The Effective Use of Imagery in Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea Ess

The Effective Use of Imagery in Hemingways The former(a) mankind and the ocean Ernest Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea has engendered some lively debate in literary circles. Critics have concentrated on everything in the novella from the accuracy of Rigels early evening appearance over Cuban skies in September (Weeks 192) to William Faulkners judgment that Hemingway discovered God while writing The Old Man and the Sea (Bradford 158-62). Yet the most insightful commentary has gravitated invariably toward biblical, natural, and classical imagery in the novel. These images turn an otherwise simple slanting tale into a noble-minded narrative of human endurance. A reading that examines these images will serve to clarify the hidden significance in Hemingways novel. Biblical imagery literally abounds in The Old Man and the Sea. The name Santiago itself is a biblical allusion. Donald Heiney informs us that Santiago is simply the Spanish form of Saint pile, and James like Pete r was a fisherman-apostle in the New Testament. Santiago de Compostela is the patron saint of Spain and is also greatly revered by Cuban Catholics (86). Sam Baskett enhances this image by indicating that Saint James was martyred with the sword by Herod (278). In the novel, we see Santiago entrenched in battle with a swordfish, and, if we are to believe Baskett, he eventually dies after the struggle (269). In a sense, Santiago, like James, is martyred with the sword. Santiagos battle with the fish produces myriad biblical images, and while the most obvious are Santiago-as-Christ, others exist as well. Arvin Wells, for example, provides a Santiago-as-Cain analogy Repeatedly, Santiago addresses the fish as brother. . . Yet, at the same ti... ...y, Donald W. Barrons Simplified Approach to Ernest Hemingway. Woodbury Barrons Educational Series, 1965. Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York MacMillan, 1952. Jobes, Katharine, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations o f The Old Man and the Sea. Englewood Cliffs Prentice-Hall, 1968. Moseley, Edwin M. Pseudonyms of Christ in the Modern Novel Motifs and Methods. Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh Press, 1962. Rosenfield, Claire. New world, Old Myths. Jobes 41-55. Sylvester, Bickford. Hemingways Extended Vision The Old Man and the Sea. Jobes 81-96. Weeks, Robert P. Fakery in The Old Man and the Sea. College English 24 (1962) 188-92. Wells, Arvin R. A ritual of Transfiguration The Old Man and the Sea. Jobes 56-63. Young, Philip. The Old Man and the Sea Vision/Revision. Jobes 18-26.