Assignment
Name: Trivedi Disha Hiteshbhai
Paper no: 10
Topic: Earnest Hemingway’s
fictional are and philosophy in ‘old man and the sea’.
Year: 2015-2017
M.A.Sem=3
Submitted to: Smt. S.b.gardi
department of English m. k. Bhavnagar University
Topic: Earnest
Hemingway’s fictional are and philosophy in ‘old man and the sea’.
v About Author:
Earnest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 –
July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. His
economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life
of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway
produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels,
six short story collections, and two non-fiction works. Additional works,
including three novels, four short story collections, and three non-fiction
works, were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics
of American literature.
v His work:
ü
Novels
·
(1926) The
Torrents of Spring
·
(1926) The
Sun Also Rises
·
(1929) A
Farewell to Arms
·
(1937) To
Have and Have Not
·
(1940) For
Whom the Bell Tolls
·
(1950) Across
the River and into the Trees
·
(1952) The
Old Man and the Sea
·
(1970) Islands
in the Stream
·
(1986) The
Garden of Eden
ü Non- fiction
·
(1932) Death
in the Afternoon
·
(1935) Green
Hills of Africa
·
(1962) Hemingway,
The Wild Years
·
(1964) A
Moveable Feast
·
(1967) By-Line:
Ernest Hemingway
·
(1970) Ernest
Hemingway: Cub Reporter
·
(1985) The
Dangerous Summer
·
(1985) Dateline:
Toronto
·
(1999) True
at First Light
·
(2005) Under
Kilimanjaro
v ‘old man and the sea’ critically in
the context Earnest Hemingway’s fictional art and philosophy:
ü
‘Old
man and the sea’ is a famous novel written by Earnest Hemingway. It is a novel
with simple story of a simple fisherman, who finds himself unfortunate as he
had no catch for 84 days, but he doesn’t get discouraged and goes on a venture
again. This novel reflects the personality of the author himself.
ü
Hemingway wants to join the army but he was not
selected due to an eye injury that he suffered as a young boy. Though he was
rejected, he was willing to wage a war and so decided to travel overseas as a
Red Cross ambulance driver. Hemingway was wounded in Italy during following his
duties just before he turned 19. For his bravery, he was honoured by the
Italians.
ü
When Hemingway returned to the U.S., he spent
time in the Michigan woods; he recovered from his war wounds. Then he works as
a reporter in Toronto. But soon he got tired and dissatisfied of his North
American life and so he moved to Paris, as a foreign correspondent for the ‘star’
he came in contact with the wing of fellow Americans Gertrude stein and Ezra
pound. He was greatly influenced by them. He focused his attention on creative
writing rather than reporting. He wrote a collection of short stories. ‘In our
time’ in 1925. Is first novel ‘the sun also rises’ was published in 1926. He
achieved a great fame at the age of 27.
ü
Later he married and divorced three times. In 1930s
he spent time in Spain and Africa and archived reputation as a Sportsman and
athlete. He fought bulls in Spain, hunted in Africa and died fishing in Florida.
The central character of the old man and the sea Santiago was based on someone
he encountered when he was finding on the Gulf Stream out of his liking for
adventure. When he was on the boat, he and his friend Carlos met a fisherman
and a boy being dragged through the sea in a rickety boat, struggling against a
huge fish. Even when Hemingway and his skipper offered help, the old man
refused. This episode took a form of novella later on.
ü
The story of the old, brave fisherman also
reflects the author himself according to some critics; a critic compares
Hemingway’s with Santiago and his work as marlin. Others found it as Hemingway’s
love for gallantry. A critic said that Hemingway wandered the world “in search
of flame of spirit in men and beasts”. In the present novel, the flame is found
as a Characteristic of both Santiago and the marlin.
ü
In 1942, Hemingway went on a voyage voluntarily
with his fishing boat for navy projects off the west coast of Cuba. It was a
mission for destroying U-boats. He also served as a correspondent in the
Spanish civil war. In 1944, he worked as a correspondent and went on mission
with royal air force and then joined the first army. He suffered injuries
during the Second World War
ü
After the war, Hemingway lived in Havana until Fidel
Castro’s revolution forced him out of the country. ‘Old man and the sea’ was Hemingway’s
last published work. He received the Nobel Prize in 1954.
ü
The novel ‘old man and the sea’ represents what
Hemingway had once witnessed but we can see from his life that it also
reflected in some or the other way his own personality. His sense of adventure,
courage, patience, capacity to suffer- all these are reflected in the character
of the old man Santiago- the sailor. The incident that he observed in the sea
once became the base for this novel.
v
Major
themes of ‘old man and the sea’.
Hemingway discusses various themes in this novel. Let us discuss them in
detail.
1. Unity: unity is the one of the
major theme of the old man and the sea. Hemingway depicts connections between
Santiago and his natural environment including fish, birds and stars etc. He
establishes connections between Santiago and all his brothers. He depicts
‘heart of a turtle eggs for strength, drinking shark liver oil for health etc.
Author also presents contadictionary elements as aspects of one unified whole.
He depicts sea as kind and cruel feminine and masculine. He writes that the
make shark is noble but cruel. For Santiago, success and failure are equal
facets of the same existence. He finds himself as a part of nature rather than
an external competitor.
2. Heroism: triumph amidst
adversity is the heart of heroism. Santiago is a heroic figure. For Hemingway
vision of heroism is Sisyphean that requires continuous labour. What any hero
does is to face adversity with dignity and grace. Santiago says that ‘man is
not made for defeat...a man can be destroyed but not defeated.
3. Manhood: it is one of the themes
in the novel. Hemingway’s vision of manhood is very much close to that of
heroism. For him to be a men means to behave with honour and dignity. A man
does not submit to suffering. He accepts his duty without complaint. He must
display maximum self-control. Feminity is represented in the novel by the sea
which lacks self control. The marlin is masculine and so it is referred to as
‘great, beautiful, clam and noble’. Santiago represents how to live life
heroically and in a way befitting a man.
4. Pride: Hemingway also introduces
pride as an important theme. A brave man like Santiago must be proud of his actions.
It is his pride that makes him travel far out into the sea. He goes beyond all
the people and catch the marlin. Santiago calls marlin his brother but kills it
for pride. May be he pays the price for his pride by losing marlin later on.
5. Success: Hemingway refers to
different types of success. There is outer, material success and inner means
spiritual success. In santiago’s case, there is no outer success, Santiago
represents a triumph of victorious spirit over exhaustible material resources.
Such spirit is full of heroism and manhood Santiago loses the big catch but
heroically. So, it shows inner success over the outer one.
6. Worthiness: being heroic does
not mean possessing only qualities but demonstraton of such qualities of
heroism and marline through actions. Santiago is obsessed with proving his
worthiness amides all around him. He has to prove himself before the boy. He
has to prove himself to the marlin saying that he will kill him in all the
greatness and glory. He wants to endure. So, one’s worthiness has to be
demonstrated through worthy and noble actions.
Hemingway has treated pride in the
novel ‘old man and the sea’. Certain critic say that later he gets punishment
for his pride but his pride motivates Santiago to do the following things.
1)
Keep on feeling after 84 fish less days.
2)
Keep on fighting the marlin despite intense
suffering.
3)
Keep fighting the sharks without hope to win.
v Work cited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway_bibliography
classnote
