Characteristics of the characters based on Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” Santiago. “The Old Man and the Sea”: the philosophical meaning of the story, the strength of the old man’s character

Santiago

SANTIAGO (English: Santiago) is the hero of E. Hemingway’s story “The Old Man and the Sea” (1952). Real prototypes Fernando Manuel Peredos (nicknamed Gallego), Anselmo Hernando, Gregorio Fuentes, captain of Hemingway's boat, are considered. Hemingway himself wrote that he reflected “the character traits of an old fisherman he knew from Casablanca.” We can say that S.- collective image fisherman from the northern coast of Cuba, in the Cojimar area. At the same time, this is a symbolic image in which romantic and folklore motives. S. absorbed best qualities 363 human soul - kindness, perseverance, courage. His simple, natural heroism is based on an amazing interweaving of humility and pride, which allows him to endure hardships and not admit defeat. S. is defeated, but does not submit. He is related to the heroes of J. London and F. Cooper, has rare endurance and determination. The impulse of his actions is the natural human right to food, the pride of a “natural fisherman.” In the image of S., the features of the Hemin-Guey hero-player are preserved, but the rules of the game acquire a higher, metaphysical meaning. Criticism accused S. of pessimism and fatalism. The idea was expressed that S. lost because he went beyond the threshold set for a person, that in the image of S. Hemingway condemns “presumptuous” individualism, which brings only destruction (M. Schorer, K. Burhans). Meanwhile, S. embodies the type of person who does not strive only to take from nature, but who has accepted his natural position in it, in the harmony of its eternal circulation. S.’s connection with the giant fish he caught, which he “loves,” is indissoluble. The fight against her and the sharks that rob S. of his prey is an endless dispute between man and nature. S. does not fish, but, as it were, performs a sacred ritual, performing the prescribed ritual. In this he is similar to the hero of “Moby Dick” by G. Melville. Similar motives can be traced in V. Astafiev (“Tsar Fish”, 1976). W. Faulkner wrote that before S., Hemingway’s heroes created themselves from clay as strong as they could be, but here Hemingway “found” the Creator who created S., a big fish, sharks that were supposed to devour this fish, and God loves them all. (K. Baker considered Hemingway’s story as a biblical parable, correlating the image of S. with the personality of Jesus Christ.) In the image of S., the teaching motive is important: the boy, S.’s assistant, is confident that S. is able to teach “everything in the world” and the main thing in life. It is no coincidence that Hemingway called his story “a message to the younger generation"(in a television interview after the presentation Nobel Prize, which the writer was awarded in 1954 for this work).

Lit.: Baker S. Hemingway; the writer as artist Princeton, 1963; Panorov Yu.M. Hemingway in Cuba. M., 1982; Fuentes N. Hemingway in Cuba. M., 1988; see also the literature for the article "Jake Warne".

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/ Analysis of Hemingway’s story “The Old Man and the Sea”

Ernest Hemingway completed work on the story “The Old Man and the Sea” in 1951. In this work the author has added his significant written evidence and life wisdom.

The main idea of ​​Ernest Hemingway's story is to show the transcendental strength of the human spirit in living in harmony with nature. The old man resists the forces of nature, but at the same time sees himself as a part of everything alien.

Short viklad to creativity

This story takes place in the fishing village in Cuba. The old fisherman Santiago returned from the sea without a good catch for the eighty-fourth day in a row. Entrust him with fishing the boy Manolino. Already, the fathers have fenced off your swim with the old man, even if he will not be spared. Santiago understands this work and intends to let the boys lose their “happy birthday.”

On the seventy-fifth day, Santiago dives back into the sea, but with the thought of catching a fish, and not just any fish, but the biggest one - marlin. The old advice is even more decisive and therefore swims far from the shore in the hope that the marlin will still bite. Santiago is in trouble because he doesn’t have a boy in charge of him. Please help me. Almost an hour passed before everything was wasted. Santiago tries to pull the boat, otherwise nothing will come of it. The old man realizes that the catch is very large and he will have to torture the fish until he gives up and floats away. Thus begins the long struggle between man and the sea. Santiago realized this, but did not give up. The most important thing is to set the fishing to the fish. Don’t be surprised that there is such a potential treasure, just talk to her with reason and tell her with love. Riba appears to be a weak old hard-working person. Through the great dimensions of the fish, Santiago simply binds them to the heart. But she can’t get along with her at once, because she was attacked by sharks. By the end of Santiago, the majestic skeleton of a marlin is drawn to the shore.

