The old man and the sea is the main idea of ​​the work. "The Old Man and the Sea": the philosophical meaning of the story, the strength of the old man's character

Ernest Hemingway's story was written in 1952, and since then has been a constant controversy over the interpretation of the main meaning of the work. The difficulty of interpretation lies in the fact that in the story the same attention is paid to the motives of suffering and loneliness of a person and the victory of the heroic principle in him.

But these topics are extremely important in the life of every person. The genius of the writer lies in the fact that he shows these topics as two sides of the same coin, and the key point of the story is that Hemingway allows the reader to choose which side to look at. Exactly this can be called the creative philosophy of Hemingway- inconsistency and duality of his works. And "The Old Man and the Sea" is called the writer's brightest and most amazing story.

Images of the story "The Old Man and the Sea"

First of all, it is worth paying attention to the main character in the story - the old man Santiago, who suffers constant setbacks throughout the story. The sail of his boat is old and incapacitated, and the hero himself is an old man exhausted by life with cheerful eyes. Through the eyes of a man who does not give up. This is the philosophical symbolism of the story. When the reader watches how the old man fights the fish, he sees in the actions and words of the protagonist fatalism of the eternal struggle of man. Santiago exerts all his strength and, despite everything, continues the duel, at the end of which he wins. It is at this moment that one of the main philosophical ideas of the work is revealed, which is that "a person can be destroyed, but he cannot be defeated."

The strength of the old man's character

With the fight between old Santiago and the big fish, Hemingway draws our attention to the true nature of the human soul and the meaning of human life. The symbolic struggle of Santiago's personality continues when the sharks attack his fish. The hero does not despair, does not give up, and despite being tired and exhausted, he continues to fight, to defend what he has obtained with such great difficulty. Neither the wounds on his hands nor the broken knife prevent him from doing so. And at the moment when it becomes obvious that Santiago could not save the fish, a key symbol of the writer's philosophy is revealed. The hero didn't save the fish, but the hero didn't lose because - he fought to the last.

The exhausted and weakened hero still returns to the port, where the boy is waiting for him. Hemingway shows us the old man as a winner and reveals the strength of his character. After all, the image of Santiago has absorbed the features of a real hero, a man who never betrays himself and his principles. The writer's idea was to show the philosophical side of the principles of human existence, and he does this on the example of a single character and his attitude to life.

The meaning of human life in the story

There is no tragic ending in this story, the ending can be called completely open to the imagination of readers. This is the crushing power of Hemingway's philosophy, he gives us the opportunity to independently sum up the moral conclusion of the story. Santiago's personality is a symbol of the strength of the heroic principle in man and a symbol of real human victory, which does not depend on circumstances and events. Using this image, the writer reveals the meaning of human life, which can be called a struggle. The protagonist is indestructible, thanks to the strength of his character, spirit and life positions, it is these inner qualities that help him win, despite old age, loss of physical strength and adverse circumstances.

The first three associations when we hear the name Hemingway: wine, gun, "male prose." The last definition is very important, because now “boyish prose” is in use, and so Ernest Hemingway is the author of precisely “male” prose. A man is always a man, even in old age. This is what the essay of the American classic “The Old Man and the Sea” tells us about. His analysis hurries with all possible agility to appear before the bright eyes of the reader of this article.

Plot

The story of old man Santiago and his struggle with a huge fish.

Small village in Cuba. The elderly fisherman was no longer lucky, for almost three months he did not know the sweet feeling of satisfaction from the caught prey. The boy Manolin went with him halfway through the disappointment. Then the parents informed the younger partner that Santiago was no longer friends with fortune and it was better for their son to look for another company for trips to the sea. Besides, you have to feed your family. The boy gave in to the wishes of his parents, although he himself did not want to leave the old fisherman, he really liked him.

And then the day came on which, as the old man felt, everything should change. And indeed, it happened: Santiago managed to catch a huge fish on a hook. The man and the fish fought for several days, and when the prey was defeated, the old man dragged it home, tying it to the boat. But while they were fighting, the boat was carried far out to sea.

On the way home, the old man was already counting the profits from the sale of fish in his mind, when he suddenly spotted shark fins on the surface of the water.

He repulsed the attack of the first shark, but when the sea animals attacked in a flock, the fisherman could no longer cope. The predators left the boat alone only after they almost completely ate the fisherman's "reward" (only a trophy remained from the fish caught by an elderly man - a huge skeleton).

The old man did not bring a catch to his village, but he proved his worth as a fisherman. Santiago, of course, was upset and even cried. The first one on the shore was met by his faithful companion, Manolin, who was torn away from the old man only by a parental order and the need to get food for his family. He consoled the old man and said that he would never leave him again and would learn a lot from him and together they would catch many more fish.

