Old_Man_And_The_Sea

Old Man And The Sea The novel Old Man and the Sea contains many elements of symbolism. One of the greatest and most obvious symbolisms in the story is Christianity. From the beginning of the story the reader is shown a unique relationship between Santiago and Manolin. Their relationship parallels that of Christ and his disciples. Manolin is Santiago’s disciple and Santiago teaches Manolin about fishing and life. One of the greatest lessons that Santiago gives is that of a simple faith. “Have faith in the Yankees my son.” This type of faith reflects the basic principles of Christianity. Hemingway’s description of Santiago further illustrates Christian symbolism. Hemingway gives a reference to the nail-pierced hands of Christ by stating that Santiago’s “hands had deep creased scars.” Hemingway also parallels Santiago’s suffering to that of Christ by stating that “he settled … against the wood and took his suffering as it came.” Even more profound is the description of Santiago’s response when he saw the sharks, “just a noise such a man might make, involuntarily feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood.” Further symbolism is shown when Santiago arrives home and carries the mast across his shoulders as Christ old, man, sea, santiago’s, santiago, faith, christ, manolin, hemingway, hands, story, relationship, numbers, finally, christianity, wood, theme, symbolism, symbol, suffering, stating, shown, prevalent, parallels, make, lessons, instead, gives, further, even, description, bravery, bible, between, young, yankees