Images of the main characters

Santiago is an old fisherman who has never been lucky enough to catch his catch. Everything in the new one looked even older, around the eyes. Tim is no less than “incredibly old.” It’s not gratuitous for Santiago to talk about himself like that. Rich in the words of the old lies a symbolic, deeply philosophical sense. So you should tell the boy Manolino to try “happy chovna.” Choven at sea can be understood as a choice in life.

The hero’s dreams are remarkable: African lions, which wines actually grew in his youth on the way to Africa. The soul of the old is still beautiful.

Let us especially add to the old and good principles of all living things - be it a bird or a fish. He respects his calling as part of the fishing, but also respects the fish, and not just in a good-natured manner approaching it. Until his marlin Santiago, the sky is fierce before the people. I'm trying to explain what I couldn't do differently. Whether you want to love fish or not to be evil, such is your fate.

Well, Santiago is a human being of nature, who understands everything that comes out, there’s a lot to do with it, and there’s nothing wrong with doing the work.

Manolino is a guy who often fishes from Santiago. He learned from the old one, respecting him. Such kindness is evident in the song about Santiago. Manolino often brings him newspapers. And if they were embarrassed to deprive the chaven of their senior comrade, they would become embarrassed and turn around obliviously. Manolino wants to help Santiago eat the fish. But the old man is obliged to eat “the fish of his own world” himself.

Theme and idea of ​​creativity

The theme of the work is a story about an old fisherman who, having fulfilled his dream, caught the largest fish, but was never able to eat it.

The idea of ​​the story lies in the unfulfilled willpower of people. As Ernest Hemingway says in the voices of old Santiago: “People can be overcome, but they cannot be overcome.”

The story “The Old Man and the Sea” is rightly classified as a story-parable genre. In the image of the main character, a wise woman is shown, although she is a simple person, who has something to appeal to readers.

The text “The Old One and the Sea” is similar to the surface of the sea, you can’t immediately appreciate the true depth.

The story by Ernest Hemingway was written in 1952, and since then has caused constant controversy over the interpretation of the main meaning of the work. The difficulty of interpretation lies in the fact that in the story equal 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 writer's genius is that he shows these themes 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 Hemingway’s creative philosophy- the inconsistency and duality of his works. And “The Old Man and the Sea” is called the writer’s most striking and stunning story.

Images from the story “The Old Man and the Sea”

First of all, you should pay attention to main image in the story - on old man Santiago, who suffers constant failures throughout the entire 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 doesn't give up. This is the philosophical symbolism of the story. When the reader watches the old man fight with the fish, he sees in the actions and words of the main character fatalism of man's eternal struggle. Santiago exerts all his strength and, despite everything, continues the fight, 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 an old man's character

With the fight between old Santiago and the big fish, Hemingway draws our attention to true nature human soul and meaning 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 fatigue and exhaustion, he continues to fight, to protect what he has gained with so much effort. Neither the wounds on his hands nor the broken knife prevent him from doing this. 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 did not save the fish, but the hero did not lose because - he fought to the last.

The exhausted and weakened hero nevertheless 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 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 human existence, and he does this through the example of a single character and his attitude towards 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 the 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 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 struggle. The main character is indestructible, thanks to the strength of his character, spirit and life positions, it is precisely these personal traits help him win, despite his old age, loss physical strength and unfavorable circumstances.