We hope that the retelling offered here did not seem incomplete to the reader, and if he suddenly asks: “Why is the content of the work (“The Old Man and the Sea”) short?” “Analysis also requires space, dear reader,” we will answer him.

For such a not too intricate story, Ernest Hemingway received in 1953 and in 1954 the Nobel Prize in Literature, which marked all the writer's work.

Let the reader not be angry for the long prelude to the study, but without the plot of the story called "The Old Man and the Sea" it is difficult to carry out an analysis, because it must be based on the facts stated at least concisely.

Why is the story called "The Old Man and the Sea"?

Hemingway is a wonderful writer. He was able to write a story in such a way that he delighted specialists and more than one generation of readers, and in the work the writer raised the eternal theme of man and the elements. "The Old Man and the Sea" (the analysis carried out in this article confirms this conclusion) is a story primarily about the struggle of a decrepit, old man and an eternally young, strong and powerful element. In the story, not only fish is important, but also nature in general. It is with her that a person fights and does not lose in this fight.

Why is the old man chosen as the main character?

The study of the book "The Old Man and the Sea" (analysis of it) suggests an answer to this, in general, an obvious question.

If the fisherman were young, the story would not be so dramatic, it would be an action movie, like, for example, "To have and not to have" by the same author. In the laureate work, Hemingway managed to squeeze out of the reader a mean male tear (or uncontrollable and loud female sobs) about the sad fate of the old sea wolf.

Hemingway's special techniques that immerse the reader in the atmosphere of the story

There is no exciting development in the book of the American classic. There is almost no dynamics in the work, but it is saturated with internal drama. Some may think Hemingway's storytelling is boring, but that's not the case at all. If the writer did not pay so much attention to detail and did not paint in such detail the torment of the old man at sea, then the reader would not be able to fully feel the suffering of the sailor with his own gut. In other words, if it were not for this “viscosity and stickiness” of the text, then “The Old Man and the Sea” (an analysis of the work proves this) would not have been such a penetrating work.

Old man Santiago and boy Manolin - a story of friendship between two generations

In addition to the main theme in the book written by Ernest Hemingway, there are additional reasons for reflection. One of them is the friendship of an old man and a boy. How touchingly Manolin worries about Santiago, how he encourages him during failures. There is an opinion that old people and children get along so well because some recently emerged from oblivion, while others will soon get there. This common Motherland, where some people come from and others are about to leave, brings them together on an unconscious-intuitive level.

If we talk specifically about the two heroes, it seems that the boy simply feels that the old man is a master of his craft, a seasoned sailor. Manolin probably believes that he really has a lot to learn, and while he is alive, this opportunity should not be missed.

It remains for us in the story "The Old Man and the Sea" (the analysis of the work is almost finished) to consider only the question of discrimination. He hardly bothered Ernest Hemingway when he wrote a masterpiece, very topical at the present time, but the story provides food for thought in this direction.

Discrimination and "Old Man..."

At all times, it was customary to treat children, the elderly and the disabled with condescension: some can do little else, others are no longer suitable for something serious, and still others are placed outside the usual framework by nature itself.

But Ernest Hemingway did not think so at all. “The Old Man and the Sea” (the analysis given in the article confirms this) says that all people written off by society still have hope for salvation and fulfillment. And children and old people can even unite in an excellent team that can blow the nose of many.

The experience and old age of the fisherman in the story of the American classic are presented as advantages. Indeed, imagine if the fisherman were young and full of energy, then he would most likely not have survived the fight with the fish and would have fallen unconscious. Young - yes, old - no, never!

Ernest Hemingway himself thought a lot about the heroic figure of the fisherman. "The Old Man and the Sea" (analysis confirms this) is a monument to human courage.

"Man can be destroyed, but not defeated"

For an old man, this is not just a job. For him, fighting at sea is a way to prove to himself and to society that he is still in the cage, which means that he does not have the right to “turn off” due to hunger and thirst, the sun and even numbness of the limbs, and even more so to die.

Yes, the sailor did not bring his fish this time, but he still accomplished the feat. And we firmly believe that some other old man (not necessarily a conqueror of the sea) will certainly have the opportunity to get even with fate as well as his brother, and create something outstanding.

