^ f • ' • ' ' !

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA; A DISTILLATION OF

HEMINGWAY'S CARIBBEAN TETRALOGY

by

ROBERT ADON FINK, B.A.

A THESIS

IN

ENGLISH

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Approved

Accepted

May, 1973

' I

SotT rs (973 No. 27 top. Z

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply indebted to Dr. Warren S. Walker for

his invaluable direction of this thesis and to the other

member of my committee. Dr. Walter R. McDonald, for his

helpful criticism.

11

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. SANTIAGO AND THOMAS HUDSON 5

III. RECURRING THEMES 46

IV. THE FISHING EXPEDITIONS 68

V. CONCLUSION 80

BIBLIOGRAPHY 83

• • «

111

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Many writers have produced novels dealing with the

people and the occurrences of a particular locale. Nathaniel

Hawthorne wrote primarily of early New England life; Thomas

Wolfe vividly depicted Ashville, North Carolina; and William

Faulkner exposed his Mississippi world. Ernest Hemingway's

novels are not all centered around one region, but several

of his works deal with an area which he loved and in which

he felt at home. This is the realm of the sea. "His do­

main was the Gulf Stream, and his fish was the fighting

marlin." Hemingway's love for this domain and his exper­

tise at salt-water fishing are vividly revealed in two of

his later novels. The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in

2

the Stream. Each of these novels is set against the back­

drop of the sea. But the two stories have more in common

than their settings, for although The Old Man and the Sea

^Carlos Baker, Ernest Hemingway: A Life S.tory (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1969), p. 503.

2 Page references to The Old Man and the Sea through­

out the present work are based on the 1952 paperback edi­tion (Charles Scribner's Sons). After the initial footnote reference. The Old Man and the Sea will be cited within the text as Old Man. References to Islands in the Stream are based on the 1970 hardbound edition (Charles Scribner's Sons). After the initial footnote reference, this book will be cited within the text as Islands.

was published separately as a short novel, the two works

were originally designed to be parts of one large book

about the sea.

Hemingway's first plan was to divide the book into

three sections with these tentative titles: The Sea When

Young, The Sea When Absent, and The Sea in Being. Heming­

way mentioned that he had not touched. The Sea When Young

since 1947, and Baker suggests that Hemingway was probably

referring "to his cut-down version of the abortive Garden

of Eden. " The Sea When Absent was completed in December

of 1950, but the third section. The Sea in Being, remained

in the writer's mind, having been there awaiting birth for 5

over sixteen years. The Sea in Being was the story of

Santiago and the giant marlin, the story which would become

The Old Man and the Sea.

In May of 1951, Hemingway expanded his book to four

parts, adding a section which chronologically followed The

Sea When Absent and which dealt with the pursuit and near

capture of a Nazi submarine crew. The Sea in Being had

been completed by 1951, and it became Part IV of the book.

489.

3 Baker, Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story, pp. 488-

4

5 Ibid., p. 489.

Ibid., p. 489.

^Ibid., p. 492.

•7

following the sea chase section. Three of the sections

were complete: The Sea When Absent and the sea chase sec­

tion centering around the exploits of an American, Thomas

Hudson, and The Sea in Being, about the old fisherman. The

longest section. The Sea When Youncr, still required much

revision, and Hemingway remained vague as to its content.

He did reveal that he had tentatively changed its title to g

The Island and the Stream.

Hemingway also changed the title of The Sea in Be­

ing to The Old Man and the Sea, and in a 1951 letter to

Charles Scribner informed him that if anything happened to

the writer, Scribner's Sons "could safely publish 'the old 9

man and the sea' as one small book." In fact. The Old Man

and the Sea probably should not be seen as simply a part

of the greater work but should be viewed rather as an artis­

tic distillation of its central themes and images. It is

the purpose of the present study to show this relationship

between The Old Man and the Sea and the three-part novel

published as Islands in the Stream.

The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952 and

was acclaimed by many as Hemingway's greatest literary

triumph, but little was heard about the remaining three

Baker, p. 493.

®Ibid., pp. 493-494

^Ibid., p. 494.

parts of his saga of the sea until 1970, when the writer's

widow, Mary Hemingway, and Charles Scribner, Jr., edited

and published a cutting of Hemingway's original manuscripts.

This book was given the title Islands in the Stream and

consisted of most of the three unpublished sections of

Hemingway's Caribbean sequence. The three sections, now

called "Bimini" (probably The Sea When Young), "Cuba"

(originally The Sea When Absent) , and "At Sea," concern,

respectively, Thomas Hudson's summer of fishing with his

three sons, a subsequent series of selective reminiscences

to help the writer accept the traumas of lost love and the

loss of his sons, and, finally, the sublimation of his suf­

fering in the action of tracking down the crew of a Nazi

submarine. Even a cursory reading of Islands in the Stream

will call up images of The Old Man and the Sea, but upon

making a detailed analysis of the two books, one can see

many similarities. The most prominent ones are similarities

between Santiago of The Old Man and the Sea and Thomas Hud­

son of Islands in the Stream, between the themes of the two

novels, and between the two fishing excursions.

CHAPTER II

SANTIAGO AND THOMAS HUDSON

Both Santiago and Thomas Hudson are characterized

as being strange men—strange in the sense that they are

extraordinary, set apart from other men, distinguished by

the fact that they contain qualities which make them more

courageous, more knowing, and more tragic. Such distinc­

tions do not arise from single causes, and their complex

origins cannot be fully explained. There are, nevertheless,

several identifiable factors that make Santiago and Thomas

Hudson the men they are.

Santiago is an old man, but only in the number of

his years. His exact age is not known, but he has lived

a full life, sailing to Africa when he was a youth, defeat­

ing "the great negro [sic] from Cienfuegos" in a twenty-

four-hour wrist-wrestling match in a Casablanca tavern,

and spending most of his life becoming a respected, skill­

ful fisherman, working the gulf off Havana, Cuba. Santiago

is described as being "thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles

in the back of his neck" (Old Man, p. 9); his face is marked

with brown blotches of skin cancer, brought on by years of

exposure to the sun; and his aged hands are scarred from

•^^Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea [paper­back edition] (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952), p. 69.

5

innumerable fishing-cord burns incurred while handling

heavy fish. But the old man is still strong. His shoul­

ders and neck are powerful, and his hands (though the left

one is the weaker) remain the capable hands of an expert

fisheinnan. The most outstanding feature of Santiago's ap­

pearance is his eyes: "Everything about him was old except

his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were

cheerful and undefeated" (Old Man, p. 10) . But in spite

of the strength which remains in his body, when his eyes

are closed, no life can be seen in the fisherman's face

(Old Man, p. 19). It is appropriate that Santiago's eyes,

which reveal his spirit, should be the color of the sea,

for just as his face appears lifeless when his eyes are

closed, Santiago would have no life if removed from the sea.

Thomas Hudson is also a man in love with the sea,

not only as a fisherman, but as an artist. He is a success­

ful, middle-aged American painter living sometimes in Bimini

and sometimes in Cuba. He has two ex-wives and three half-

grown sons. Like Santiago, Hudson has lived a full life,

residing in Paris during the early part of his first mar­

riage where he rubbed elbows with the local literary and

artistic set. He is a large man, described as looking

"bigger stripped than he did in his clothes" ; in the

Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970), p. 12.

Bimmi" section of Islands in the Stream, he is tanned,

with sun-streaked hair, and his weight is 192. His shoul­

ders and neck are large. His legs are swimmer's legs, and

his feet are big.

The physical appearances of the two men are pri­

marily a direct result of their status in life, their food,

and their environment. Santiago is proud but poor. He

lives in a small shack near the ocean; he fishes from a

small skiff, and must depend on the ocean not only for his

income, but for his food. He lives in a fishing village

close to Havana. On days when the wind is from the east,

the smell from a shark factory across the cove from the

village peanneates the area, but on days when there is no

east wind, there is only a faint odor. Santiago's one-room

shack is so small that the mast from his skiff will barely

fit inside:

The shack was made of the tough budshields of the royal palm which are called guano and in it there was a bed, a table, one chair, and a place on the dirt floor to cook with charcoal. On the brown walls of the flattened, overlapping leaves of the sturdy fibered guano there was a picture in color of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and another of the Virgin of Cobre (Old Man, pp. 15-16).

His bed is made of springs with newspapers covering them;

for a pillow, Santiago uses his trousers, rolled into a

ball. His usual diet consists of yellow rice and fish, but

often he goes without eating if his fishing has been poor.

The food served at the tourist establishment (the Terrace)

8

includes black beans and rice, fried bananas, and stew.

Often, Manolin, the old man's young friend, brings him food

from the Terrace, and sometimes the owner sends along beer.

In the mornings, before leaving for a day of fishing, San­

tiago and the other fishermen often drink coffee out of

condensed-milk cans at an early-morning place serving

fishermen. But Santiago's paucity of food is not too great

a problem, because the old man has lost his appetite, and

eating has become a chore.

Hudson's environmental circumstances afford a sharp

contrast to the poverty and deprivation experienced by San­

tiago; Thomas Hudson is wealthy and lives comfortably both

in Bimini and in Cuba in beautiful homes set against tropi­

cal greenery. Compared to the old fisherman's shack, Hud­

son's Bimini house is a palace:

The house was built on the highest part of the narrow tongue of land between the harbor and the open sea. It had lasted through three hurricanes and it was built solid as a ship. It was shaded by tall coconut palms that were bent by the trade wind and on the ocean side you could walk out of the door and down the bluff across the white sand and into the Gulf Stream. The water of the Stream was usually a dark blue when you looked out at it when there was no wind. But when you walked out into it there was just the green light of the water over that floury white sand and you could see the shadow of any big fish a long time before he could ever come in close to the beach (Islands, p. 3) .

The house is much like a ship. It is built into the island

for the purpose of riding out storms. The sea can be seen

from all the windows, and the cross ventilation provides a

cool breeze, even on the hottest nights. In the winter,

a huge open fireplace keeps the house warm. Hudson gets

his food from the supply boat which comes to the island

from Florida. He has his own cook, who prepares for a

fishing trip meals including fish, mashed potatoes, tomato

salad, and potato salad; steak, mashed potatoes and gravy,

buttered lima beans, cabbage lettuce, grapefruit, and logan­

berry pie constitute a luncheon on the island. Instead of

Santiago's occasional beer, Thomas Hudson prefers gin-and

tonics and double frozen daiquiris with no sugar, and his

house is well stocked with beer and Coca-Cola.

Although there are vast differences between Hudson

and Santiago in appearance and in wealth, the two men have

a common bond of character. While talking to the old man

about baseball, Manolin comments that the best fisherman is

Santiago. Santiago replies that he knows other fishermen

who are better, to which Manolin responds, "'There are many

good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only

you'" (Old Man, p. 23). Santiago is unique among the fish­

ermen; he is a man of character and determination. He is

a proud man, as is revealed by the game he plays with the

boy, pretending that he will have a pot of yellow rice with

fish for supper when Manolin knows that he has nothing to

eat. Despite his pride, Santiago has learned to be humble:

"He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility.

