Eassy

The old man and the sea

1. Essay topic


Portrayal of the relationship between Santiago and nature in
Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”




The essay, "The Old Man and the Sea," is one of Ernest Hemingway's most well-known works,
and a thorough look reveals that it is also one of his most popular novellas. The essay's only
focus will be on portrayal of the heroic fisherman's character and his difficult relationship with
Mother Nature.

The renowned novel "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway narrates the story of
Santiago (the old man), a poor fisherman who lives someplace near Havana in the tropic sea.
He hadn't caught a fish in 48 days, and his student, a teenager named Manolin who sailed
alongside him, had switched to another boat, leaving the old man entirely alone. He catches a
large fish one day and has a three-day fight with it before ultimately killing it. He attaches it to
the side of his boat, but because the fish has lost a lot of blood, it attracts a lot of sharks, who
attack it. Santiago finally makes it to the shore after a tough battle with nothing but the bones
of his fish. Santiago’s most famous quote from the text is "A man can be destroyed but not
defeated.”

Nature plays an important role in the novella because it is situated at sea and Santiago's opposite
is a fish. The portrayal of nature in the text is examined in this essay. There are two aspects of
nature in “The Old Man and the Sea.”. It may be understood as "itself" when we consider how
it is presented and how Santiago's relationship to nature, his environment, and other people is
described. Nature, from the other hand, may be considered as a metaphor. The lifestyle of the
fisherman Santiago appears to be fully organized and in perfect harmony at first glance.
Everything has its place in Santiago's "universe." There's the sea, with its creatures and birds,
as well as the sun, moon, and stars. The animals' relationship with Santiago is more closer to
friendship.

Aside from that, the sea is revered as the source of all life. The ocean is the fullness on Earth;
it is the foundation of life. It benefits the fisherman on their boats, who provide the people
ashore with the seafood that the ocean provides. As a result, both the ship and the sea represent
wealth. Through Santiago's "world," the sea can be seen as a mother. Throughout the
perspective that the sea is the mother of all life, and such perspective is correct.


There is, of course, more to nature than this good portrayal. It has the potential to be both
violent and unfriendly. It is clear that boating on the water in favor of fish isn't always a
pleasurable experience. Nature, which appears to be so quiet at first glance, may sometimes
be a threat. Nature delivers disaster, as we can see from the first page of "The Old Man and
the Sea."Santiago "had gone eighty-four days without catching a fish while fishing alone in a
boat in the Deep Sea." Despite the fact that man is a part of nature, it is clear that he is
occasionally entirely helpless to it. We can't really say Santiago is a terrible fisherman

2. because of his experience; being "unlucky" only reminds us that you can't always rely on
your abilities while you're out in nature. We never know what will happen, thus Santiago's
fate is closely tied to the "emotions" of his surroundings. When the elderly man's outward
look is portrayed, the harshness that comes with nature from time to time is shown. His entire
personality bears the scars of nature's violence. Witness Santiago's endless battle with nature
in some way. Then obviously, there are sharks that, in the end, steal the old man's catch.
Nature appears to take away what it provides. Sharks, too, are a part of this solidarity; in this
case, they reflect nature's negative energy. Death and creation are interconnected and are both
a part of the natural world.

Finally, there are two different perspectives on how nature is shown in “The Old Man and the
Sea.” At first glance, there is nature "as it is": the author relates the incident of an elderly
fisherman who catches a large marlin. Hemingway explains the main character's relationship
with the fish. We gain a sense of Santiago's environment and "learn" about the difficulties that
a person faces when sailing. There, he learns about nature's frequently violent powers as well
as its "welcoming" side. Santiago and the fish find out to be on equal terms; they both have the
same "goal" in mind: to survive. Apart from that, we could tell that Santiago is an incredibly
talented fisherman, as proved by his understanding and interpreting the "signs of nature."
Nature, on the other hand, may be viewed as a metaphor. If we look at the novel through the
lens of symbolically, we may conclude that life and the role humans play in it are both reflected
in the text. The sea is a metaphor for life. The lions and boats represent individuals in real life.
There are two sorts of people: those who are active, adventurous, and willing to take risks, and
those who are quiet, nervous, and unwilling to take risks.