Курсовая работа: Foreign words in E. Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea: semantics, functions, frequency
Magnificent and glorious, the marlin symbolizes the ideal opponent. In a world in which everything kills everything else in some way, Santiago feels genuinely lucky to find himself matched against a creature that brings out the best in him: his strength and courage, his love and respect.
While Santiago struggles with the fish he also prays. He prays to God to give him strength to defeat the mighty fish: «Now that I have him coming so beautifully, God help me endure. I’ll say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys. But I cannot say them now.» (78)
But faith is not the only thing that drives his perseverance. Santiago also draws upon his past victories for strength. After he hooked the Marlin he frequently recalled his battle with a native in what he called the hand game.
It was not just an arm wrestling victory for him it was a reminder of his youth: «And at daylight when the bettors were asking that it be called a draw and the referee was shaking his head, he had unleashed his effort and forced the hand of the negro down and down until it rested on the wood.»
His recollections of this event usually preceeded a frequent dream of his in which he saw many lions on a peaceful shore. These lions represented him when he was young and strong and could overcome any challenge. These thoughts helped him stay strong.
During the difficult hours in the skiff, Santiago started talking to the Fish. He deeply respects fish in general and this aspect of his relationship to the fish is clearly shown throughout the book: «Fish,» he said softly, aloud, «I’ll stay with you until I am dead.» (45)
There are many instances where Santiago displays his respect for fish. Hitting the fish on the head and kicking the fish is a sign of respect. Another example of Santiago's respect is when he describes the fish. He says that he has never seen a greater or more beautiful thing. Santiago describes the fish with adjectives that imply the greatest respect for the fish: «Fish,» he said, «I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends.» (47)
Also, he calls the fish «brother» which means he has so much respect that he considers him a brother and family. Santiago doesn't look down on the fish as being inferior, he looks at the fish as an equal.
Santiago cared for each fish he caught and treated them with the utmost care. He respected the fish and always showed his respect by thanking him. In conclusion, Santiago and his relationship with fish in general was made up of caring, respect, and the idea of fish being equal: «I wish I could feed the fish, he thought. He is my brother.» (51)
Because Santiago is pitted against the creatures of the sea, some readers choose to view the tale as a chronicle of man’s battle against the natural world, but the novella is, more accurately, the story of man’s place within nature. Both Santiago and the marlin display qualities of pride, honor, and bravery, and both are subject to the same eternal law: they must kill or be killed.
As Santiago reflects when he watches the weary warbler fly toward shore, where it will inevitably meet the hawk, the world is filled with predators, and no living thing can escape the inevitable struggle that will lead to its death.
In Hemingway’s portrait of the world, death is inevitable, but the best men and animals will nonetheless refuse to give in to its power. Accordingly, man and fish will struggle to the death, just as hungry sharks will lay waste to an old man’s trophy catch.
The novel suggests that it is possible to transcend this natural law. In fact, the very inevitability of destruction creates the terms that allow a worthy man or beast to transcend it. It is precisely through the effort to battle the inevitable that a man can prove himself. Indeed, a man can prove this determination over and over through the worthiness of the opponents he chooses to face [1]. Santiago finds the marlin worthy of a fight, just as he once found the great negro of Cienfuegos worthy. His admiration for these opponents brings love and respect into an equation with death, as their destruction becomes a point of honor and bravery that confirms Santiago’s heroic qualities.
In the story he manages to catch a flying fish and a dolphin which he eats raw. This way he tries to keep up his strength, the strength that the marlin steals from him little by little. He struggles in order to remain undefeated. He has fought these battles hundreds of times before, he suffered, but he won. Still, this battle is different. He fights in a way he had never fought before and he suffers. He wishes the boy to be by his side, to help him with the difficult task.
The contemporary fishermen go out to fish with nets, which is a commercially profitable practice. It, however, requires little skill. It is nothing more than a chore. After 84 days without catch, Santiago sustains himself on what little food a bartender sends him out of pity. Yet he still waits for his big fish. It is more important to him than hunger. And the big fish finally arrives.
Santiago ignored hunger to prove his fishing prowess, but he is not entitled to keep his catch. His amazing fortune is balanced against his material loss. While being able to come out on top in his struggle against the fish and against the pain and frailness of his own body, this is to be his only reward. His fortunes turn when he refocuses from passion for catching the fish to greed for profiting from it. The sea does not reward greed.
On the third day the fish tires, and Santiago, sleep-deprived, aching, and nearly delirious, manages to pull the marlin in close enough to kill it with a harpoon thrust. Dead beside the skiff, the marlin is the largest Santiago has ever seen. He lashes it to his boat, raises the small mast, and sets sail for home. While Santiago is excited by the price that the marlin will bring at market, he is more concerned that the people who will eat the fish are unworthy of its greatness.
