THE OLD MAN AND THE

SEA

-Reading Journal-

EMMA MODY
Mark Brown
English A Language and Literature
Man Vs. Elements
Throughout the story, Santiago is continuously against the unpredictable odds of the

prevalent elements. The sea, being the setting of the story brings with it challenges for

Santiago and although he loves it, there are certainly elements fundamental elements of fear,

which prevail through the connotations of cautionary actions. His love and respect for the sea

are evident through his admiration and addressement of it as a person, ‘He always thought of

the sea as ​la mar which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her’ (19). The

referation of it to be ‘her’, giving it a female presence suggests that the love, which other men

find in women is brought to him by the love of the sea. The relationship is rooted deep into

the heart of Santiago as his deep feelings for it surpass explanation, as the same can be said

for feelings of love. He finds it to be somewhat unexplainable and bewildering, however it is

the which seems to captivate and attach the old man to it, this is expressed through ‘She is so

kind and beautiful. But she can be so cruel too’ (19). Furthermore, it is mentioned that others

reference to her as ‘el mar, which is masculine… they spoke of her as a contestant or a place

or even an enemy. But the old man always thought of her as… gave or withheld favours’

(20). Santiago seems to place a great strength of trust and value into the sea, as well as he’s

beliefs about it, likewise emphasising that if she decided to do something villainous or

barbarian she could not help them, this could relate to temperments of women in a

relationship that could not be helped since it is a part of human nature or it could resonate

with the idea of a greater natural power controlling the elements and the sea being a slave to

this. In the end he further blames himself and not the current nor the fish for dragging him out

for the trip, he merely conversates to himself replying to his own question of what beat you,
saying ‘Nothing… I went too far out’ (93), yet again emphasising his belief that the sea

cannot help doing cruel deeds.

The cycle of days is perpetual, as it would be in life, this sets a regular tempo throughout the

whole book and strongly mirrors in what could be a steady current of the sea, hence uniting

the natural elements. The symbolism of light is juxtaposed within the story as it primarily

states ‘the early sun (to) hurt my eyes’ (22), however near the end as he is on the boat he

seems to seek out for any glimpse of light, however the darkness of night has dominated the

scene and the old man ‘felt perhaps he was already dead’ (90). I think that this proposes light

to be unpredictable much like the sea and fluctuating concurrently with his hope. Hope and

faith could be considered as connotations of the symbolism of light within the story as it

provides him with sight; a much needed skill as he cannot see what lurks in the sea without it.
Man Vs. Age and Human nature
A prevailing theme throughout the story is the deterioration of the man as he combats his age,

humanity and tangible body. The gradual degradation of his physique begins with a scratch

on the cheek and amplifies to him forced to remain sitting unmobile. At first the work ethic

and raw desire keep him preoccupied, this is noticeable as ‘He felt the line carefully with his

right hand and noticed his hand was bleeding.’ (41) The man seems to merely acknowledge

and detect the wound when it disrupts his current task, presenting his strong will and shows

how his spirit is not limited into his body, almost questioning the detachment of his body and

mind as he becomes aware of the slow deterioration with age, but his spirit is unwilling to

undertake or accept this change. This detachment is furthered as he speaks to his hand when

it becomes cramped asking ‘How do you feel, hand?’ (43), he quickly provides food in order

to saviour the injury, by him saying ‘I’ll eat some more for you.’ (43) It isolates his body

from him since he refers to his hand and treats it as a different body, additional evidence of

this is when he communicates to his left hand expressing disappointment, ‘But there was a

moment when I could not find you.’(65) In my opinion, the author may have done this to

suggest the man’s segregation from others to be maddening or solely his young spirit and will

fight against the unstoppable aging of his body.

Subsequently, the man tackles problems from the mind from lack of sleep and conditions

such as thirst, which impact his ability to think and concentrate to add to the physical

suffering. Santiago felt ‘faint and sick and he could not see clearly’ (72). The repetition of

‘and’ gives it a list like impact emphasising the myriad of problems were occurring to him as

well as the severity of them. There is further a description of the ‘fish (becoming) alive, with

his death in him’ (72). Hemmingway uses the concept of through death one becoming alive,
since one has everything (life itself) to fight for, to describe the fish, this reflects to the old

man calling the fish his ‘brother’ constantly, since the old man is going through this fight

himself naturally. This mirrors in Santiago because fishing and the sea is his only love and

purpose, therefore through these injuries he fights to carry on performing his tasks even as his

vision and strength falters.

The old man’s last fight is against his own mind, as he is coming home he begins to dwell on

sin and feels as though ny killing the fish he has committed one, ‘If you love him, it is not a

sin to kill. Or is it more?’ (81). He finds heaviness in his heart weighted from the brutal and

lenthy kill for he realises he killed not only for survival, but also for pride. Likewise, his love

for the ocean and all things within he begins to question the morality and humanity in his

actions.
Faith, Hope and Luck
Faith and hope are two of the concepts, which the old man heavily relies upon during the

trials and tensions of his trip. Although Santiago mentions that he is not someone with great

religious beliefs it is yet the power and reliance in God, which he relies upon, ‘’I am not

religious’, he said. But I will say ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys that I should catch this

fish, and I promise to make a pilgrimage to the Virgin of Cobre.’ (48) He asks for God to

help him catch the fish and in return promises to be more devoted to his religion, he further

admits that they ‘made him feel much better’ (49), showing the influence of faith and the

stability that can be gathered from such actions. Likewise, as his journey develops, his

reliance on God and faith in religion strengthens as he begins to pray even more; ‘God help

me endure. I’ll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys.’ (67) Since he has no

time to say them, one can tell that this is an action of him at the basic core of his person, since

he is a the edge of his will and in such poor physical condition and yet he manages to think

about God and finds comfort and strength in the words.

Santiago’s hope through the story majorly wavers according to the current situation, however

near the end it becomes something hard to build up considering the situation he is in. I think

this is hard for him because he put everything he had into catching the fish and it would have

been a huge accomplishment for him as well as proving everyone else wrong and to have that

ripped away so suddenly by the sharks whom he fought till he was physically strained,

completely dilapidated his hope. By the end he seeks to find hope through luck in order to

have something to keep him going and something to confide in to build up a hope of him

succeeding, he explores the idea of buying it, ‘I’d like to buy some if there’s any place they

sell it’ (90). He insists they nearly sold it to him for ‘eighty-four days at sea’ (91), finally he
comes to an understanding that ‘Luck is a thing that comes in many forms and who can

recognise her?’ (91). This shows the man’s development in knowledge through the journey as

he realises that he does not need luck to be a good fisherman.