Book Review: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway

Every so often I'm blessed enough to come across an item of fiction that could serve as part of a manual for how one ought to carry themselves in life. Mario Puzo's The Godfather was such a book, Alexandre Dumas' The Count Of Monte Cristo was such a book, Ngugi wa Thiongo's Matigari was such a book,   but the most recent work to leave this impression on me was THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway. It's a story of struggle, dignity, redemption and pyrrhic victory. The narrative is also easily relatable to anyone familiar with the turbulence and strains that are part and parcel of attaining a worthwhile prize.

So the synopsis is this: Santiago, the protagonist in the story, is a down-on-his-luck Cuban fisherman whose pride is injured after slowly watching his standing in the community dwindle to near laughing stock status; His glory days are behind him, the physical strength of his youth is a thing of the past, his daily occupation is being a fisherman but his success rate is deplorable,   his only friend is isolated from him and the state of his home is sad & pitiful. Beleaguered but not defeated, Santiago gets on his boat and takes to the sea on a fishing expedition as a means of restoring his pride.

Our main character is not a conventional leading man. He's not an alpha-male, he's past the prime of his life, and he's somewhat lacking in success or potential. But despite these shortcomings, he has other qualities that win him favour with the reader; Masculinity, wisdom, and sensitivity.  In addition to these honourable traits, he's a sports fan! Santiago is a Baseball aficionado and idolises the New York Yankees luminary, Joe Di Maggio, in a manner that's common to any every day man or woman who's modelled bits of themselves on some heroic figure or another.  And because of all these relatable qualities, the seemingly simplistic story takes on a new level of significance to the reader. Hemingway, in a style of writing that may be common to many but was certainly new to me, summons and then manipulates that inner warrior-spirit that lies deep in the heart of any remotely courageous individual and channels it towards supporting Santiago on his adventure. From this point on, the book is almost undroppable because the reader is gripped and absolutely MUST know how the story develops and ends.

Fast-forward to the story's greatest development; Santiago on his fishing boat, is far out to sea and has finally caught a fish.  Not just any fish, but a gargantuan marlin. He's truly hit the jackpot and now all he has to do is take his prize back to shore but it's not that simple... This enormous fish is a stubborn and ferocious adversary to Santiago and will not submit meekly to capture. In addition to that, it’s far too large for him to pull on to the boat. Norman Mailer once said that "Masculinity is not something given to you, but something you gain. And you gain it by winning small battles with honour" and the contest that ensues next between Santiago and the fish really epitomises that philosophy. Unable to pull in the great marlin, Santiago is instead overwhelmed its strength and is dragged back-and-forth himself. Two days and nights pass with Santiago battling for strength and livelihood. Though wounded by the struggle and in pain, Santiago expresses a compassionate appreciation for his adversary, often referring to him as a brother. He also determines that because of the fish's great dignity, no one shall be worthy of eating the marlin. On the third day, the fish finally begins to tire and Santiago, also worn out and almost delirious, uses all his strength to pull the fish and stab the marlin with a harpoon. Santiago straps the marlin to the side of his fishing boat and then heads home with the hope of sharing the marlin's splendour with his whole community. The enduring sentiment that follows the marlin's death is that it and Santiago were rivals with a common essence; And that essence was nobility.

After the gruelling episode of battling the marlin far out in the sea, old man Santiago then faces the tragedy of his efforts. On his return to shore, the sharks are attracted to the marlin's blood and begin to eat away at the dead fish. Santiago tries to fight them off but it's all in vain. By the time he reaches shore, the sharks have devoured the marlin's entire carcass, leaving a massive skeleton consisting mostly of its backbone, its tail and its head. The only source of comfort for the reader comes from the truthful flare in Hemingway's writing. Hemingway's storytelling method illustrates that it is effort, not success, which makes you a man. The spoils of success are good for as long as they last but the nobility of trying lasts forever. And in that lesson lies the beauty of old man Santiago's loss.

Perhaps the greatest gem of wisdom to be found in the entire story is that it recognises the honour of struggle. In his acclaimed documentary titled South Of The Border, Oliver Stone compares the lesson  of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA to what Cuba as a country experienced a few years after the story’s publication in 1951. His basic analysis was this: The Cuban population, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, fought hard and caught a great fish (The Cuban Revolution) but following that, they were almost helpless to stop  their great catch from being torn apart by the 'sharks' (External forces that sought to destroy the progress and aspirations of the Cuban Revolution). Win or lose though, Oliver Stone highlights how Castro and Cuba will always have the nobility of trying and proving their strength of character.

There are also a few movies that one could claim are ‘spiritual descendants’ of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA however the most high-profile archetype available is the 2006 Sylvester Stallone film, Rocky VI.  The movie's main character, Rocky Balboa, a thoroughly aged and retired former boxing champion takes to the ring, just as Santiago took to the sea, to win back his pride and give a sense of meaning to his dull, stagnant and morbidly depressing life.  He then lands his big fish by securing a glamorous prize fight in Las Vegas. But despite fighting bravely and honourably, it's a losing effort. As was the case for Santiago. As we watch Rocky lose, there's an air of beauty to his loss because he walks away with his pride intact and his legend enhanced. Much like old man Santiago.

We live in a world that almost always lauds victory and often crassly ignores effort but what we often overlook is that for every heroic individual who succeeds, there are countless others who try and fail in a virtuous manner. THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA is a tale that symbolically recognises all those the world often ignores. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in exploring the dynamics and tragedy of struggle.