Composition

SANTIAGO (English: Santiago) is the hero of E. Hemingway’s story “The Old Man and the Sea” (1952). The real prototypes are considered to be Fernando Manuel Peredos (nicknamed Gallego), Anselmo Hernando, Gregorio Fuentes, captain of Hemingway's boat. Hemingway himself wrote that he reflected “the character traits of an old fisherman he knew from Casablanca.” We can say that S. is a collective image of a fisherman from the northern coast of the island of Cuba, in the Cojimar region. At the same time, this is a symbolic image in which romantic and folklore motifs are strong. S. absorbed the best qualities of the human soul - kindness, perseverance, courage. His simple, natural heroism is based on an amazing interweaving of humility and pride, which allows him to endure hardships and not admit defeat. S. is defeated, but does not submit. He is related to the heroes of J. London and F. Cooper, has rare endurance and determination. The impulse of his actions is the natural human right to food, the pride of a “natural fisherman.” In the image of S., the features of the Hemin-Guey hero-player are preserved, but the rules of the game acquire a higher, metaphysical meaning. Criticism accused S. of pessimism and fatalism. The idea was expressed that S. lost because he went beyond the threshold set for a person, that in the image of S. Hemingway condemns “presumptuous” individualism, which brings only destruction (M. Schorer, K. Burhans). Meanwhile, S. embodies the type of person who does not strive only to take from nature, but who has accepted his natural position in it, in the harmony of its eternal circulation. S.’s connection with the giant fish he caught, which he “loves,” is indissoluble. The fight against her and the sharks that rob S. of his prey is an endless dispute between man and nature. S. does not fish, but, as it were, performs a sacred ritual, performing the prescribed ritual. In this he is similar to the hero of “Moby Dick” by G. Melville. Similar motives can be traced in V. Astafiev (“Tsar Fish”, 1976). W. Faulkner wrote that before S., Hemingway’s heroes created themselves from clay as strong as they could be, but here Hemingway “found” the Creator who created S., a big fish, sharks that were supposed to devour this fish, and God loves them all. (K. Baker considered Hemingway’s story as a biblical parable, correlating the image of S. with the personality of Jesus Christ.) In the image of S., the teaching motive is important: the boy, S.’s assistant, is confident that S. is able to teach “everything in the world” and the main thing in life. It is no coincidence that Hemingway called his story “a message to the younger generation” (in a television interview after receiving the Nobel Prize, which the writer was awarded in 1954. for this work).

Lit.: Baker S. Hemingway; the writer as artist Princeton, 1963; Panorov Yu.M. Hemingway in Cuba. M., 1982; Fuentes N. Hemingway in Cuba. M., 1988; see also the literature for the article "Jake Warne".

Other works on this work

/ / / The image of Santiago in Hemingway’s story “The Old Man and the Sea”

The image of Santiago in the story by Ernest Hemingway surprises with its depth.

Santiago is an old fisherman who has been living alone for a long time, but does not lose heart. The author characterizes him as a man with “cheerful eyes who does not give up.” The hero often recalls the days of his youth; he dreams of young lions frolicking on the shores of Africa. The time of adventure has passed, and all that remains for the old man is the sea, into which he goes out to feed himself and little friend named Manolino. The friendship between a boy and an old man shows the connection between generations. The fact that between people with similar views does not matter the age difference. Santiago feels that Manolino is as passionate about the romance of the sea as he is.

Through his main character, the author expresses his own philosophical ideas, for example: “Man can be destroyed, but he cannot be defeated.” To this conclusion main character came thanks a lot life experience. The writer shows that only a person who has experienced difficulties has the strength to fight.

Santiago lives ordinary life, in his humble world, from which he does not run, like many other heroes of the author. He does not need to seek solitude with nature, he is part of nature. In the image of Santiago, the writer saw a harmonious person. It combines humility and pride, the ability to be content with little and the pursuit of a dream. He did not know when humility came to him, but he was sure that it did not bring him shame. The old man did not lose his self-esteem, although he lived in poverty. I felt sorry for my friend and sometimes brought fish and newspapers with sports news.

Surprising life position hero, according to which each creature has its own role in the world. So he was born to be a fisherman, just as a fish was born to be a fish.

The plot of the story is based on several days in the life of the main character. Events develop slowly, there are few of them, but they are described in detail and very realistically - so that the reader seems to be sitting with the fisherman in the boat and sees everything that is happening.

The story begins with the fact that Santiago has been unsuccessfully going to sea for 84 days. It seems that the fisherman's luck has run out. But the hero does not give up and believes that on the 85th day he will be lucky, he just needs to swim further from the shore, take a risk - and then he will catch the fish of his dreams. The author describes three days spent by the old man at sea. During this time, Santiago shows willpower, endurance, overcoming pain. He catches a fish so as not to starve, talks to the bird, and then to the fish, so as not to go crazy. He hooks a marlin, but the fish is too big - and so the old man is forced to hold the line and little by little drag it to the shore. It hurts him, the line cuts his hand, but he endures, because he cannot lose to the fish. It's amazing how the old man treats the marlin, not as a catch, but as his equal. It’s just fate: he is a fisherman, and she is a fish. And that means he can't let her go.

Unfortunately, the fish is attacked by sharks - and the hero pulls only its skeleton ashore. But the writer shows that the hero did not lose because he proved his courage.