hi, my teachers and readers.
A year ago, one of my professors asked me to write about The Old Man and the Sea.
Here is the Topic :
Some myth and symbolism in
The Old Man And The Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
It is known that a few writers may or would probably introduce in his literary work, some myth or symbol, to make his work more interesting to the reader or onlooker. One of them is the great famous writer, Ernest Hemingway.
Hemingway denied such symbolism saying:
"The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The sharks are all sharks and no better and no worse."
Although I am not critic, I tried to voice my own opinions about myth and symbolism by reading between the lines, I mean, the thematic structure or underlying meaning.
These two elements defined as follows:
(*)Myth: it is a story, usually, of unknown origin that ostensibly relates actual events to explain some practice, belief, institution or natural phenomenon that is associated with religious rites and beliefs.
(*) Symbolism: it is something that represents something else (often an idea or quality).
I picked up three elements from the novel, which considered, on my opinion, as myths and symbols to be my discussing points.
The sea: the old man always thought the sea as “ la mar” the mother. The sea is the fishermen’s mother who always generously offers diverse types of seafood and provides them with the necessary trade materials. However, when they, fishermen, sometimes sail on the sea and catch nothing or face dangerous and stormy sea, they call their “la mar” bad mother .The same thing can be applied on the human mother who always feeds her children, breeds them up and she sometimes when she occasionally beats them. Her children may call her “ bad mother”.
Africa lions: they actually, in the old man’s view, symbolize strength, bravery and pride of his past happiness. The old man must have had unforgettable experiences, which make him always dream of those lions to get required power if needed.
Psychologically talking, when he faces such trouble on the sea, he tries to fights and do his best based on his bravery and power. However, when it gradually gets worse, he wishes that he dreamed of those lions, the channels of power inspiration through which he can get strength to support him in experiencing the setback. The old man dreamed of those the lions on the night before the sailing day on which he is going to fish solely. It is a sort of psychological preparation for the old man to sail off for fishing. This symbol, during the course of time through the novel, became a myth from which he can apparently have his supportive might and bravery, specially, when he caught a huge fish. Staying up without sleeping; being drawn up by the huge fish, the old man thought:” I wish he’d sleep and I could sleep and dream about the lions…why are the lions the main thing that is left?.
The Baseball: it is the old man’s favorite game, which he always follows up his preferred team through newspapers. He is very fond of his team, which really symbolizes his success and victory. Throwing the line of the bait-clung shank into the sea, the old man feels the line slips down through his fingers; catching such a fish and said:”He has it sideways in his mouth now and his moving off with it”. The phrase “ sideways” used to describe the baseball player’s sneaky movement when he deliberately dribbles the ball; trying to steal through the counteroffensive players for scoring goals. “Do you believe the great DiMaggio would stay with a fish as long as I will stay with
this one?” the old man thought . DiMaggio is a famous baseball player whom the old man praises by saying that he is still young and strong. The old man really describes himself as player who tries to score some goals. Similarly, the old man tries to achieve some of his goals when catching some fish either for eating or for trade. He psychologically reflects his joyful impression on his navy daily life.
The boy, Manolin: He represents the early stages and the happiest times of the old man’s life.Manolin is the boy who always takes care of the old man and helps him out. He is the old man’s left hand. During the novel when the old man is facing hard ordeal and drawn up by the fish, his left hand cramped which denotes he needs someone to help him out. Sailing on his small boat to catch some fish, the old man grabs a huge fish and immediately remembers the boy, Manolin, who helps him all the time. He repetitively thinks:” I wish I had the boy to help me …”. Although the old man wishes, from now and then, he had the boy with him, I, personally, see that the old man is psychologically preoccupied entirely by the power, the energy and health of youth. I see the old man is in need of the boy psychically and allegorically as youth stage.
The caught fish: the hand fighting between the old man and the huge fish, on my part, represents the physical and psychological status of the man when he fought a strong competitive Negro in which the man won eventually. The old man really reflects this transient whiles on himself being drawn by the huge fish.
The old man: he is the symbol of the primitive man who still clung to the ancient means as follows: he sails by a skiff not a modern boat. He usually measures the depth of the sea in fathom not in metric system. At night, he actually specifies his direction on the sea by looking at the stars in the sky. He does not have a means of communication such as a Radio. He does not have a compass with which he can easily get his right direction. He does not have an emergency instrument that used to send, a wireless signal about dangerous condition, to the nearest ship or port known as “SOS- -save our selves”
Now, I just ask some comments o corrections.
