Fight – he said – fight until I die.
Can you name these words as an epigraph, a peculiar feature of the life of Ernest Hemingway? Man-resistant body and spirit, the last war, who observed the moral decay of their own nation and anomie, trying to fight with all the worst manifestations of life, using a multi-faceted talent to achieve such a lofty goal? Of course, you can. This scanty idea is the motto for the most “Hema antiquity”, the writer put into the mouth of the hero, the waning of which is described in the brilliant novel “The Old Man and the Sea.”
The plan works originated from the award gift of American words appeared in 1936: a similar case with the Cuban fisherman was described by Hemingway in “Esquire” Not satisfied with the printed essay, writer cultivated the idea for nearly twenty years, and, finally, the old story was fresh. Embodied in 1952 in the journal “Life.” Perhaps that is why he chose the path of brevity, creating a story-a parable, and not wrong, then having received the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes.
One day, sitting in the bus, I noticed that my neighbor is reading “The Old Man and the Sea.” Then he caught a glimpse of the same title on the cover of the book read by a friend. I’m skeptical of the crazy success story, considering it nothing more than a trendy ‘stuff’, a sort of things, first having a huge success, and then gradually fade away and eventually evaporating altogether. Finally I could not stand, he picked up the weighty volume “Abroad literature of XX century”, in addition to the names of Hemingway noticed there masters, known for a long time: Remarque, Shaw and HG Wells.
Reading the first pages of the story, immersed in the atmosphere of a sleepy and peaceful seaside town. It permeates the cool breeze that was brought in from the ocean, floating overhead heavy leaden clouds engorged moisture. Or, on the contrary, you feel the weak and warm, like the touch of his mother’s arms, breeze, which was drawn scents of flowering gardens, rhododendrons and delicate scent of something subtle like the passing years. Looking at the clear sky, not looking at a gray tint torn clouds, and soft, like quilts, pink waves reflected at the sea surface, serene and glass as amalgam coating mirror. Against this backdrop, Hemingway wrote a masterful piece of Santiago elderly angler, is already experiencing the fate of 85 consecutive day in an attempt to catch the fish inaccessible. Its only helper – Manolin teenager whose parents do not understand the attachment to the children of the old man, but still let him into the sea.
Sea-keyword, the leitmotif of the whole work. We can say with certainty that the old man Santiago could not breathe without inviting azure waters of the ocean, burning sun-beating rays of the back of the head and shoulders, feeling the salty taste in the mouth. This character is not looking for fame and grand adventure that can immortalize his name, or the incredible personals. The story of his life is the story of the way of any person in the vast ocean of life. Hemingway coolly and objectively describes the existence of Santiago, Manolin, fish, not giving the old man’s stubbornness. In the story, the writer is not trying with his point of view to evaluate the behavior of the characters, to impose their views to the reader. He – the silent chronicler pursuing one single task: to show the place of each being in the infinity of the universe; that plays any role in the fate of the world, albeit small, and possibly a secondary, but still engaged in a colorful and non-stop setting, called Life.
The author’s idea is brought to us ambiguous means. Therefore, the parable is replete with symbols: ocean-the embodiment of boundless space, enveloping the universe, and, besides, is the image of the spiritual, the inner world of man. Fish finally caught Santiago nothing but an allegory of all living things, created by the Creator. Without interest, by the way, the fact saying about the relationship of religion to the fisherman. Santiago maintains that lost faith in God, and does not recognize the reality of his residence in the abode of the blessed. Nevertheless, about the passage of time he finds himself in hell, specific to each of Person desire to believe in something, grasping at this hope, both for saving straw. Thus, Santiago says the prayer “Hail Mary” and “Our Father”, the rule for Christians. It is easy to trace the position of Hemingway concerning religion. The names of Santiago and Manolin any nesluchayno- they resemble a careful reader of the biblical Jacob, and Emmanuel.
Yet, despite the abundance of allegorical elements and original means of expression, the attitude of the writer appears in the story is clear; it breaks like a sunbeam through a range of low and heavy clouds. I think, thoughtful and truly interested person who is capable of, as Santiago, hard dragged into the boat the fish, to understand the problems of the story should be clear to the essence of written Hemingway after the first reading. Through such a straightforward, for good reason stories, without flowing stream of eloquence and glossy confetti intricate vocabulary, the author tried to say about the location of each entity among theater world. Like chess pieces, each of us not just appear on the mortal earth. Someone builds a house to another was warm, cozy and safe in freezing February evening. That is writing the book, because I am sure that with every line of his neighbor makes wiser, kinder, and more just. In addition, someone just fishing, convinced that this session will make full and happy of his friends and relatives. Moreover, he will be right. After helping someone, knowing that your business is able to bring happiness, perhaps, one person, he ascends to the heights of serenity. Moreover, the happiness and well-being, in my opinion, is inextricably linked with the harmony. I think that this idea was not alien and the famous American writer. With Santiago as a mediator between them and the rest of the world, all there is, Hemingway showed that only does what he likes, and they can bring a passion for the welfare of others and find peace itself.