Reflections

Hemingway in TOM

Having recently read for this assignment many views and opinions on Hemingway and The Old Man and the Sea, it would be easy to get swept along by the interpretations of his words and characters. When I ask myself, where do I see Hemingway in the book I have to go back to the atmosphere created and see how this fits in with his life events? When I read the book I got a sense of someone coming to the end of his life, which has been through turbulent times and is now in a period of melancholy or maybe just reconciling themselves to the uncertainty of the end of life. I think in Santiago's fight with trying to land the marlin, I can see Hemingway trying to come to terms with his declining popularity at that time, and representing this through Santiago's struggles for existence. Hemingway had had a very active, political life and his earlier books focus on the themes of love and war, and the artifices of society. But in TOM he is exploring the inner consciousness of a single man. With his previous novels set in war times, he demonstrated the value he set to human courage, the heroic man who lives by his own code of values, but here he is stripped down human courage and perseverance to its barest form. This feels to me as if he is almost taking stock as to what makes a dignified life as he examines his own struggle with his inner demons and his critics.

Hemingway himself identified with Santiago in 1954 when, in his Nobel Prize acceptance statement, he wrote that a writer's task was to try for something he could not hope to attain, that the writer "is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him." With this book, Hemingway had shown that he could still achieve a major triumph, whether or not the reviewers and critics (sharks) or the public (the two tourists at the end of the book) could appreciate the true worth of his achievement.

Films/History & TOMS

The 1950s brought themes of paranoia and pessimism, which was showcased in "film noir," just on the heels of WWII. The 1950s also brought and inflated views of materialism and commercial possibilities with the need for "man" to prove himself. As a film buff, I felt that the themes that were prominent in "the Old Man and the Sea" weren't as prominent in films made in the 1950s. Hemingway portrayed his main character, Santiago as a quiet hero who was content with honor even though he had no proof to support his "catch." He battled the marlin to prove to himself that he cannot be defeated, regardless of his age. However, he didn't feel the need to prove it to the other fishermen and locals.

During the 1950s, film themes were entered around young characters who rebelled against society and their parents, like in "A Rebel Without A Cause" (1955) or older characters who were past their prime, were weak physically and mentally, and had fragile egos. Santiago was an elderly character living a simple life during an era with much change. I didn't feel like he was out for his last hoorah. In comparison, in 1952, Gary Cooper played an agine sheriff in "High Noon" who had one last chance to prove himself against the "bad guys." I feel this character was different than Santiago because he had something to prove to society, but Santiago did not.

Change in Cuba & TOMS

In the early and mid 1950s, Cuba flourished economically because of its booming travel industry and the large production of sugar. At the same time, poverty increased, particularly in the rural parts of the country. Santiago lived in the rural countryside therefore he represented the poverty in Cuba. The large businesses symbolize the large fishing industries that profited more than a fisherman. The friendship of Santiago and Manolin could symbolize the period of Cuba in the past and the present-the young and the old. In the story, when the sharks take a bite out of the marlin, they could symbolize the big businesses or capitalism taking over or crushing the small independent businesses in Cuba. In the mid 1950s not only was poverty rising in the country, college students in Havana organized strikes against the corrupt government. The strikes symbolize Santiago's spirit of persistence and not giving up! In the late 1950s and just before the revolution, bloodshed and violence grew-all can be examples of the pain and suffering that the old man experienced and endured when he was on the boat. And the pain seemed endless like the long period that Cuba experienced poverty under its corrupt leaders. Santiago also represents everyman, trying to survive life's daily challenges against the sharks or nature and the elements. The average Cuban was not involved in the revolution but was subject to the suffering and horrors. If the old man could survive his battle and meet the challenge with dignity and honor on his terms, then so could everyday Cubans.