On his way home sharks attack the fish. As the sharks tear apart the marlin bit by bit, it is as they are tearing apart his dignity bit by bit. Through all this suffering, he fights the sharks, for he alone has to endure the sufferings to fulfill his destiny. This is his mentality, he knows what he must do and so he does it. He never lets down his guard and he fights with consistent strength. That is why Santiago could not stand to look at the grisly remains of the marlin. Everything he worked for, everything he gambled his life for, everything he endured pain for was going down to deep depths in the sea in the mouths of the sharks he so furiously killed. Although the sailing became much easier without the marlin attached to the skiff. There was nothing left of the marlin but its skeleton.
Santiago’s pride also motivates his desire to transcend the destructive forces of nature. Throughout the novel, no matter how baleful his circumstances become, the old man exhibits unflagging determination to catch the marlin and bring it to shore. When the first shark arrives, Santiago’s resolve is mentioned twice in the space of just a few paragraphs. First we are told that the old man was full of resolution but he had little hope. Then, a few sentences later, the narrator says: He hit the shark without hope but with resolution. (91)
The old man meets every challenge with the same unwavering determination: he is willing to die for bringing in the marlin, and he is willing to die fighting the feeding sharks. It is this conscious decision to act, to fight, to never give up that enables Santiago to avoid defeat. Although he returns to Havana without the trophy of his long battle, he returns with the knowledge that he has acquitted himself proudly and manfully. Hemingway seems to suggest that victory is not a prerequisite for honor. Instead, glory depends upon one having the pride to see a struggle through to its end, regardless of the outcome. Even if the old man had returned with the marlin intact, his moment of glory, like the marlin’s meat, would have been short-lived. The glory and honor Santiago accrues comes not from his battle itself but from his pride and determination to fight.
Santiago, a noble hero, accepts his defeat. The fish was eaten and he has returned home with its remains. He realizes that he went out too far and that he made a mistake. He fought a tough battle and in the end, he was defeated. He even admits to himself that he has been beaten: He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy….
Although through most of the novel he has great strength in fighting the fish and he is determined to succeed, in the end he knows what had happened. Throughout his life he had struggled and suffered and won but this was his final battle. And though he lost, he lost while fighting. He realized now that it is over for him.
He is over fighting and it doesn't matter anymore. He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy. He knows also, that it is his fault. He realizes his mistake and that he cannot change what had already happened. He went out too far and although this caught him the biggest fish, it also caused him failure. He says it to himself, he was careless and he was responsible for his own failure. He tried to do more than he was capable of doing. He couldn’t change anything. He was defeated.
After his voyage was completed Santiago was exhausted and weak. While carrying the mast from his boat he stumbled three times under the weight of it resting upon his shoulders. He also stopped five times to take a rest before he reached home. When he was back in his shack he fell asleep on his bed.
The next morning, a crowd of amazed fishermen gathers around the skeletal carcass of the fish, which is still lashed to the boat. Knowing nothing of the old man’s struggle, tourists at a nearby cafй observe the remains of the giant marlin and mistake it for a shark. Manolin, who has been worried sick over the old man’s absence, is moved to tears when he finds Santiago safe in his bed. The boy fetches the old man some coffee and the daily papers with the baseball scores, and watches him sleep. When the old man wakes, the two agree to fish as partners once more. The old man returns to sleep and dreams his usual dream of lions at play on the beaches of Africa which were a symbol of his youth and strength.
Santiago realizes that he had completed his last challenge and that his time as a fisherman was up. He passed on the sword from the great fish to Manolin for the continuation of the skills he had taught his apprentice.
Santiago proves to be a noble hero in the eyes of Hemingway. He is a master craftsman in his enduring strength, skill, and knowledge of fishing. He knows tricks and occupies himself with improving his ability to fish. He struggles and suffers in order to stay undefeated. He beats all odds and fights all battles with the thought that he can and will win. And so he does. He goes far out and acts on what he thinks is right. He does not fear his actions nor does he regret them. He fights every battle as if it were his last and therefore comes out on top. Finally, he accepts defeat. This is the most honorable characteristic. No matter how hard he had fought, once it is over, he does not look back wishing he could have acted differently. He accepts his mistakes and recognizes that he had overstepped the boundary of man's finite and limited nature. His actions and the consequences of them are easily noticed and should not be looked down upon. In the long run, Santiago answered his calling, fought his battles, and when he was finally defeated by his own pride, he recognized it and accepted it. This makes Santiago a noble hero.
The action of the novella takes place in Cuba, and all the characters are Spanish-speaking.
To convey the atmosphere of Spanish speech (in the dialogues of Santiago, in his monologues – both verbalized and interior) the author occasionally uses Spanish words.