But he knew he had attained it and he knew it was not

10

disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride" (Old Man,

pp. 13-14). His pride and his sense of morality are further

revealed by his belief that one should not borrow, because

borrowing leads to begging (Old Man, p. 18) . The charac­

teristic which most typifies Santiago is his perseverance.

This quality is displayed most vividly in his struggle to

catch the marlin and then to protect his catch from the

sharks. Santiago's determination is also revealed through

his thoughts and comments. Replying to a statement that

no fish is stronger than the old man, he states, "'I may

not be as strong as I think. . . . But I know many tricks

and I have resolution'" (Old Man, p. 23). This resolution,

based on faith in himself and on courage, is what has made

Santiago the man that he is. It enabled him to defeat the

great Negro of Cienfuegos, and it will provide the strength

necessary for him to endure his ordeal on the sea. The old

man's heart is like those of the great trunk-back turtles,

whose hearts beat for hours after the turtles have been

butchered. While struggling with the great marlin, San­

tiago talks to himself, declaring, "Let him [the fish] think

I am more man than I am and I will be so" (Old Man, p. 64).

This is Santiago, a man both proud and humble, but who has

the courage and endurance to face what life has to offer

and not give up.

Thomas Hudson is also such a man. Like Santiago,

Hudson is a man of determination. He accepts life for what

11

it is, and faces it with the courage and perseverance neces­

sary for a man who is determined to endure. As Santiago is

confident in his ability as a fisherman, Thomas Hudson is

confident in his ability as an artist and as a leader of

men. When Mr. Bobby, a tavern owner on Bimini Island, com­

missions Hudson to paint some titanic waterspouts, he readily

complies. The finished product is so breathtaking and

realistic that a drunken patron of the bar attempts to climb

into the dinghy drawn in the painting. When his middle son

loses a magnificent swordfish after a heroic struggle, Hud­

son sets out to capture the beauty and magnificence of the

boy and the fish. His sketches portray the grandeur of the

moment.

Hudson is also confident of his combat leadership

ability. The artist and a small but select crew cruise the

ocean off Cuba searching for German U-boats. When the men

discover the existence of an enemy crew of sailors, they

set out to capture them. From the moment of the discovery,

Hudson is confident that the Germans will be captured, and

he exhibits this confidence to his men. One of his crew

questions their ability to accomplish the mission by asking

Hudson if he is sure that they will capture the enemy

sailors. Hudson assures him that their mission will be

successful. Later, Hudson again emphasizes that they will

catch the Germans, adding, "'There is no doubt of it at

all'" (Islands, p. 341).

12

Accompanying this confidence is pride. Hudson's

kind of pride is best expressed by his first mate, Ara.

Talking to Hudson about what will be the outcome of their

search, Ara says, "'We will get them or we will drive them

into other people's hands. . . . What difference does it

make? We have our pride but we have another pride people

know nothing o f " (Islands, p. 358). This pride reserved

for only a few is the same pride held by Santiago. As Ara

further states, "'All a man has is pride. Sometimes you

have it so much it is a sin. We have all done things for

pride that we knew were impossible. We didn't care. But

a man must implement his pride with intelligence and care'"

(Islands, p. 358).

Along with pride, Hudson has also acquired humility.

His awareness of his own limitations is vividly seen when

a shark attacks Hudson's son, David, while the boy is spear-

fishing off Bimini. Hudson fires three shots from a .256

Mannlicher Shoenauer rifle but misses the shark each time.

It is up to Hudson's cook and friend, Eddy, to kill the

shark with a burst from a submachine gun. After the boy

has been rescued, and everyone is back on board the ship,

Hudson confesses that he is very ashamed that he could not

hit the shark (Islands, p. 90). Hudson's humility is again

evident when he runs into Lieutenant Commander Fred Archer

at the military command post, where Hudson is reporting on

his sub-chasing activities. Archer is happy to see Thomas

13

Hudson, telling him that seeing the huge artist makes him

cheerful. Archer goes on to say that although lie needs

someone to cheer him up, Hudson does not: "'You don't

have to feel cheerful,' Fred Archer said. 'You've got it'"

(Islands, p. 256) . Outside the building and on his way to

the Floridita bar, Hudson muses over Archer's comments,

wishing that he were as solid as Freddy Archer thinks he

is (Islands, pp. 257-258). Like the old man's, Hudson's

humility has become a part of his character, and there has

been no loss of courage or pride.

Hudson is stoical. When Roger Davis, a friend of

Hudson's, is talking to Andy, he tells the boy, "'Never be

scared, Andy. . . . It's worthless. Your father told me'"

(Islands, p. 78). Hudson's courage stems from this pre­

cept. He tri^s not to be afraid of life, to accept what it

has to offer, and to struggle against cowering from the

misfortunes which arise. Hudson has learned to accept the

failure of his two marriages, and he struggles to accept

the deaths of one of his wives and his three sons. The

courage which he displays in hunting for Germans is a trifle

compared to the valor he exhibits in attempting to learn

to live with the loss of his family. In his attempt to en­

dure the hardships which have befallen him, Hudson relies

on a routine of work. Santiago has long since learned to

live with the loss of his family and has become settled

into the daily routine of rising early, fishing all day.

14

and then returning to his shack, taking his mast, fishing

line, gaff, and harpoon with him. Thomas Hudson has not

reached the point where his work routine has become mechani­

cal. In the "Bimini" section, he forces himself to work

a certain number of hours a day, following a routine which

will help him to endure the loneliness (Islands, p. 9) .

Hudson has followed his routine on Bimini so religiously

that it has become enjoyable:

It has been a pleasant routine of working hard; of hours for doing things; places where things were kept and well-cared for; of meals and drinks to look forward to and new books to read and many old books to reread. It was a routine where the daily was an event when it arrived, but where it did not come so regularly that its nonarrival was a disappointment. It had many of the inventions that lonely people use to save themselves and even achieve unloneliness with and he had made the rules and kept the customs and used them consciously and unconsciously. But since the boys were here it had come as a great relief not to have to use them (Islands, p. 95).

Hudson's friends do not understand his compulsion for work

and routine; they see him only as a man dedicated to his

craft. When Thomas Hudson greets an old friend, Johnny

Goodner, he responds,

"Tom, you worthless character, what have you been doing?"

. "Working pretty steadily."

"You would, he said . . . " (Islands, p. 23).

Eddy tells Hudson that he would never make a rummy, because

he likes to work too well (Islands, p. 106). Mr. Bobby

also comments on the artist's working habits, telling Hud­

son that he works too much as it is, that he has a duty to

15

himself and to his one and only life. Bobby implores Hud­

son not to paint so much of the time (Islands, p. 150) .

But Hudson knows the value of his discipline, for by fill­

ing up each day with routine activities, he does not have

time to think about his loneliness, and this discipline

also allows him to produce satisfying art work. Hudson

even applies this philosophy tofishing, as he explains to

his son, Andrew, telling him how the artist and Roger Davis

used to act while fishing and why they now act differently:

"We used to suffer and act as though everybody was against us. That's the natural way to be. The other's discipline or good sense when you learn. We started to be polite because we found we couldn't catch big fish being rude and excited" (Islands, p. 120).

Hudson also recommends his philosophy for Roger, suggesting

that through work he can save his soul (Islands, p. 191) .

But as the boys' visit to the island nears its end, Hudson

begins to fear that he is losing the protective shield

which his work has afforded him:

He was having a difficult time staying in the cara­pace of work that he had built for his protection and he thought, if I don't work now I may lose it. . . . Work, he told himself. Get it right and keep your habits because you are going to need them (Islands, p. 190).

Hudson soon has the opportunity to see if his work philos­

ophy is sound. He learns of the death of one ex-wife and

two sons. He acknowledges that two solutions are available

to help him bear up—liquor and work. He knows that the

drinking will destroy his capacity for producing satisfying

16

work, and he has built his life on work (Islands, p. 197) .

But for the moment, the mind-dulling effect of liquor wins

out:

For years he had kept an absolute rule about not drinking in the night and never drinking before he had done his work except on non-working days. But now, as he woke in the night, he felt the simple happiness of breaking training. . . . You see, he said to himself, there's nothing to it (Islands, p. 200).

The final two sections of the novel deal with Thomas

Hudson's sixb-hunting experiences. He has lost his third

son, and all of his activities are centered on trying to

forget the past. In addition to his work routine, he is

now drinking more heavily. When Hudson is ashore between

missions, he relies on liquor to help forget the sea and

numb the pain of his losses:

Let's not think about the sea nor what is on it or under it, or anything connected with it. Let's not think of it at all. Let's just have the sea in being and leave it at that. And the other things, he thought. We won't think about them either (Islands, p. 235).

Hudson tries to deceive himself into believing that he gets

dmnk when he is ashore because he wants to forget the sea

and the type of work which he is now doing, but he knows

that this is a fiction (Islands, pp. 239-240). As he rides

into town, the artist reasons that he is drinking to help

endure looking at the poverty of the Cuban people and

against his forthcoming debriefing with his commanding offi­

cer, but he soon admits that he is deceiving himself

17

(Islands, p. 246). He knows that he simply wants to forget

his tragic past and learn to accept the loneliness of his

present life.

Whether or not it is due to a reliance on work,

routine, or liquor, Thomas Hudson does contain an inner

strength which enables him to live with his grief and to

fight against becoming useless. Hudson's inner resources

are as reliable as Santiago's. The old fisherman's tenacity

has seen him through days of sadness and a life of hardship

and will enable him to catch the great marlin, and this same

tenacity is the quality which is essential in helping Hudson

adjust to the loneliness of his life. He is a man who must

work out his grief for himself. Willie, one of Hudson's

crew, learns that Hudson had known of the death of his old­

est son before they had gone on their previous mission, but

Hudson had not revealed this information to any of the crew.

Willie now asks Hudson why he has kept that knowledge to

himself for the last two weeks (Islands, p. 271). Hudson's

answer is, "'Grief doesn't split'" (Islands, p. 271).

Later, in answer to Honest Lil's suggestion that he tell

her about his sorrows, Hudson replies, "'Telling never did

me any good. Telling is worse for me than not telling'"

(Islands, p. 274). Hudson's belief in working out his own

problems is epitomized by his statement when he and his men

are closing in on the German submarine crew and he learns

that his radio is not functioning. Without the radio, the

18

men cannot receive instructions on what to do concerning

the Germans. Hudson comments, "[I]f he doesn't get her to­

night we are on our own. The hell with it, he thought.

There are worse places to be than on your own" (Islands,

p. 343).

The responsibility which Hudson displays in the

command of his ship and its crew is another trait which

adds to Hudson's uniqueness. Hudson is aware of his duty

to his sons, to his friends, to his government, and to him­

self. And he can accept the responsibility which comes

with these duties. Hudson cannot condone the drunken fun

of a companion who foolishly shoots flares around the Bimini

area, and he admonishes the man for his irresponsible ac­

tions (Islands, pp. 30-31). The artist also feels a sense

of responsibility toward his friend Roger, worrying about

his sordid past, his inability to write his novels, and

his pessimistic attitude toward life. He worries over his

sons: whether or not they should go spear fishing, what

they should eat, and how he can be a father to them when he

is around them for such a short time each year. When Davy

hooks a huge broadbill, Hudson feels that the boy should

be allowed to bring the fish in, but the struggle results

in Davy's rubbing the skin off the bottom of his feet.