E. Hemingway's story "The Old Man and the Sea" touches upon many problems that are relevant to the present time. For example, one of these problems is finding oneself. It is very important not only to have inner strength, the ability to realize the beauty and grandeur of the surrounding world, but also your place in it. The protagonist is an old man fishing, renounced from the society of people and is content with loneliness, the ocean. Santiago went very far in search of himself, and as a result, he comprehended true Christian humility. He believes that the meaning of his life is his work, fishing. Each person in the world has his own destiny, so a fisherman is born a fisherman, and a fish is a fish. A very important role in a person's life is played by the search for oneself, one's destiny. It is this theme that is one of the key ones in E. Hemingway's story "The Old Man and the Sea".

Despite the fact that "the old man has been fishing alone on his boat for eighty-four days and has not caught a single fish", he manages to catch a huge marlin in the end, but the fish are eaten by sharks and Santiago is defeated.

The problem of victory and defeat can be traced throughout the story and is an integral part of it.

Also, the author touches upon such a problem as religion. According to the reasoning of the old man, we see that he considers himself far from religion, but nevertheless, at a difficult moment of catching fish, he reads prayers. Thus, E. Hemingway touches on the theme of belonging to religion, attitudes towards it.

From the reasoning of the old man, we can observe the unbending will, worldly wisdom of a person, prudence and many more qualities, the absence of which suffers from modern society. Santiago very rightly creates the world around him: "My affairs were going too well. It could not continue like this."

In contrast to the demonstrative rebellion of youth against well-fed comfort, standardization and the philistine indifference of the modern world to the human person, the creative position of those who in the 1950s could be called "Fathers" of American Literature The 20th century, at first glance, looked moderate and evasive, but in reality it turned out to be wise and balanced. They wrote books that were not documents of the era, but had absolute significance and narrated about primeval things. Significant is the appearance in one decade of two different, but equally deep stories-parables about a man and his life, created by American writers of the older generation. This is "Pearl" (1957) J. Steinbeck and "The Old Man and the Sea" (1952) by E. Hemingway.

Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize-winning story "The Old Man and the Sea" is one of the pinnacles of American and world literature of the 20th century. The book is two-dimensional. On the one hand, this is a completely realistic and reliable story about how the old fisherman Santiago caught a huge fish, how a flock of sharks attacked this fish, and the old man failed to recapture his prey, and he brought only a fish carcass to the shore. But behind the realistic fabric of the narrative, another, generalized, epic-fabulous beginning clearly emerges. It is palpable in the deliberate exaggeration of the situation and details: the fish is too huge, there are too many sharks, there is nothing left of the fish - the skeleton is gnawed clean, the old man is alone against the whole flock.

This beginning is even more clearly felt in the image of the central character: in the manner of an old man to humanize nature, to communicate with the sea, seagulls, fish. This unsightly-looking "poor worker" (a typical character of fairy-tale folklore), with a face and hands eaten away by sunburn and skin disease, turns out to be incredibly strong physically and spiritually. He is great - like a fairy-tale hero or a hero of an ancient epic. Not without reason, the old man has young blue eyes, and at night he dreams of lions. It is no coincidence that he feels himself a part of nature, the universe. The presence of the second generalized fairy-tale plan emphasizes the universality, depth of the problem, gives the book a poetic ambiguity.

Criticism interpreted the underlying, allegorical meaning of the story in different ways - in a narrowly biographical, Christian, existentialist spirit. They saw in it either an allegory of the creative process, or an analogy to the gospel plot of Christ's ascent to Golgotha, or a parable about the futility of human efforts and the tragedy of his existence. There is some truth in each of these interpretations. Hemingway really put a lot of himself into the image of old Santiago and to some extent opened the door to his own creative laboratory.

The book really has evangelical associations, because the Bible is the source that feeds all American literature, and turning to it not only enhances the poetic sound of the work and enlarges its scope, but also clarifies a lot to the domestic reader, familiar with it from childhood. And, finally, "The Old Man and the Sea" is really a parable. About man, about his essence, about his place on earth. But, I think, not about the futility of human efforts, but about the inexhaustibility of its possibilities, about its stamina and fortitude. "A man can be destroyed, but he cannot be defeated" - Hemingway's credo.

The old man does not feel defeated: he still managed to catch a fish. It is no coincidence that the story ends with a boy. Manulino will again be released with the old man into the sea, and then Santiago's efforts will not be in vain - neither in practical nor in human terms, because the boy is both a real help and a continuation of the old fisherman's life work, an opportunity to pass on his experience.

This book, with its universal range of problems, would seem to have nothing to do with the current topic of the day. What is described here could happen in any country - on any sea or ocean coast - and at any time. Nevertheless, its appearance in this era is quite natural. It fits in remarkably well with the trend of non-conformity in American literature in the 1950s. Only young rebels operate with catchy facts, and Hemingway with philosophical categories. His short story is not a protest against the existing world order, but its philosophical negation.

