In 1951, Ernest Hemingway wrote one of his last famous works, The Old Man and the Sea. As it is noted by the title, the main setting of the novel is the sea. Hemingway uses this setting throughout the novel to exemplify the natural relationship between man and nature. During Santiago’s journey he encounters other creatures, like the marlin, to support the claim of nature and man working against and with each other. This novel, not only is a captivating story of man’s ongoing battle with the natural world, but also contains a deeper truth about the world order. In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway portrays nature as human’s equal, living in a competitive harmony, preventing either group from dominating the other. One of the deepest
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While Santiago is at sea, he tends to observe all of the creatures like the flying fish, birds, dolphins, Portuguese man-of-war, Sargasso weed, and everything else around him. “A man is never lost at sea…”(89). When Santiago says this, he is saying although he may feel isolated and alone, he never really is because life is all around him. He considers all of the nature around him friendly and he feels for the animals being pursued by others. Although, he understands that death is inevitable for life to be sustained. When Santiago journeys out onto his skiff his main goal is to catch food to be able to survive. However, to be able to accomplish this in the most efficient way, Santiago uses the other creature to gain on his opponent of the sea. Santiago knows the sea and the other animals better than any other fisherman in the village, which helps him to be able to know where the fish are to be able to catch them. He knows to follow the seabirds who are also on pursuit of fish for themselves. This demonstrates Santiago’s symbiotic relationship with nature, in that he is using his knowledge of the creatures to be able to gain from nature for himself. Santiago is working with nature to be able to defeat it, however, as shown by his drought of catching anything, nature can still prevail. Thus, further exemplifying Hemmingway’s claim that humans and nature live together in a competitive harmony, each trying to win over the other, but none actually succeeding in doing
While Santiago is at sea, he tends to observe all of the creatures like the flying fish, birds, dolphins, Portuguese man-of-war, Sargasso weed, and everything else around him. “A man is never lost at sea…”(89). When Santiago says this, he is saying although he may feel isolated and alone, he never really is because life is all around him. He considers all of the nature around him friendly and he feels for the animals being pursued by others. Although, he understands that death is inevitable for life to be sustained. When Santiago journeys out onto his skiff his main goal is to catch food to be able to survive. However, to be able to accomplish this in the most efficient way, Santiago uses the other creature to gain on his opponent of the sea. Santiago knows the sea and the other animals better than any other fisherman in the village, which helps him to be able to know where the fish are to be able to catch them. He knows to follow the seabirds who are also on pursuit of fish for themselves. This demonstrates Santiago’s symbiotic relationship with nature, in that he is using his knowledge of the creatures to be able to gain from nature for himself. Santiago is working with nature to be able to defeat it, however, as shown by his drought of catching anything, nature can still prevail. Thus, further exemplifying Hemmingway’s claim that humans and nature live together in a competitive harmony, each trying to win over the other, but none actually succeeding in doing