Hudson's concern over allowing the boy to fight the fish

is revealed in a conversation with Roger Davis:

19

"I feel bad about David," Roger said to Thomas Hudson. "We shouldn't have ever let him do it."

"He's probably all right," Thomas Hudson said. "He was sleeping well. But it was my responsi­bility. I was the one to call it off."

"No. You trusted me." "The father has the responsibility," Thomas

Hudson said. "And I turned it over to you when I had no right to. It isn't anything to delegate" (Islands, p. 153).

On the ship, chasing the Germans, Hudson feels the same

responsibility toward his crew that he did toward his chil­

dren. He wants to protect them from as much danger as

possible; in order to do this, he has to be constantly

aware of all signs of trouble, both from the Germans and

from within the crew itself. " [H] e felt a fool to be any­

where but at his post" (Islands, p. 396). Duty is Hudson's

one enduring guideline: "Duty is a wonderful thing. I do

not know what I would have done without duty since young

Tom died. You could have painted, he told himself. Or you

could have done something useful. Maybe, he thought. Duty

is simpler" (Islands, p. 418).

Santiago is also a man of responsibility. He has

reached an age where he has no real sorrows to forget; his

routine has become so established that he probably cannot

recall when or why it began. As with his routine, the

fisherman probably cannot remember when he developed a

sense of responsibility toward the boy, Manolin. Santiago

has taught him to fish, taking him out first when he was

five years old and protecting the child when a still lively

20

fish was brought into the boat. Santiago threw the boy into

the bow, away from the fish's slapping tail. He taught

Manolin to be responsible, allowing him to assist in carry­

ing the fishing equipment, even at five years old. But now

the old man has had a run of bad luck and has not caught a

fish for eighty-four days. The boy's parents have forced

him to go out with another man, who has been catching many

fish. Manolin resents this and wants to remain with the

old man, but Santiago acknowledges the boy's responsibility

toward his parents, telling Manolin that it is right that

he should obey his father (Old Man, p. 10) .

This sense of responsibility and devotion to duty

may be an indirect result of the expertise held by the two

men. Each of them is acknowledged an expert in his respec­

tive field—Santiago, as a fisherman, and Thomas Hudson,

as an artist. But both men also possess a great amount of

knowledge in areas not directly associated with their pro­

fessions. Santiago is a baseball theoretician, and Hudson

is a capable fisherman and military tactician. Each man is

confident of his knowledge and ability in his area of ex­

pertise.

Santiago knows the sea as well as a man knows his

wife:

He always thought of the sea as la mar which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her. . . . But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or

21

wicked things it was because she could not help them (Old Man, pp. 29-30).

The old man has been involved in a lifelong love affair

with the sea, and, as a result, he has become an expert

fisherman. Santiago's expertise is revealed throughout the

story. He has a specific method for baiting his hooks:

Each bait hung head down with the shank of the hook inside the bait fish, tied and sewed solid and all the projecting part of the hook, the curve and the point, was covered with fresh sardines. Each sar­dine was hooked through both eyes so that they made a half-garland on the projecting steel. There was no part of the hook that a great fish could feel which was not sweet smelling and good tasting (Old Man, p. 31).

Rather than allowing his fishing lines to drift with the

current, Santiago keeps them straight down into the water,

thereby ensuring that a bait will be hanging at the exact

water depth which he wants. When the fisherman feels a

light pull on his line, he knows immediately what it is:

"One hundred fathoms down a marlin was eating the sardines

that covered the point and the shank of the hook where the

hand-forged hook projected from the head of the small tuna"

(Old Man, p. 41) . When the fish takes the bait, the line

begins to go out, and Santiago knows that the fish has the

bait sideways in his mouth and is moving off with it. He

allows the marlin to eat the bait first, and then he jerks

the line as hard as possible in order to ensure that the

hook is embedded into the fish. As the fish tows the skiff

out to sea, Santiago relies on his knowledge of geography

22

to keep him oriented. He knows that if he loses the glow

of Havana he must be going more toward the east (Old Man,

p. 47) . The old man is sure that the fish is a male, be­

cause of the way he took the bait and the way he pulls the

boat—steadily, with no panic. Santiago cuts away his other

fishing lines, because he fears that he may hook another

fish which will sever the line holding the marlin. As the

fight continues, Santiago hopes that the fish will rise to

the surface and jump: "Now that it is daylight let him

jtimp so that he'll fill the sacks along his backbone with

air and then he cannot go deep to die" (Old Man, p. 53) .

He forces himself to eat raw fish which he has caught, be­

cause he must retain his strength. Santiago tries to take

his mind off the pain of the struggle by thinking about the

beautiful weather. He is not afraid to be out of sight of

land, because he is now in the hurricane months, and "when

there are no hurricanes, the weather of hurricane months is

the best of all the year" (Old Man, p. 61) . When Santiago

again realizes that he must eat or lose strength, he wishes

that a flying fish would come on board the skiff, because

a flying fish is excellent to eat raw and the old fisherman

would not have to cut it up, thereby conserving his strength

(Old Man, p. 66) . He also comments that with so many fly­

ing fish in the area, there must also be dolphin. When

the old fisherman sees a school of dolphin, he wonders why

it is that "all the fast-moving fish of the dark current

23

have purple backs and usually purple stripes or spots" (Old

Man, p. 72). Later, as the sun begins to set, Santiago

knows that he must keep the marlin quiet at this time of

day, because sunset is a difficult time for all fish (Old

Man, p. 73) . Throughout his struggle, Santiago has known

that he must keep the fishing line as steady as possible.

After a day and a half, he wishes that he could release the

line in order to ease the pain he is feeling, but he knows

that if he does, he will probably lose the fish, because

with one small lurch, the marlin could break the line (Old

Man, p. 77) . When the fish begins to fight in earnest, the

old man comments that since the marlin has jumped over

twelve times, he has filled the sacks along his back with

air and cannot go deep into the water to die. Now Santiago

knows that soon the fish will begin circling, and then the

fisherman must work him in close to the boat. When he sees

the fish head east, Santiago understands that the marlin is

tired and is swimming with the current. When the fisherman

feels a sudden banging and jerking on the fishing line, he

acknowledges that this was bound to happen; the marlin is

hitting the wire leader with his spear. While the fish con­

tinues to struggle, Santiago's expertise is further revealed

in his thoughts about how he will return home after he has

caught the marlin: "'I'll just steer south and west,' he

said. 'A man is never lost at sea and it is a long island'"

(Old Man, p. 89) . After the old man has caught the fish.

24

he must devise a method of transporting the marlin to shore:

Now I must prepare the nooses and the rope to lash him alongside, he thought. Even if we were two and swamped her to load him and bailed her out, this skiff would never hold him. I must prepare everything, then bring him in and lash him well and step the mast and set sail for home.

He started to pull the fish in to have him alongside so that he could pass a line through his gills and out his mouth and make his head fast alongside the bow. . . . Bring him in now and make him fast and get the noose around his tail and another around his middle to bind him to the skiff (Old Man, p. 95) .

Santiago secures the fish to the side of the skiff and then

heads for home: "He did not need a compass to tell him

where southwest was. He only needed the feel of the trade

wind and the drawing of the sail" (Old Man, p. 97) . Sail­

ing homeward, Santiago notes that the high cumulus clouds

with the cirrus above them indicate that the breeze will

last all night (Old Man, p. 99) . After the ordeal has ended,

and Santiago is back in his hut, he tells Manolin that they

must make a good killing lance. He informs the boy that

the blade can be made out of the spring leaf from an old

Ford. The blade must be sharp and not weakened through too

much tempering (Old Man, p. 125) .

In addition to being an expert fisherman, Santiago

is also a great baseball fan and to a certain extent can be

considered an authority. Talking to Manolin, Santiago tells

him to have faith in the New York Yankees and gently scoffs

at the boy when he says that he is afraid that the Detroit

Tigers and the Cleveland Indians may beat the Yankees.

25

Santiago replies, "'Be careful or you will fear even the

Reds' of Cincinnati and the White Sox of Chicago'" (Old Man,

p. 17) . Santiago has such confidence in the Yankees because

Joe DiMaggio plays for them. In the National Baseball

League, he picks the Brooklyn Dodgers over the Philadelphia

Phillies. Santiago knows the backgrounds of some of the

players. He comments that DiMaggio's father was a fisher­

man and that he may have been poor like the Cuban fishermen.

He tells Manolin that John J. McGraw was "rough and harsh-

spoken and difficult when he was drinking" (Old Man, p. 22)

and that he was interested in horses as well as in baseball.

When asked who is the greatest manager, the old man responds

that Luque and Mike Gonzalez are equal (Old Man, p. 23) .

Thomas Hudson is also a man who takes his work seri­

ously and displays expertise in several areas. The fact

that he is a successful artist indicates that he is an ex­

pert in his field, and his perfectionism can be seen in the

preciseness he employs in trying to capture on canvas the

spirit of Davy's fish: "Thomas Hudson wanted to paint the

leap of the fish first because painting him in the water

was going to be much more difficult and he made two sketches,

neither of which he liked, and finally a third one that he

did like" (Islands, p. 160). But Hudson is also a fisher­

man, and, like Santiago, he knows much about the sea world.

Hudson can agree with Santiago that "the true hurri­

cane months have fine weather when there are no storms"

26

(Islands, p. 4). Hudson's knowledge of weather stems from

the fact that

Thomas Hudson had studied tropical storms for many years and he could tell from the sky when there was a tropical disturbance long before his barometer showed its presence. He knew how to plot storms and the precautions that should be taken against them. He Icnew too what it was to live through a hurricane with the other people of the island and the bond that the hurricane made between all people who had been through it. He also knew that hurricanes could be so bad that nothing could live through them. He always thought, though, that if there was ever one that bad he would like to be there for it and go with the house if she went (Islands, p. 4).

His sons arrive on the island, and one day while they are

talking, David asks his father if fish get seasick. Hudson

replies that sometimes during rough weather, the groupers

get so seasick that they die (Islands, p. 54) . Later, when

the family is out at sea, Hudson responds to the question

of why the Gulf water is so blue by explaining that the

Gulf water has a unique water density (Islands, p. 107) .

When Davy hooks the giant broadbill, his father uses his

knowledge of fishing and boat handling to assist the boy

in his struggle with the fish. When the fight is over,

Hudson gives his oldest son. Tommy, a compass course to

steer back to the island: "'Synchronize your motors at

three hundred. Tommy,' he said. 'We'll be in sight of the

light by dark and then I'll give you a correction'" (Islands,

p. 140). Later in the novel, when Hudson is in a Cuban

bar, his knowledge of the sea is further revealed when he

27

announces, "'I wish they had a drink the color of sea water

when you have a depth of eight hundred fathoms and there

is a dead calm with the sun straight up and down and the sea

full of plankton'" (Islands, p. 276).

