The Old Man& The Critics
The Old Man and the Sea was a short heroic story written by Ernest Hemingway. He was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois as the firstborn son of Clarence Edmonds Hemingway. The author published the book in 1952 and became of the best fiction artwork in American literature in the 20th Century. The novel was recognized as one of the modern classic pieces created by a skilled artist. It was also seen as an immediate success and regarded as one of the finest pieces Hemingway had ever produced. The piece made the literature world to note his intense masculinity of writing. It led him to win a Pulitzer Prize later on a year after he published the book. A year after this prize, the book again made him win the Nobel Prize for Literature for his adventurous and widely publicized life in the world of literature. The Old Man and the Sea contains a lot of themes that preoccupied Hemingway as a skilled and experienced writer. We also saw the author using the story to expose the experiences of men in real-life situations. He was fascinated with the ideas of men struggling to prove their self- worth by overcoming the challenges of nature.
The story of The Old Man and the Sea was centered on an old seasoned fisherman. Santiago was engaged in an epic battle in his daily fishing activities, and for more than eighty-four days, the aged fisherman returned empty-handed. It led to the only close friend and company abandoning him to look for a prosperous boat that had no bad luck. The boy left but still took care of the old man. Even after a tough struggle, the old man was still confident that life would be better, and all his problems will soon come to an end. The story mentioned one day, Santiago was lucky to bait a big fish “Marlin” but unable to pull it out of water. The fisherman was to apply all his effort to get his only luck and avoid the “big catch” from drowning him deadly sharks in the water. This scene depicted the struggle that old man fisherman used to experience day and night at the shore. Even after managing to slain the fish for meat, the old man realized nobody would appreciate him. By connecting the life experience of the old fisherman to his subject, the world, the author proved to be a skilled artist with intense masculinity of writing.
As a big critic of Hemingway’s story The Old Man and the Sea, Carlos Baker found the great short novel with “consummate artistry and destined to become a classic in its kind.” The reviewer saw the book as the best present that Hemingway had ever given to the world of literature. In his review titled “The Marvel Who Must Die,” and of September 6, 1952, Baker admired the main subject in the Novel. He described Santiago as “one of the men without women, fighting it out alone with only a brave heart.” He supported the idea of Hemingway, who recognized the old fisherman as a brave hero who fought using human strength and, in the end, emerged a winner. Baker noted how Hemingway applied natural tragic patterns in the story, which reflected “the sum of things” that made Santiago appear as a “tragic hero.” The reviewer recognized the author as “genuine tragic writers of modern times” reason been that he had a lengthy experience of “tragic literature” and therefore engaged relevant themes in the story. Baker mentioned that themes played a significant role in making us understand the message of the author. According to him, the book had “power to move them.”
Baker recognized the idea of Hemingway of applying a natural tragic pattern in his story. The story begins by mentioning how Santiago had gone for “eighty-four days without a strike.” The old man had struggled day and night at the cold shores. The story reveals that he used to rise in the cool dark morning and rows out alone towards the mile-deep Gulf Stream” but went home empty-handed. Despite been September, a season of many fish, anytime he threw the hook, his baits were all in vain. Santiago happens to fight some sharks which fought to take away his luck of fish Marlin. Many scenes showed how strategies followed the old man during fishing and appeared as natural parables. Apart from the aspect of the natural tragic pattern, I also agree with the review that Hemingway was a “genuine tragic writer” who “memorably engaged a theme familiar to tragic literature. I noted the theme of religious experience where the old man would turn to God and pray. As a religious follower, Santiago had confidence that prayers will prevent any more strategies from attacking him. By applying the aspect of natural tragic patterns and the use of themes familiar to tragic literature proved Hemingway to be a skilled artist with intense masculinity of writing.