He hooks the fish at noon, and at noon of the third day he kills it by driving his harpoon into its heart. During the trials with the great fish and with the sharks his hands ache terribly: his back is lashed by the line he gets an eye-piercing headache and his chest shrinks and he spits blood. Santiago is a fisherman and he is also a teacher: he has taught the boy not only how to fish- that is, how to make a living- but how to behave as well, giving him the pride and humility necessary to a good life. These are so closely interwoven with the story as to suggest an allegorical intention on Hemingway’s part. Christian Allegory and SymbolsĬhristian religious symbols run through the story. Furthermore The Old Man and the Sea while reasserting the set of values, the philosophy which permeates all of Hemingway’s work, is built upon the great abstractions-love and truth and honour and loyalty and pride and humility and again speaks of the proper method of attaining and retaining these virtues, and of the spiritual satisfaction experienced by one who possesses them. It is swiftly and smoothly told the conflict is resolved into a struggle between a man and a force which he scarcely understands, but which he knows that he must continue to strive against. The Old Man and the Sea is a very good Hemingway story. And of all Hemingway’s books, The Old Man and the Sea demands most to be studied on both levels. The view has been gathering strength that Hemingway’s work should be studied on the symbolic as well as on the story level for a full appreciation of its art.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an allegory is “the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence” Since the nineteen-forties there had been an increasing emphasis on Hemingway’s use of symbolism and allegory in his novels.

Hemingway the old man and the sea