After Hudson becomes the leader of a sub-chasing

crew, he relies on his knowledge of the sea and also on his

ability to handle men and to think in terms of military

strategy. His primary tactic is to try to second-guess the

Germans:

They might have cut across the banks, Thomas Hudson was thinking. But I don't think they would. They wouldn't want to cross at night and in day­time the banks wouldn' t look good to deep-water sailors. They'd make their turn where I did. Then they would edge across comfortably the way we are going to do and they would probably hit for the highest part of the Cuban coast that showed. They don't want to get into any port so they will run with the wind. They will keep outside the Con-fites because they know there is a radio station there. But they have to get food and they have to get water. Actually they would do best to try to get as close to Havana as they could to land some­where around Bacuranao and then infiltrate in from t h e r e . . . .

Hell, he thought. I'll get them this week. They've got to stop for water and to cook what they have before the animals starve and rot. There's a good chance they will only run at nights and lay up daytimes. That would be logical. That's what I would do if I were them. Try to think like an intelligent German sailor with the problems this undersea boat commander has (Islands, pp. 347-348).

Although Hudson respects the ability of his crew, he is so

sure of his own ability in tracking the Germans that he

often regrets that he has not gone ashore every time an

area needed to be scouted (Islands, p. 376).

28

The expertise displayed by both Santiago and Thomas

Hudson stems largely from the two men's faith. Commenting

on the type of faith exhibited by the old fisherman, Leo

Gurko has said.

In "The Old Man and the Sea," Santiago is a primi­tive Cuban, at once religious and superstitious. Yet neither his religion nor his superstitious beliefs are relevant to his tragic experience with the great marlin; they do not create it or in any way control its meaning. The fisherman himself relies on his own resources and not on God (in whom however he devoutly believes. . . . )-^^

Santiago's faith is based primarily upon his confidence in

his own abilities. Richard Floor has commented that for

Santiago "the salvation of man rests on what he is able to

do within the limits imposed on him by the fixed pattern

13 of the contest." But Arvin R. Wells, in an article in

14 The University Review, states that Santiago affirms the

three major Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

When Manolin tells the old man that the boy's father is the

one responsible for his having to leave Santiago's boat, he

concludes with this comment on his father, "'He hasn't much

faith'" (Old Man, p. 10). Santiago then replies, "'No. . .

12 Leo Gurko, Ernest Hemingway and the Pursuit of

Heroism (New York: Crowell, 1968), pp. 160-161. 13 Richard Floor, "Fate and Life: Determinism in

Ernest Hemingway," Renascence, 15 (1962), 27. l^Arvin R. Wells, "A Ritual of Transfiguration:

'The Old Man and the Sea, ' " The University Review [Univer­sity of Kansas City], 30 (1963), 95-96.

29

But we have. Haven't we?'" (Old Man, p. 11). Later,

Santiago comments on hope: "It is silly not to hope, he

thought. Besides I believe it is a sin" (Old Man, pp. 104-

105). And Wells says that Santiago's charity is revealed

through his "generous, unsentimental love of men and ani-15

mals." Wells does go on to say, though, that Santiago

is not a Christian; the sea is his god, and the sea is life.

Therefore, though Santiago may acknowledge the Deity and

exhibit the characteristics of a Christian, he does not

center his faith on a supreme being, but in himself, and

he will continue to struggle in spite of the limitations

of a determined world.

Regardless of the fact that Santiago has gone

eighty-four days without catching a fish, he has not given

up hope, and he has faith that his vigil will soon end:

"'Tomorrow is going to be a good day with this current, '

he said" (Old Man, p. 14). "'Very well, Manolin,' the old

man said. 'I feel confident today'" (Old Man, p. 27). As

he sails out to sea on the eighty-fifth day, Santiago spies

a school of dolphin and thinks that perhaps his big fish

is around them. "I could just drift, he thought, and sleep

and put a bight of line around my toe to wake me. But to­

day is eighty-five days and I should fish the day well"

(Old Man, p. 41). Santiago's faith is justified, for his

•^^Wells, p. 95

30

big fish takes the bait: "'He'll take it,' the old man

said aloud. 'God help him to take it'" (Old Man, p. 42).

Throughout his struggle to land the marlin, the fisherman

makes exclamations to God, but rather than these comments

being genuine pleas for help, they appear to be cries of

frustration, much like Santiago's statements that he wishes

the boy were with him. Santiago recognizes the power of

God, but he still depends upon his own strength to land the

fish, relax his cramped hand, fight the sharks, and sail

back to shore. "'God let him jump, ' the old man said. 'I

have enough line to handle him'" (Old Man, p. 53). His plea

could just as easily have been, "Please let him jump." All

Santiago needs is for the fish to jump, for then the fisher­

man will handle him. "'God help me to have the cramp go, '

he said. 'Because I do not know what the fish is going to

do'" (Old Man, p. 60). Again, Santiago cries out, but he

quickly begins the process of relaxing his cramped hand.

He later says ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys that he

should catch the fish, and if he is successful in his en­

deavor, he promises to make a pilgrimage to the Virgin of

Cobre (Old Man, pp. 64-65) . As the struggle lengthens and

the old man grows weary, he attempts to boost his spirits

by saying, "I must have confidence and I must be worthy of

the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with

the pain of the bone spur in his heel" (Old Man, p. 68) .

DiMaggio may come closer to representing Santiago's conception

31

of God than the traditional Christian one. Santiago re­

spects a man of confidence who has courage and can with­

stand hardships; Thomas Hudson would also hold such a man

in high esteem. As he nears the end of his fight with the

marlin, and Santiago realizes that he is losing his strength,

he makes a vow to God to say a hundred Our Fathers and a

hundred Hail Marys if he catches the marlin, but he cannot

say them at the present moment, for he is much too busy try­

ing to land the fish (Old Man, p. 87) . After he admits

that he thinks it is a sin not to hope, he quickly adds

that he has no understanding of sin and that he is not sure

that he believes in it (Old Man, p. 105) . Santiago is an

honorable man, and he takes a vow seriously, as is demon­

strated by his comment when he leaves the skiff and heads

for his hut: "I have all those prayers I promised if I

caught the fish, he thought. But I am too tired to say

them now" (Old Man, p. 116) . When he looks back over the

events of the fishing trip, Santiago wonders what beat him.

His conclusion is, "'Nothing. . . . I went out too far'"

(Old Man, p. 120) . Not God and not a deterministic world,

but the fact that he went out too far from shore: this is

Santiago's answer. He did everything he could do to catch

and bring in the fish, but he was too far away from the

shore.

Hudson's faith also stems from his confidence in

himself, but he is aware of the presence and power of God.

32

While Santiago sees religion as consisting of a series of

ritual prayers and vows, Hudson sees it as the opposite—

making no demands upon the believer. When Tom is asked how

his relations with the Deity have been, he responds, "'We

are tolerant. . . . Practice any faith you wish'" (Islands,

p. 27) . When Mr. Bobby describes the scene of the End of

the World which he wants Hudson to paint, he pictures the

entire world in complete chaos, with the only exceptions

being himself and Hudson. The devils are eager to capture

the screaming churchmen, but they ignore the two men except

to exchange a passing greeting. Bobby sees himself and

Hudson as being above religion (or, at least, religion as

pictured by Mr. Bobby). Hudson lives by a code of ethics

which includes working a set number of hours a day, not

drinking on mornings when he is working, and, for his chil­

dren, not swearing in front of adults (Islands, p. 66).

Out on the boat, fishing for marlin, the crew members' com­

ments addressed to the Deity are almost identical with those

of Santiago. When Dave hooks the giant broadbill, he utters,

"'Oh God, if I can catch this fish'" (Islands, p. 110).

Dave's brother, Tom, responds, "'I'll do anything if we can

get him. . . . Anything. I'll give up anything. I'll

promise anything'" (Islands, p. 111). As Dave's struggle

continues, Hudson tells Tom, "'Let's not think about me nor

you. Let's both of us pray for Davy'" (Islands, p- 125).

Then, when the fish slips from the hook and is gone, young

33

Tom cries, "'No. No. No. Please God, no'" (Islands,

p. 139) . Perhaps the best explanation for why both San­

tiago and Thomas Hudson resort to prayerlike pleas in mo­

ments of frustration is expressed by Dave in a conversation

with Roger Davis and Audrey Bruce:

"You don't know how I prayed for you, Roger." "I wish it would have done more good," Roger

said. "So do I, " she said. "You can't tell, Audrey. You never know when

it may," David said. "I don't mean that Mr. Davis needs to be prayed for. I just mean about prayer technically" (Islands, p. 186).

Although neither Hudson nor Santiago could be classified

as religious, maybe they resort to prayer because they

realize that they are doing everything that they can do,

and possibly a quick prayer might help.

Though they may not be religious, both Santiago and

Hudson are superstitious. After Santiago had gone forty

days without catching a fish, he was branded salao, "which

is the worst form of unlucky" (Old Man, p. 9) . But Santiago

does not let this tag defeat him, and after his eighty-

fourth fishless day, he is cheerful because eighty-five is

a lucky number (Old Man, p. 16) . Later, when the marlin

takes the bait, Santiago exclaims that the fish has the

bait sideways in his mouth and is moving off with it. "Then

he will turn and swallow it, he thought. He did not say

that because he knew that if you said a good thing it might

not happen" (Old Man, p. 43) .

34

Thomas Hudson is superstitious about full moons.

When Eddy tells him that he could not sleep because of the

moon, Hudson asks if a full moon bothers him for sleeping

like it does the artist (Islands, p. 105). Eddy responds

that it does, and Hudson asks if it is really bad for a

person to sleep with the moon shining on him. Eddy answers,

"'That's what the old heads say. I don't know. Always

makes me feel bad, anyway'" (Islands, p. 105). The ques­

tion of the influence of the moon is brought up again later

in the book while Hudson is chasing submarines. On board

the boat one night, Henry brings Hudson a drink, and offers

a toast to his good health. Henry then adds that he did

not look at the moon over his left shoulder. Hudson re­

plies that it is all right, because the moon is no longer

new (Islands, p. 451) . The same ritual which Santiago ob­

served when he hooked the marlin is followed by Hudson and

his fishing crew when Davy hooks his fish. Andrew comments

that no one in their family has ever caught a broadbill.

Dave immediately responds, "'Oh keep your mouth off him,

please'" (Islands, p. 111). Dave repeats this admonition

again when Andy asks if they will gaff the fish the next

time he comes up. Hudson explains to Andy why this rule is

observed: "'[I]t always seems bad luck to talk that way.

We got it from the old fishermen. I don't know what started

it'" (Islands, p. 120). Another of Hudson's superstitious

practices is revealed when Ignacio Natera Revello jokingly

35

tells the artist that he hopes Hudson will die. "Thomas

Hudson felt the prickle go over his scalp again. He reached

his left hand against the bar where Ignacio Natera Revello

could not see it and tapped softly three times with the ends

of his fingers" (Islands, p. 262).

While the two men's superstitions give them reason

for consternation, their dreams and memories of past times

provide avenues of escape from the hardships of life. San­

tiago's recurring dream is based upon a memory from his

youth. Once while Santiago is talking to Manolin, he tells

the boy that when he was a young man, he sailed on a ship

that went to Africa, and he can remember seeing lions on

the beaches in the evenings (Old Man, p. 22) . This fond

recollection makes up the old man's dream, and it brings

pleasure to the fisherman:

He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy (Old Man, p. 25) .

