longer considers nature significant or powerful. In a contemporary world we forecast the weather, hold back the sea with levees, channel the course of rivers and generally regard nature as vanquished. This is well described in John McPhee’s nonfiction book, The Control of Nature. Bill McKibben described it in another way in The End of Nature.

Our belief that we have conquered nature has theological roots in the word dominion, but I believe this is magnified beyond all measure in the contemporary world. Despite the evidence of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and volcanic eruptions, our belief in our omnipotence continues. Given this belief, it may not be possible for a living author to write a book such as Moby Dick, a novella such as The Old Man and the Sea, or a short story such as “The Bear.”

Despite our current trend of ignoring nature, it has a strong presence in Hemingway’s story. 

In a frequently quoted line, Santiago is alone in the boat, but speaks aloud. “But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed, but not defeated.” Hemingway is speaking through the character, of course, but he makes more of the story than a simple battle. Santiago loves the fish and calls him brother, despite his intent to kill the fish. He is sorry for the fish being spoiled when sharks come. He feels sadness for another fish he had killed, perhaps years ago, and remembers her mate who leaped high for one last look before he dove into the depths, just escaping the fisherman’s harpoon.

Most of all, Santiago regards the sea as a feminine entity. She gives or withholds great favors such as a favorable day’s fishing. She sometimes gives storms and high seas, just as a lover is sometimes tender and at other times moody and impetuous. He makes much of how the sea is subject to the influence of the moon.

Santiago, the Cuban fisherman, exemplifies a much more complex relationship with nature than 21^st century humans can generally envision. This is true as well for Hemmingway: hunter, fisherman, world traveler and author.  The themes of The Old Man and the Sea also appear in his earlier nonfiction work, The Green Hills of Africa.

The greatness of this novella is preserved for all time. Aside from winning the Pulitzer Prize, it was cited prominently in the judges’ remarks when Hemingway received the Nobel Prize for Literature.