The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
(Characters
of Manolin & Santiago)
Manolin
Manolin is
present, only in the beginning and at the end of ‘The Old Man and Sea’, but his
presence is significant, because his devotion to Santiago, highlights the
importance of Santiago’s value as a person and as a fisherman. Manolin openly
displays his love for Santiago. He makes sure that the old man has food,
blankets and can rest without being disturbed. Despite Hemingway's insistence
that his characters were an actual old man and an actual boy, Manolin's purity
and singleness of purpose elevate him to the level of a symbolic character. The
activities of Manolin are not affected by the confusion, ambiguity, or willfulness
that typifies adolescence. Instead, he is a companion who feels nothing but
love and devotion.
Hemingway signals
the boy's displeasure for his father, whose wishes Manolin obeys by abandoning
the old man after forty days without catching a fish. This fact helps to
establish the boy as a real human being - a man with conflicted loyalties, who
faces difficult decisions. By the end of the book, however, the boy
relinquishes his duty to his father, swearing that he will be sailing with the
old man regardless of the outcome. in the novel's final pages, he stands as a
symbol of unrequited love and loyalty. As an old man's apprentice, he also
represents the life that will follow from death. His dedication to learning
from the old man ensures that Santiago will live on.
Santiago
Santiago suffers
greatly throughout ‘The Old Man and the Sea’. In the opening pages of the book,
he has gone 84 days without catching a fish and has become a laughingstock of his
small village. He then endures a long and fierce struggle with the Marlin and
saw the trophy destroyed by the sharks. Nevertheless, destruction enables the
old man to undergo a remarkable change, and he renews life with victory and his
seemingly defeat. After all, Santiago is an old man whose physical existence is
almost over, but the reader is assured that Santiago will persist through Manolin,
who, like a disciple, waits for the teachings of the old man and his teacher,
and will make use of those lessons long after his teacher has died. Thus,
Santiago manages, perhaps, the most miraculous feat of all: he finds a way to
prolong his life after death.
Santiago's
commitment to steer farther than any fisherman, to where the big fish promise
to be, bears the testimony of the depth of his pride. Nevertheless, it also
reflects his determination to change his fortune. Later, after the sharks have
destroyed his prize marlin, Santiago punishes himself for his exaggerated
pride, claiming that it has ruined both the marlin and himself. Santiago’s pride
also enables him to achieve his most true and complete self. Furthermore, it
helps him earn the deep respect of the village fishermen and secures him the
prized companionship of the boy, Manolin. He knows he will never have to endure
such an epic conflict again.
Santiago's pride
enables him to endure, and it is perhaps the endurance that matters most in
Hemingway's conception of the world - a world in which death and destruction,
as part of natural things, are inevitable. Hemingway believes that there are
only two options: defeat or endurance until destruction; Santiago clearly
chooses the latter. His determination is mythic, nearly Christ-like in
proportion. For three days, he holds fast to the line that connects him to the
fish, even though it cuts deep into his palms, causes a crippling cramp in his
left hand, and ruins his back. This physical pain allows Santiago to make a
connection with the Marlin, that goes beyond the literal link of the line. His
physical pain proves the fact, that he is well matched, that the fish is a
worthy opponent, and that he himself, because he is able to fight so hard, is a
worthy fisherman. This connectedness to the world around him eventually
elevates Santiago beyond what would otherwise be his defeat. Like Jesus Christ,
to whom Santiago is unknowingly compared at the end of the novel, the physical
suffering of the old man leads to a more significant spiritual victory.
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