Africa and the lions have become his paradise, a world into

which he can escape and forget the harshness of his present

life (Old Man, p. 24) . During his struggle with the great

fish, Santiago thinks, "I wish he'd sleep and I could sleep

and dream about the lions. . . . Why are the lions the

main thing that is left?" (Old Man, p. 66). Also asso­

ciated with Africa is the memory of Santiago's twenty-four-

36

hour wrist-wrestling match with the Cienfuegos Negro. He

recalls this victory to give himself confidence during his

struggle with the marlin. Toward the end of his fight with

the fish, Santiago manages to sleep for awhile in the skiff.

He first dreams of a huge school of porpoises during mating

season. Then he dreams about being on his bed in the vil­

lage, and he was cold, and his right arm was asleep because

he had been resting on it instead of a pillow. Finally,

he returns to his dream of the lions (Old Man, p. 81) . The

conclusion of the story finds the fisherman back in his

shack asleep: "He was still sleeping on his face and the

boy was sitting by him watching him. The old man was dream­

ing about the lions" (Old Man, p. 127) .

Thomas Hudson does not have one consistently recur­

ring dream as does Santiago, but his dreams are pleasant

and recall happy events from his past. Hudson verbalizes

both his and Santiago's feelings about their dreams:

"[N]othing that could ever happen could be any better than

the dreams were . . . " (Islands, p. 222) . "You have to

make it inside of yourself wherever you are" (Islands, p.

16) : Hudson made this statement after he had been wishing

that he were in Africa. The dreams help both men to create

a paradise within themselves, a paradise which provides

peace and security. "On the floor he could feel the pound­

ing of the surf the way he remembered feeling the firing

of heavy guns when he had lain on the earth close by some

37

battery a long time ago when he had been a boy" (Islands,

p. 5). Hudson's dream of the guns provides the same ease

of mind that Santiago's lions bring. This same feeling is

brought about for Hudson as he lies on the beach with his

sons: "It was pleasant and hot on the sand and he felt

lazy after working and happy, too. It made him very happy

to hear the boys talk" (Islands, p. 69) . When Hudson is at

sea, he dreams that his sons are alive, that the war is

over, and that his first wife is sleeping with him. This

dream provides a means for Hudson to escape from his present

situation. While Santiago recalls pleasant moments along

the coast of Africa, Hudson's memories are associated pri­

marily with Paris. It was in this city that he began his

career as an artist. He was young, newly married, and his

first son, Tom, was a baby. Talking with his sons, the

artist recalls much of this past life. He tells of their

home over a sawmill and of the big cat, F. Puss. He recalls

the sights and sounds of the French city and his experi­

ences hunting pigeons with a slingshot. He talks of the

men they knew in Paris: F. Maddox Ford, James Joyce, Ezra

Pound, and Pascin, among others. After his sons have been

killed, and he is hunting the submarines, his memories are

of the boys (primarily Tom) and the artist's first wife:

So he sipped the drink, which was cold and clean-tasting, and he watched the broken line of the keys straight ahead and to the westward. A drink always unlocked his memory that he kept locked so carefully now and the keys reminded him of the days

38

when they used to troll for tarpon when young Tom was a small boy. Those were different keys and the channels were wider (Islands, p. 445) .

The best times they had, he thought, were on the island and out West. Except Europe, of course, and if I think about that I'll think about the girl and it will be worse (Islands, p. 447).

The men's dreams are about places and people whom

they love. They are strong men, but they are also men of

deep feeling. They know love, and they can feel sympathy.

Santiago has a deep love for the noble creatures of the

sea: "He was veary fond of flying fish as they were his

principal friends on the ocean. He was sorry for the birds,

especially the small delicate dark terns that were always

flying and looking and almost never finding . . . " (Old

Man, p. 29) . Santiago loves the big sea turtles but hates

the Portuguese men-of-war:

The old man loved to see the turtles eat them [the Portuguese men-of-war] and he loved to walk on them on the beach after a storm and hear them pop when he stepped on them with the horny soles of his feet.

He loved green turtles and hawk-bills with their elegance and speed and their great value and he had a friendly contempt for the huge, stupid loggerheads, yellow in their armour-plating, strange in their love-making, and hap­pily eating the Portuguese men-of-war with their eyes shut (Old Man, pp. 36-37).

A bird assists Santiago by showing him where schools of

fish are located as he dives to the water trying to catch

small bait fish. After hooking the great marlin, the

fisherman comes to respect and sympathize with the fish

(Old Man, pp. 48, 54, and 75) . As the struggle between the

39

fisherman and the marlin continues, Santiago becomes more

and more sympathetic toward the fish: "I wish I could

feed the fish, he thought. He is my brother" (Old Man,

p. 59). Later, when talking about the marlin, Santiago

gives thanks to God that the fish are not more intelligent

than the fishermen, even though they are more noble and

capable than men (Old Man, p. 63) . As Santiago nears ex­

haustion, he tells the fish, "Never have I seen a greater,

or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than

you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills

who" (Old Man, p. 92) . Even when the fish has been killed

and tied to the side of the skiff, the old man still loves

him: "With his [the fish's] mouth shut and his tail

straight up and down we sail like brothers" (Old Man, p.

99) . Then the sharks come. "When the fish had been hit

it was as though he himself were hit" (Old Man, p. 103) .

The first shark to hit the marlin is a Mako shark, and

though Santiago must kill the shark to protect his fish, he

still respects the great dentuso: "He [the shark] lives

on the live fish as you do. He is not a scavenger nor just

a moving appetite as some sharks are. He is beautiful and

noble and knows no fear of anything" (Old Man, pp. 105-106) .

After the sharks have carried off a large portion of the

fish, Santiago sadly apologizes to the marlin: "'I'm sorry

about it, fish. It makes everything wrong. . . . I

shouldn't have gone out so far, fish. . . . Neither for

40

you nor for me. I'm sorry, fish'" (Old Man, p. 110).

Thomas Hudson feels love toward animals and objects

in the same way that Santiago feels affection for the sea

creatures. Hudson's feelings about driftwood which he burns

in his fireplace are similar to those of the old man toward

the marlin:

He had a big pile of driftwood stacked against the south wall of the house. It was whitened by the sun and sand-scoured by the wind and he would be­come fond of different pieces so that he would hate to burn them. . . . But burning driftwood did something to him that he could not define. He thought that it was probably wrong to burn it when he was so fond of it; but he felt no guilt about it (Islands, p. 5).

Hudson's son, David, tries to express his feelings toward

the fish which he has just lost after a valiant struggle.

His feelings are identical to those of Santiago: "'In the

worst parts, when I was the tiredest I couldn't tell which

was him and which was me. . . . Then I began to love him

more than anything on earth'" (Islands, p. 142). "'I'm

glad that he's all right and that I'm all right. We aren't

enemies'" (Islands, p. 143). After the death of his sons,

Hudson transfers his love to his many cats and especially

to Boise, his favorite. Boise returns his master's love,

and either one of them would be lost if anything should

happen to the other (Islands, pp. 208 and 212) . Boise suf­

fers when Hudson is absent, and his actions reveal how

much he misses the artist. He does not care for any other

cat; he loves only Hudson. Although Hudson has many cats.

41

and Goats is also a favorite, the artist prefers Boise,

because he is tragic (Islands, p. 217). Hudson can even

transfer his love to his pistol. Lying on the beach wait­

ing for his men to search out a village destroyed by the

German submarine crew, he talks to the pistol, "'How long

have you been my girl?' he said to the pistol. 'Don't an­

swer, ' he said to the pistol. 'Lie there good and I will

see you kill something better than land crabs when the time

comes'" (Islands, pp. 337-338).

Although Hudson and Santiago love animals and

special objects, they love people best. Specifically, San­

tiago loves the boy, Manolin, and Hudson loves his sons and

his first wife. Though both men are strong and self-

sufficient, they also need the people whom they love. San­

tiago relies on Manolin; and Hudson needs his wife and sons,

Joseph, his housekeeper, and Eddy, his cook and friend.

Santiago has loved Manolin ever since the boy was

small. The fisherman took him out in his boat when Manolin

was only five years old. Santiago has taught the boy to

fish, and Manolin loves and respects Santiago. Manolin's

father will no longer allow him to fish with the old man,

because of Santiago's recent bad luch at catching fish.

Santiago would like to take Manolin out with him: "'If you

were my boy I'd take you out and gamble,' he said. 'But

you are your father' s and your mother' s and you are in a

lucky boat'" (Old Man, p. 13). Santiago has no money to

42

buy food and supplies, and he is too proud to beg, so

Manolin takes care of him by getting food and sometimes

beer from the owner of a local establishment:

"Come on and eat. You can't fish and not eat." "I have," the old man said getting up and taking

the newspaper and folding it. Then he started to fold the blanket.

"Keep the blanket around you," the boy said. "You'll not fish without eating while I'm alive."

"Then live a long time and take care of yourself," the old man said (Old Man, p. 19).

The old man says that he is ready to eat, that he has

washed and is ready:

Where did you wash? the boy thought. The village water supply was two streets down the road. I must have water here for him, the boy thought, and soap and a good towel. Why am I so thought­less? I must get him another shirt and a jacket for the winter and some sort of shoes and an­other blanket (Old Man, p. 21).

The boy and the fisherman' s dreams are what keep Santiago

from becoming too lonely. The boy does help provide him

with food and fishing necessities, but Manolin is more im­

portant to the old man as a companion than as a provider.

When Santiago is at sea fighting the marlin, many times he

wishes that the boy were with him to provide assistance and

companionship and to share in the experience of landing the

great fish (Old Man, pp. 45, 62, and 83). After the old

man has caught the fish and killed the first shark, he com­

ments, "Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The

boy keeps me alive, he thought. I must not deceive myself

too much" (Old Man, p. 106) . The boy may assist in keeping

Santiago alive physically, but, more importantly, his

43

friendship gives the old man a reason for living. Manolin

finds his old friend in the shack after his return from the

sea; the boy sets about to provide for the old man's needs

and then encourages him to get well: "'You must get well

fast for there is much that I can learn and you can teach

me everything'" (Old Man, p. 126) .

Thomas Hudson has a housekeeper and a cook who look

after him in much the same way that Manolin takes care of

Santiago. Joseph is the housekeeper of Hudson's Bimini

house. On one particular morning prior to the arrival of

Hudson's sons for a visit, Joseph greets Hudson as he

awakens and offers him a gin and tonic. Hudson accepts and

drinks it while Joseph tells him about the mail. A paper

is provided with breakfast. Hudson asks if preparations

have been made for the boys' visit, and Joseph assures him

that they have, including two extra cases of Coca-Cola.

Joseph lays out the artist's clothes and then prepares a

bed for Hudson's friend, Roger Davis, who may spend the

night.

Eddy is Hudson's cook. He drinks heavily, but he

is an excellent cook and is even more valuable to Hudson

during crises. It is Eddy who kills the shark that is men­

acing David, and it is Eddy who dives into the ocean in a

vain attempt to gaff the fish when it slips off David's

line.