Thank you,
Ayed
A year ago, one of my professors asked me to write about The Old Man and the Sea.
Here is the Topic :
Some myth and symbolism in
The Old Man And The Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
It is known that a few writers may or would probably introduce in his literary work, some myth or symbol, to make his work more interesting to the reader or onlooker. One of them is the great famous writer, Ernest Hemingway.
Hemingway denied such symbolism saying:
"The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The sharks are all sharks and no better and no worse."
Although I am not critic, I tried to voice my own opinions about myth and symbolism by reading between the lines, I mean, the thematic structure or underlying meaning.
These two elements defined as follows:
(*)Myth: it is a story, usually, of unknown origin that ostensibly relates actual events to explain some practice, belief, institution or natural phenomenon that is associated with religious rites and beliefs.
(*) Symbolism: it is something that represents something else (often an idea or quality).
I picked up three elements from the novel, which considered, on my opinion, as myths and symbols to be my discussing points.
The sea: the old man always thought the sea as “ la mar” the mother. The sea is the fishermen’s mother who always generously offers diverse types of seafood and provides them with the necessary trade materials. However, when they, fishermen, sometimes sail on the sea and catch nothing or face dangerous and stormy sea, they call their “la mar” bad mother .The same thing can be applied on the human mother who always feeds her children, breeds them up and she sometimes when she occasionally beats them. Her children may call her “ bad mother”.
Africa lions: they actually, in the old man’s view, symbolize strength, bravery and pride of his past happiness. The old man must have had unforgettable experiences, which make him always dream of those lions to get required power if needed.
Psychologically talking, when he faces such trouble on the sea, he tries to fights and do his best based on his bravery and power. However, when it gradually gets worse, he wishes that he dreamed of those lions, the channels of power inspiration through which he can get strength to support him in experiencing the setback. The old man dreamed of those the lions on the night before the sailing day on which he is going to fish solely. It is a sort of psychological preparation for the old man to sail off for fishing. This symbol, during the course of time through the novel, became a myth from which he can apparently have his supportive might and bravery, specially, when he caught a huge fish. Staying up without sleeping; being drawn up by the huge fish, the old man thought:” I wish he’d sleep and I could sleep and dream about the lions…why are the lions the main thing that is left?.
The Baseball: it is the old man’s favorite game, which he always follows up his preferred team through newspapers. He is very fond of his team, which really symbolizes his success and victory. Throwing the line of the bait-clung shank into the sea, the old man feels the line slips down through his fingers; catching such a fish and said:”He has it sideways in his mouth now and his moving off with it”. The phrase “ sideways” used to describe the baseball player’s sneaky movement when he deliberately dribbles the ball; trying to steal through the counteroffensive players for scoring goals. “Do you believe the great DiMaggio would stay with a fish as long as I will stay with
this one?” the old man thought . DiMaggio is a famous baseball player whom the old man praises by saying that he is still young and strong. The old man really describes himself as player who tries to score some goals. Similarly, the old man tries to achieve some of his goals when catching some fish either for eating or for trade. He psychologically reflects his joyful impression on his navy daily life.
The boy, Manolin: He represents the early stages and the happiest times of the old man’s life.Manolin is the boy who always takes care of the old man and helps him out. He is the old man’s left hand. During the novel when the old man is facing hard ordeal and drawn up by the fish, his left hand cramped which denotes he needs someone to help him out. Sailing on his small boat to catch some fish, the old man grabs a huge fish and immediately remembers the boy, Manolin, who helps him all the time. He repetitively thinks:” I wish I had the boy to help me …”. Although the old man wishes, from now and then, he had the boy with him, I, personally, see that the old man is psychologically preoccupied entirely by the power, the energy and health of youth. I see the old man is in need of the boy psychically and allegorically as youth stage.
The caught fish: the hand fighting between the old man and the huge fish, on my part, represents the physical and psychological status of the man when he fought a strong competitive Negro in which the man won eventually. The old man really reflects this transient whiles on himself being drawn by the huge fish.
The old man: he is the symbol of the primitive man who still clung to the ancient means as follows: he sails by a skiff not a modern boat. He usually measures the depth of the sea in fathom not in metric system. At night, he actually specifies his direction on the sea by looking at the stars in the sky. He does not have a means of communication such as a Radio. He does not have a compass with which he can easily get his right direction. He does not have an emergency instrument that used to send, a wireless signal about dangerous condition, to the nearest ship or port known as “SOS- -save our selves”
Now, I just ask some comments o corrections.
Thank you,
Ayed