The poeticization of physical labor, the affirmation of the unity of man and nature, the uniqueness of the personality of the "little man", the general humanistic sound, the complexity of the idea and the refinement of the form - all this is an active denial of the values ​​of consumer civilization, a response to America and a warning to the entire modern post-war world.

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Ernest Hemingway is the most truthful American writer of the 20th century. Having once seen the grief, pain and horror of the war, the writer vowed to be “more truthful than the truth itself” until the end of his life. In The Old Man and the Sea, the analysis is determined by the internal philosophical meaning of the work. Therefore, when studying Hemingway's story "The Old Man and the Sea" in the 9th grade in literature lessons, it is necessary to get acquainted with the biography of the author, his life and creative position. Our article includes all the necessary information on the analysis of the work, the themes, issues and history of the creation of the story.

Brief analysis

History of creation- created on the basis of a story that the author learned from fishermen in Cuba and described in an essay in the 30s.

Year of writing- The work was completed in February 1951.

Subject- a dream and victory of a person, a struggle with oneself at the limit of human capabilities, a test of the spirit, a fight with nature itself.

Composition- a three-part composition with a ring frame.

Genre- story-parable.

Direction- realism.

History of creation

The idea of ​​the work came from the writer in the 30s. In 1936, Esquire magazine published his essay “On Blue Water. Gulfstream letter. It describes the approximate plot of the legendary story: an elderly fisherman goes to sea and for several days without sleep and food “fights” with a huge fish, but the sharks eat the old man’s prey. It is found by fishermen in a semi-mad state, and sharks are circling around the boat.

It was this story, once heard by the author from Cuban fishermen, that became the basis of the story “The Old Man and the Sea”. Many years later, in 1951, the writer finishes his large-scale work, realizing that this is the most important work in his life. The work was written in the Bahamas and was published in 1952. This is the last work of Hemingway published during his lifetime.

Since childhood, Hemingway, like his father, was fond of fishing, he is a professional in this field, he knew the whole life and life of fishermen to the smallest detail, including signs, superstitions and legends. Such valuable material could not be reflected in the author's work, it became a confession, a legend, a textbook of the philosophy of life of a simple person who lives by the fruits of his labor.

In dialogues with criticism, the author avoided commenting on the idea of ​​the work. His credo: to truthfully show "a real fisherman, a real boy, a real fish and real sharks." This is exactly what the author said in an interview, making it clear that his desire is realism, avoiding any other interpretation of the meaning of the text. In 1953, Hemingway received recognition once again, receiving the Nobel Prize for his work.

Subject

Theme of the work- a test of strength of human willpower, character, faith, as well as the theme of dreams and spiritual victory. The theme of loneliness and human destiny is also touched upon by the author.

Main thought works are to show a person in a struggle with nature itself, its creatures and elements, as well as the struggle of a person with his weaknesses. A huge layer of the author's philosophy is drawn clearly and clearly in the story: a person is born for something specific, having mastered this, he will always be happy and calm. Everything in nature has a soul, and people should respect and appreciate this - the earth is eternal, they are not.

Hemingway is amazingly wise in showing how a man achieves his dreams and what follows. A huge marlin is the most important trophy in the life of old Santiago, he is proof that this man won the battle with nature, with the creation of the sea. Only what is given with difficulty, makes you go through difficult trials, problems - brings happiness and satisfaction to the main character. The dream, inherited by sweat and blood, is the biggest reward for Santiago. Despite the fact that the sharks ate marlin, no one cancels the moral and physical victory over circumstances. The personal triumph of an elderly fisherman and the recognition of “colleagues” in society is the best thing that could happen in his life.

Composition

Conventionally, the composition of the story can be divided into three parts: the old man and the boy, the old man at sea, the return of the protagonist home.

All compositional elements are formed on the image of Santiago. Ring frame composition consists in the departure of the old man to the sea and his return. The peculiarity of the work is that it is saturated with internal monologues of the protagonist and even dialogues with himself.

Hidden biblical motifs can be traced in the speeches of the old man, his position in life, in the name of the boy - Manolin (abbreviated from Emmanuel), in the image of the giant fish itself. She is the embodiment of the dream of an old man who humbly, patiently meets all trials, does not complain, does not swear, but only quietly prays. His philosophy of life and the spiritual side of existence is a kind of personal religion, very reminiscent of Christianity.

Genre

In literary criticism, it is customary to designate the genre of "The Old Man and the Sea" as story-parable. It is the deep spiritual meaning that makes the work exceptional, going beyond the traditional story. The author himself admitted that he could have written a huge novel with many storylines, but preferred a more modest volume in order to create something unique.

Artwork test

Analysis Rating

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