44

Hudson loves his sons and wishes they could be with

him always. As Santiago has lost the companionship of Mano­

lin due to poor fishing, Hudson has lost his three sons,

first partially, through divorce, and then completely,

through death. He is allowed to see them only part of each

year. In the "Bimini" section, the boys are coming to the

island for five weeks. Hudson wants his sons as much as

Santiago wants Manolin to be with him in the skiff. Through

his rigid work schedule, Hudson hoped to be able to cure

his loneliness. But " [h] e had been able to replace almost

everything except the children, with work and the steady

normal working life he had built on the island" (Islands,

p. 7) . Hudson is aware that his routine cannot protect him

from the emptiness when the boys leave:

He knew very well how it would be. For a part of a day it would be pleasant to have the house neat and to think alone and read without hearing other people talk and look at things without speaking of them and work properly without interruption and then he knew the loneliness would start. The three boys had moved into a big part of him again that, when they moved out, would be empty and it would be very bad for a while (Islands, p. 96).

This same feeling of emptiness at the loss of his sons is

evident when Hudson's first wife stops overnight in Cuba

to see the artist. After she has gone, and Hudson is at

sea, his thoughts dwell on what might have been if Tom had

not been killed and if the artist and his wife were to­

gether again.

45

Santiago and Thomas Hudson are proud, self-

confident men of action, but they are also men of feeling,

conscious of the reality of failure and respectful of the

power of love. It seems fitting that the two novels should

end in the same way. Both men have fought valiantly but

have lost. Santiago has caught his fish but has lost it to

the sharks. Hudson has come out victorious over the Germans,

but his desire to capture one of the men alive, so that he

"would have something to show for it all so it would have

done some good" (Islands, p. 464) , vanishes when one of his

men unthinkingly kills the one German who surrenders. Both

men have given more than a second effort toward the comple­

tion of their tasks, and the implication is that they may

soon die. Hudson is badly wounded, and Santiago is com­

pletely exhausted and has an injury to his chest (Old Man,

p. 125) . Perhaps the best explanation of the type of vic-

toiry realized by both Santiago and Thomas Hudson is given

by Carlos Baker:

What Santiago [and Thomas Hudson] has at the close of his story is what all the Heroes of Hemingway have had—the proud, quiet knowledge of having fought the fight, of having lasted it out, of hav­ing done a great thing to the bitter end of human strength.^^

^^Carlos Baker, "The Marvel Who Must Die," The Saturday Review, 35 (1952), 10.

CHAPTER III

RECURRING THEMES

Although Ernest Hemingway and his characters rarely

discuss abstract values, their patterns of behavior in­

evitably lead the reader to infer the ideals by which they

live. The Hemingway "code" and the "code hero" have been

discussed frequently and at great length."̂ "̂ It is not the

purpose of this study to add yet another chapter to that

discussion but rather to identify those particular prin­

ciples that motivate the protagonists of the Caribbean

tetralogy. Katharine Jobes has commented that The Old Man

and the Sea depicts "man's capacity to withstand and tran­

scend hardships of time and circumstance." This state­

ment can also be expanded to include Islands in the Stream.

In their struggles to endure and overcome individual hard­

ships, the characters of both novels reveal the principles

by which they order their lives.

17 See especially Philip Young's Ernest Hemingway

(New York: Rinehart, 1952), passim; Joseph DeFalco's The Hero in Hemingway's Short Stories (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1963), pp. 185-219; Mark Schorer's "With Grace Under Pressure," New Republic, 127 (October 6, 1952), 19-20; and Melvin Backman's "Hemingway: The Matador and the Crucified," Modern Fiction Studies, 1 (1955), 2-12.

18 ^ Katharine T. Jobes, ed.. Twentieth Century In­

terpretations of "The Old Man and the Sea," A Collection of Critical Essays (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1968), p. 2.

46

47

What Hemingway hero could exist without courage?

And Santiago and Thomas Hudson are no exceptions. Both men

are now past their prime, but their courage is strong. This

is not the foolhardy bravado of youth, but a mature recog­

nition of the terror of life, combined with the ability to

take action when necessary. Although most of the motivat­

ing principles to be discussed in this chapter include

courage, this quality can be distinguished as existing

separate from the others.

Santiago is a proud, self-confident man. His cour­

age does not fail him during his eighty-four days of frus­

tration and disappointment at not being able to catch any

fish. He can endure the ridicule from the young fisheinnen

and the pity from the older ones. He has confidence in

himself and does not give up hope. But after the eighty-

fourth day, Santiago realizes that he must take a drastic

step; he must go further out into the sea in search of a

great fish. The old man is not afraid to face the unknown:

"My choice was to go there to find him [the marlin] beyond

all people. Beyond all people in the world" (Old Man,

p. 50). Santiago's courage is one which enables him to

endure the contest with the fish. After he has hooked the

marlin, Santiago comments that the fish is a male and that

he is courageous, because there is no panic in his fight.

By this statement, the old man is indirectly commenting on

his own courage, because he does not panic and will not

48

accept the possibility of defeat: "'Fish,' he said softly,

aloud, 'I'll stay with you until I am dead'" (Old Man, cox 19 p. 52).

Although Thomas Hudson can display the gutsy cour­

age necessary for commanding a crew searching for German

submarines, most of his fortitude is revealed through his

struggles in facing a world gone sour. Even when every­

thing he lives for has been taken away, Hudson can still

face life and not succumb under the weight of his personal

tragedies. Johnny Goodner recognizes Hudson's quiet cour­

age as he tells him, "'It's [Bimini Island's] a good place

for a guy like you that's got some sort of inner resources'"

(Islands, p. 25) . When the shark attacks Dave, Hudson

quickly moves into action, remaining as calm as possible in

his attempt to shoot the hammerhead. Although it is Eddy

who fires the fatal shot, Hudson's courage allows him to

respond rather than being paralyzed by fear. This same

courage will later peirmit the artist to restrain himself

from taking the giant swordfish away from Dave when the

struggle becomes painful for all the participants on the

boat. It requires more courage for Hudson to permit his

son to continue with his attempt to land the fish than to

19 For additional information on Santiago's courage,

see Nancy Hale's "Hemingway and the Courage to Be," The Virginia Quarterly Review, 38 (1962), 620-639, and Stanley Cooperman's "Hemingway and Old Age: Santiago as Priest of Time," College English, 27 (1965), 215-220.

49

force the boy to allow one of the men to finish the task.

Hudson's and Santiago's brands of courage are best ex­

pressed by a statement Hudson makes in answer to Roger

Davis * s question about what must a person do concerning

fights. Hudson replies, "'You have to win them when they

start'" (Islands, p. 47).

David and Eddy also display courage. Facing the

onrushing shark, Dave exhibits that grace-under-pressure

quality of the Hemingway hero. As the boy later explains,

he was going to throw the hammerhead a fish and then hit

him in the middle of the face with a fishing spear. In

spite of this experience, David does not fear the sea world,

and as soon as the tide goes out, he is ready to continue

spearfishing. Dave's courage and endurance are further re­

vealed during his efforts to catch the swordfish, but this

event is of enough significance that it will be dealt with

separately in the succeeding chapter.

Eddy is also a man of courage and action. He is a

handy man to have around, and he always seems to do the

right thing at the right time. He produces a submachine

gun and kills the attacking shark, and he courageously dives

into the ocean in an attempt to gaff Dave's swordfish after

it has slipped off the hook.

Providing a contrast to these courageous men are

characters who seem to be foils for Hudson and Santiago.

In spite of their jeering at the old man's inability to

catch fish, the young fishermen do not venture out beyond

50

their safe, familiar fishing areas as Santiago does. And

Manolin's father and the boy's new fishing companion differ

sharply from the old fisherman in their lack of faith.

Roger Davis provides the best example of what lack

of courage can do to a man. Davis has the ability to mea­

sure up to Hudson and Santiago, but his fear of life re­

duces him to a state of almost total ineffectiveness.

While the old fisherman and Hudson will struggle against

the tragedies of life, Roger accepts them as his lot and,

instead of fighting, runs away. True, he can fight with

his fists and take charge of a situation in which he has

some expertise (Dave's fishing adventure), but when it

comes to facing the tragedy of his own life, he crumbles.

He has never been able to reconcile himself to the fact

that he was not responsible for his younger brother's death

or that he could write good novels if he would only stop

feeling sorry for himself. In spite of the fact that he

often tries to convince himself that he can be successful,

his resolution fails him when the going gets rough. If he

does not have to try, then he cannot possibly fail. Davis

lacks dedication. He cannot devote himself to anything

beyond his own immediate problems.

Hudson and Santiago see devotion to duty as a neces­

sary means of giving order and substance to an often dis­

ordered world. Although the old fisherman has been unsuc­

cessful in his work for eighty-four days, he continues to

51

devote himself to the task of catching a great fish. San­

tiago has reached a "do or die" level in his career, and

he realizes that he must make a great catch, so he concen­

trates his total being on one thought—fishing: "Now is

the time to think of only one thing. That which I was born

for" (Old Man, p. 40). After hooking the marlin, Santiago

constantly reminds himself that he must never falter in his

dedication to the task at hand: "Then he thought, think

of it always. Think of what you are doing. You must do

nothing stupid" (Old Man, p. 48) . Even though Santiago is

a determined old man, he still finds it necessary to keep

repeating that he will accomplish his task, and it is not

only himself that he needs to remind, but also the fish.

It is almost as if Santiago thinks that he can gain a psy­

chological edge over the marlin by stating his intentions:

"'Fish, ' he said, 'I love you and respect you very much.

But I will kill you dead before this day ends' " (Old Man,

p. 54) . Were Santiago to be deprived of his ability to

fish, he would be nothing more than a wizened old man

existing off the handouts from his friend, Manolin. His

devotion to fishing keeps him alive. He cannot rest on

past laurels; he must continually prove that he is a great

fisherman: "The thousand times that he had proved it meant

nothing. Now he was proving it again. Each time was a

new time and he never thought about the past when he was

doing it" (Old Man, p. 66) . The fisherman is not one to

52

admit the impossibility of a task. If his task were to try

and kill the sun, moon, or stars, instead of the fish, he

would attempt it with an equal determination. Santiago's

devotion to duty can be explained best by his own statement

as to why he caught the marlin: "You did not kill the fish

only to keep alive and to sell for food, he thought. You

killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman" (Old

Man, p. 105).

"Get it straight. Your boy you lose. Love you

lose. Honor has been gone for a long time. Duty you do"

(Islands, p. 326) . In the same way that Santiago clings

to duty in spite of his failure to catch any fish, Thomas

Hudson relies on duty to enable him to face the emptiness

of his world. Whether the artist is devoting himself to

his painting or to searching for Geinmans, the underlying

reason for this activity is to aid him in bringing order

out of chaos. His painting regimen helps combat the lone­

liness of his Bimini Island home. This devotion to work

has assisted Hudson in adjusting to his two divorces and

the loss of his three sons. He has become such an advocate

of "work therapy" that he recommends it to anyone who needs

help in structuring his life.

Roger Davis is such a person. One explanation for

Davis' lack of courage and stability is that he cannot

dedicate himself to a task. Thomas Hudson is anxious for

Davis to find meaning in life, and he often admonishes the

53

writer to dedicate himself to his work. Hudson's philosophy

is clearly revealed when he tells Roger to try writing

novels again: "'You can't just run away from everything

all the time'" (Islands, pp. 76-77). "'If you are going

to start to work, start here. . . . Any place is good.

The thing is not to run from it'" (Islands, p. 77). Hud­

son knows that there is no guarantee of success in his

world, but a person can never succeed unless he tries. He

knows that if Roger will only try to dedicate himself to

his writing, he will be able to forget about his problems

by concentrating on the accomplishment of a task.

Hudson's dedication is put to its greatest test

when his sons are killed. Like Santiago, he is now vir­

tually all alone. Although he would like to give up on

life and admit defeat, he cannot. Alcohol is an easy solu­

tion for coping with his sorrow, but devotion to duty is

more satisfying. The artist's wartime activities enable

him to concentrate on something outside his own problems.

He is thankful for his duty, as is revealed in his comment

on the futility of remorse and the ameliorative qualities

of commanding a combat crew: "Nothing of this is going to

bring back anything. Use your head and be glad to have

something to do and good people to do it with" (Islands,

p. 348) . Hudson goes on to say that his work enables him

to keep his mind off his sorrows. Even after he has been

seriously wounded and fears that death may be near, Hudson

54

reiterates the significance of duty: "[L]ife is a cheap

thing beside a man's work. The only thing is that you need

it. Hold it tight" (Islands, p. 464).

This principle of duty is expressed through the

actions of other characters in the two books. Manolin de­

votes himself to the old man, assisting him even though the

boy is no longer attached to Santiago's boat. But Manolin's

dedication is based on love for his friend rather than on

a need for direction in his life.

David's devotion to a task seems to arise from a

quality which will not allow him to give any job less than

his full effort. During his ordeal with the swordfish,

David tells Roger, "'You tell me what to do and I'll do it

until I die' . . . " (Islands, p. 114). Commenting on

his brother, young Tom tells his father that David does not

know the meaning of quit, concluding, "'Truly. He'll al­

ways do what he can't do'" (Islands, p. 125).

Eddy and Willie both represent a devotion to duty

that can be described as an automatic response. Neither of

these characters thinks about why he acts; if they consider

duty at all, it is explained as being simply their job or

as being the only thing to do at the time. Eddy waves off

the thanks given him for saving Dave from the shark with,

"'Hell, who couldn't shoot it with that shark going toward

that old Davy boy . . . '" (Islands, p. 87) . Later when

David thanks him for going overboard after the fish, Eddy

55

responds in a similar fashion: "'Hell,' Eddy said. 'What

else was there to do?'" (Islands, p. 141).

Willie, Hudson's ex-Marine crew member, loves ac­

tion and willingly volunteers for hazardous duties, not

because he is trying to prove anything or forget any sor­

rows, but because he is confident of his abilities in cer­

tain areas. After Hudson and Willie have boarded the turtle-

boat used by the Germans and killed one of their men, Hudson

tells Willie that he will search below deck. Willie re­

plies that he will perform this task, because it is his

"trade." Later, Willie again persuades the artist that he

should be allowed to carry out certain duties because of

his training:

"I ask permission to go in on the far side of the key and see what the hell gives. We can't let them get out of here."

"I'll go with you." "No, Tommy. I know this shit and it's my

trade. . . . " "I'd rather go in with you." "Too fucking much noise, Tom. I tell you

truly I know this shit good. I'm a fucking ex­pert. You'll never find anybody like me'" (Islands, p. 430).

Whatever their reasons for dedicating themselves to a task,

the heroes of these two novels are devoted men, and the

comment made about Thomas Hudson can apply equally to the

other protagonists: "He knew his duty very well and he had

tried never to shirk it" (Islands, p. 378).

Another theme which recurs in these two works, and

which is directly related to the principle of duty, is

J

56

endurance. This is not only a physical endurance, but an

emotional, almost spiritual, type which can be classified

as stoical. It is due to the physical and emotional en­

durance of the characters that they are able to perform

their respective duties.

Even though Santiago is an old man, he is still

strong. In his ordeal with the marlin, his body is punished

terribly (possibly beyond repair) , but he will not allow

the pain to deter him from his task: "He rested sitting

on the un-stepped mast and sail and tried not to think but

only to endure" (Old Man, p. 46) . Although his will is un­

wavering, his body sometimes falters. Santiago looks with

disgust upon anything that would fail him. When his left

hand cramps, the old fisherman talks to it as if it were a

separate being: "'What kind of a hand is that, ' he said.

'Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It

will do you no good'" (Old Man, p. 58). Santiago is

ashamed of his cramped hand because its failure seems to

signify that the old fisherman is weakening, and Santiago

will not accept this fact: "He was comfortable but suffer­

ing, although he did not admit the suffering at all" (Old

Man, p. 64). As the struggle continues, Santiago's good

hand is cut on the fishing line, but he rationalizes that

the cut is not serious, and, anyway, what is pain to a man?

He is pulled onto his face, resulting in a cut below the

eye; he is forced to eat raw, nauseous dolphin; his back is

57

cut by the outgoing fishing cord, and he must endure these

injuries with only brief moments of sleep over a two-day

period. But Santiago believes that he can control his pain,

whereas the fish cannot. The old man's perseverance pays

off as the marlin begins his circle. Santiago's main con­

cern is whether or not he will be able to keep his head

clear long enough for him to gaff the fish. He admits that

he is very tired and that he may not be able to remain con­

scious much longer, but he quickly chides his own weakness

by declaring, "Yes you are. . . . You're good for ever.

. . . You must keep your head clear. Keep your head clear

and know how to suffer like a man. Or a fish, he thought"

(Old Man, p. 92) . Each time the fish makes a turn, San­

tiago feels himself going, but like the "I-think-I-can-

locomotive, " the old fisherman convinces himself to keep on

trying: "I do not know. But I will try it once more. . . .

I'll try it again, the old man promised, although his hands

were mushy now and he could only see well in flashes. . . .

I will try it once again" (Old Man, p. 93). His strength

does not fail him, and the fish is killed. The remainder

of Santiago's adventure is an exercise in futility as he

struggles to secure the marlin to the side of the skiff and

then head for home amidst the sharks' s recurring attacks.

He displays superhuman endurance in battling the sharks,

20 but he is outnumbered, and short of harpoons and tillers.

20 See Edwin M. Moseley's Pseudonyms of Christ in

58

It is significant that throughout his ordeal, San­

tiago should think of his baseball idol, Joe DiMaggio.

DiMaggio, in his ability to perform as a champion ball­

player in spite of a painful bone spur in his heel, sym­

bolizes for the old man the principle of physical endurance

in the face of pain. Santiago holds DiMaggio up as a model

of endurance, and after the fish has been caught, the fish­

erman feels that he has not failed his model: "'I think

the great DiMaggio would be proud of me today. I had.no

bone spurs. But the hands and the back hurt truly' " (Old

Man, p. 97).

Thomas Hudson's display of physical endurance is

anticlimactic compared to Santiago's. Due to the nature

of the novel, there are not too many instances in which Hud­

son's physical prowess is depicted. Perhaps the fact that

he is such a large, well-built man can account for this

fact. A big man might be assumed to be strong and capable

of withstanding hardships. At any rate, the artist's physi­

cal stamina xs^ revealed through his capacity for consuming

liquor and his ability to function without sleep and while

in pain.

In the "Cuba" section of Islands in the Stream,

Hudson spends much of his time in the Floridita bar drinking

the Modern Novel: Motifs and Methods (Pittsburgh: Univer­sity of Pittsburgh Press, 1962), pp. 205-212, for a discus­sion of how suffering leads to a moral victory.

59

with Honest Lil and a few of his ship's crew. In the pro­

cess of Hudson's drinking, the bartender becomes aware that

the artist ^s. drinking quite heavily, and he remembers that

Hudson holds the Floridita's drinking record. He asks Hud­

son if he is going to try to break his own record, but the

artist is not interested. The bartender's logic as to why

Hudson should try for a new record reveals the expertise of

Hudson with a shot glass:

"You were drinking with calmness when you set the record." Serafln said. "with calmness and fortitude from morning until night. And you walked out on your own feet. . . . "

"You've got a chance to break it," Serafln told him. "Drinking as you are now and eating a little as you go along, you have an excellent chance. . . . "

"You're in good form. You're drinking well and steady and they're not having any effect on you" (Islands, p. 283).

Hudson might have broken the old record, but his first wife

coincidentally happens to enter the bar, and in spite of

the great number of drinks which he has consumed, the cham­

pion seems to shrug off his drunken stupor as if he had

only been drinking 3.2% beer.

Commanding his German-chasing crew in the "At Sea"

portion of the book, Hudson spends most of his time on the

bridge of his boat. He does not sleep, and stands most of

the watches himself. His crew begins to think that he is

driving himself so that he can forget the recent death of

his son, Tom. Hudson refuses to rest, and his first mate,

Antonio, talks to him about his condition: "'Tom, we

60

talked of it and we all agreed that you need some rest.

You've been driving yourself past what a man can stand.

You are past it now'" (Islands, p. 360). The captain scoffs

at this comment, declaring that he never felt better; it

is only that he just doesn't "give a damn" (Islands, p. 360)

A final example of Hudson's physical endurance comes during

the fire fight with the Germans. Hudson is immediately

shot, but in spite of the pain and the great loss of blood,

he continues to steer the boat and to direct the attack,

relinquishing his command only when he knows that the fight

is over (Islands, pp. 456-462).^^

Often, physical pain is much easier to bear than

emotional pain and requires a different kind of endurance.

For the purposes of this thesis, this emotional endurance

will be labeled stoicism. In this case, stoicism is de­

fined as a philosophy which peimits a man to endure personal

tragedies and hardships by accepting them as inevitable and

then trying to remain as indifferent as possible, assign­

ing no blame to God, Fate, or man. It is this stoical atti­

tude of Hudson and Santiago that enables Ihem to devote

themselves so unreservedly to duty and to ignore physical

pain incurred during the accomplishment of the task, be­

cause they know that the success or failure of their en­

deavor depends on themselves, and that even if they should

fail, at least they will know that they had done their best.

Because of this emotional stoicism, Hudson is able to

flouring his fight with the broadbill, Dave provides many examples of the theme of physical endurance, but this event will be reserved for chapter four.

61

continue functioning in spite of the loss of his family,

and Santiago can still venture forth on the sea each day,

even though his efforts appear futile.

Santiago's stoicism is seen primarily through his

reliance on himself and in his ability to accept disappoint­

ment without complaint. Heading out into the unknown re­

gions of the sea, Santiago is confident that he will make

a great catch, but after he hooks the giant marlin, doubts

enter his mind as to what he will do should the fish de­

cide to dive deep into the sea to die. But without a

moment's hesitation, he replies that though he is not sure

what he can do, he will do something. Later, after Santiago

has expressed a wish that Manolin were there to assist him,

he quickly adds, "But you haven't got the boy. . . . You

have only yourself" (Old Man, p. 52) . The fisherman ac­

cepts his predicament (as he does all the events of his

life) and strives to make the best of the situation, utiliz­

ing his own abilities. This philosophy is further em­

phasized in Santiago's comment to a warbler who comes to

rest on the line hooked to the marlin: "'Take a good rest,

small bird, ' he said. 'Then go in and take your chance

like any man or bird or fish'" (Old Man, p. 55).

Emotionally, Santiago is prepared to take his

chance with anyone or anything. Thinking back to his arm-

wrestling fight in Casablanca, the fisherman recalls that

he had decided that he could defeat any opponent "if he

62

wanted to badly enough" (Old Man, p. 70), but he gave up

arm-wrestling to prevent needless injury to his right hand,

which he required for fishing. Santiago dreads having to

eat the raw dolphin, but he knows that he must retain his

strength. He silences his doubts about his ability to

digest the fish by saying that yes, eating the dolphin will

be difficult, but nothing has come easily in Santiago's

life, and he can face this reality and accept the conse­

quences .

Once the old man has done everything in his power

to prepare himself to face a task, he feels satisfied and

confident. After readying himself for the final surge of

the marlin, Santiago declares, "Now I have done what I can,

he thought. Let him begin to circle and let the fight

come" (Old Man, p. 86). The old man then adds, "'I could

not fail myself and die on a fish like this'" (Old Man,

p. 87). The emphasis here is upon Santiago's preparation

and upon Santiago's possible failure. He has done his best,

and he hopes that he does not fail to catch the fish, but

if he does, the implication is that he will accept it,

place no blame, and promptly begin thinking about the next

fishing trip. In fact, this is the fisherman's reaction

at the close of the novel. After losing his prize, he re­

turns to his shack an exhausted old man, but his explana­

tion for why he came back with only a skeleton is that he

went out too far from shore in search of the fish, thereby

63

enabling sharks to devour the marlin before Santiago could

return home. Even while lying exhausted on his pallet, he

is making plans for the next trip, as he tells Manolin that

they need to prepare a "good killing lance" (Old Man, p.

125) and that it can be made from an old Ford spring leaf.

Examples of the fisherman's emotional endurance

can be seen throughout the novel. When the sharks begin

to attack his fish, Santiago admits that "it was too good

to last" (Old Man, p. 101) , and that all he can do now is

"*[s]ail on this course and take it when it comes'" (Old

Man, p. 103) . During his battle with the sharks, the fish­

erman does everything to defend the marlin short of throw­

ing himself into the sea and choking the scavengers with

his bare hands. The answer as to why he does not surrender

in face of such seemingly impossible odds is revealed by

the old man himself: "Now is no time to think of what you

do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is"

(Old Man, p. 110). To Santiago, "'[a] man can be destroyed

but not defeated'" (Old Man, p- 103), and it is his stoical

approach to living that permits him to believe this state­

ment.

Like Santiago, Thomas Hudson represents the inde­

pendent man, relying on his own prowess and accepting life

as it comes, but his stoical outlook is severely challenged

by the death of his sons. Two-thirds of Islands in the

Stream depicts Hudson caught in the turmoil of trying to

64

accept his sons' deaths, forget about the past, and think

only of the present. As has already been mentioned, duty

helps the artist to strengthen his emotional endurance, but

he still has a difficult time remaining indifferent to the

tragedies of his life.

Hudson can lecture Roger Davis, and tell him that

there is always an end to things and that no one ever likes

the ending, and the artist can accept the concept of change:

"Out of all the things you could not have there were some

that you could have and one of those was to know when you

were happy and to enjoy all of it while it was there and it

was good" (Islands, p. 97), but he soon learns that this

philosophical stoicism is not as easy to practice as to

preach. Learning of his sons' deaths, Hudson tells himself,

"Give them up now. . . . Just remember how they were and

write them off. You have to do it sooner or later. Do it

now" (Islands, p. 198) . But Hudson cannot "write off" his

sons. Talking to his cat, Boise, Hudson tells him that he

has not been able to find afiy solution for his sorrow. He

wants to be stoical about his loss, but his philosophy

gives him little satisfaction: "If you don't think about

it, it doesn't exist. The hell it doesn't. But that's the

system I'm going on, he thought" (Islands, p. 258). The

artist is not sure about anything any more, but he con­

tinues to seek answers which he knows do not exist: "There

aren' t any answers. You should know that by now. There

65

aren't any answers at all" (Islands, p. 319). There is

no one to blame for his sorrow; Hudson knows this, but the

realization provides no satisfaction, as he tells his ex-

wife that they must "go on" with "nothing" (Islands, p.

322). Hudson's rationalization is that he must learn to

accept tragedy and continue living: "You'll never get

over it. But you are solid on it now. Remember some good

happy times. You had plenty" (Islands, p. 448).

Hudson and Santiago are honest men, and all of the

principles by which they live seem to stem from this basic

quality. Not only are they straightforward in dealing with

other men; they are also honest in appraising their own

strengths and limitations, and it is due to this honest

soul-searching that they can adjust to the vagaries of life.

Therefore, neither of these men has any use fsr pretense.

This theme of honesty is expressed most often in the two

novels in situations depicting the protagonists' hatred of

falseness and hypocrisy. Eddy expresses this theme in his

comments on why he had been fighting the bar crowds who

would not believe the story about Dave's fishing adventure.

He tells Hudson, "'I kept waiting for truth and right to

win and then somebody new would knock truth and right right

on its ass'" (Islands, p. 146). "'It was a bad night for

truth and right, Tom. Bad night all right'" (Islands, p.

147) .

66

Santiago's hatred of falseness is revealed in his

comments about the Portuguese man-of-war and the shovel-

nosed sharks. He calls the man-of-war a whore, because the

creature looks like a cheerful bubble, but trailing a yard

behind it are deadly, purple filaments: "The iridescent

bubbles were beautiful. But they were the falsest thing

in the sea . . . •' (Old Man, p. 36). The cunning deceit

of the shovel-nosed sharks is contrasted sharply with the

fearless honesty of the Mako shark, who rushes the boat

and the fish head-on. Santiago describes the shovel-nosed

ones as hateful, bad-smelling scavengers:

They came. But they did not come as the Mako had come. One turned and went out of sight under the skiff and the old man could feel the skiff shake as he jerked and pulled on the fish. The other watched the old man with his slitted yellow eyes and then came in fast with his half circle of jaws wide to hit the fish where he had already been bitten (Old Man, p. 108).

These sharks only pretend to be gallant, when in actuality

they are plotting and evil.

Thomas Hudson reveals his dislike of falseness

through his comments concerning people. While reminiscing

about Paris, he recalls an old girlfriend of Roger Davis's:

She was another of his [Davis's] illusions and all his great talent for being faithful was at her service until they were both free to marry. Then, in a month, everything that had always been clear about her to everyone who knew her well was sud­denly clear to Roger (Islands, p. 98).

Hudson dislikes his Cuban chauffeur and a local Havana citi­

zen, Ignacio Natera Revello, for the same reason that he

67

disliked Davis's Parisian girlfriend—they are all hypo­

crites. The chauffeur only pretends to take care of Hud­

son's car, and Revellp pretends to be a sophisticate when

he is only a "snob and a bore" (Islands, p. 259). But the

character who most clearly represents falseness is Peters,

a meiriber of the artist's combat crew.

Although Peters enjoys playing the role of the mili­

tary man, he is ineffectual as a member of the team because

he drinks too much and cannot operate the radio, which is

supposedly his field of expertise. None of the men likes

him, and Hudson labels him Frankly Can't Communicate. He

even dies pretending to be something which he is not—a

"John Wayne" German. Hudson admits that Peters is a great

actor, but there is no room for pretense in a Hemingway

world.

Hemingway's men must be strong in order to endure

their often disordered worlds. They must have the courage

and determination necessary for dedicating themselves to

the accomplishment of a goal, and they must be honest—

especially with themselves—recognizing their weaknesses

as well as their strengths.

CHAPTER IV

THE FISHING EXPEDITIONS

The most obvious similarity between Islands in the

Stream and The Old Man and the Sea can be seen in the fish­

ing sequences. While The Old Man and the Sea is based

almost entirely on this story, and Islands in the Stream

uses it only as a segment of the "Bimini" section, the two

events are similar enough to invite comparison. The Old

Man and the Sea pits an old Cuban fisherman against a marlin,

and Islands in the Stream depicts a young boy fighting his

first broadbill.

The two fishing segments follow an almost identical

pattern, and the differences that do appear are primarily

a result of the financial situations of the characters.

Santiago is poor and must face the marlin alone, fishing

from a sixteen-foot skiff, and utilizing inadequate equip­

ment. David, on the other hand, is supported by an experi-

enced crew of fishermen, has the latest fishing gear, and

operates from a yacht-sized boat. But other than the dif­

ferences in equipment and the fact that Dave is an inexperi­

enced boy, while Santiago is a skillful old fisherman,

there is very little disparity in the sequence of events

followed by the two stories.

Santiago rises before dawn, drinks a cup of coffee,

and rows his skiff out to sea, while David and his friends

68

69

depart at 9:00 A.M. after having a hearty breakfast. But

Hudson's powerful fishing boat compensates for the later

start, and David is able to hook his broadbill at the same

hour that Santiago hooks his—twelve, noon. Each fisherman

is afraid to pull back on his line until he is sure that

the fish has the hook well inside his mouth. When they do

sink the hook into the fish, both Santiago and David are

amazed at the weight and power of the fish. Neither of

them is able to raise his line, and the fish move further

out to sea. The next significant event occurs when both

fish rise to the top of the ocean and leap into the air,

revealing their size and grandeur. The fish then return to

the depths and continue swimming. David's swordfish decides

to dive deeper, and the crew fears that he may take all the

fishing line with him. But miraculously the fish stops his

descent with less than ten yards of line remaining on Dave's

reel. Santiago's marlin does not dive deeper; instead, he

rises to the top again and jumps several times. Following

these two events, both fish begin to circle, and the fisher­

men must exert all their energies in raising their catches.

Slowly the fish are pulled toward the boats. Santiago har­

poons his marlin but later loses it to the sharks, and

David's broadbill slips off the hook and sinks back into

the sea.

For Santiago, these events are spread out over a

forty-eight-hour period, while for David, the adventure

70

covers only six hours. But this difference in hours does

not necessarily indicate that the old man's fish is that

much stronger than David's. For, while Santiago's marlin

is towing only a wooden skiff with one occupant, Dave's

fish must contend with a yacht with its full crew. In fact,

there are many similarities between the two fish.

The marlin is a male, eighteen feet long, and weighs

over 1500 pounds. Santiago gets his first glimpse of the

fish when he jumps out of the water:

He came out unendingly and water poured from his sides. He was bright in the sun and his head and back were dark purple and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender. His sword was as long as a baseball bat and tapered like a rapier and he rose his full length from the water and then re-entered it, smoothly, like a diver and the line commenced to race out (Old Man, pp. 62-63).

David's first glimpse of his broadbill is described

in much the same language as the above passage:

Then, astern of the boat and off to starboard, the calm of the ocean broke open and the great fish rose out of it, rising, shining dark blue and silver, seeming to* come endlessly out of the water, unbelievable as his length and bulk rose out of the sea into the air and seemed to hang there un­til he fell with a splash that drove the water up high and white (Islands, p. 121).

Andrew exclaims that the fish's sword is as long as he

[Andrew] is. Eddy says, "'Son of a bitch'11 weigh a thou­

sand pounds' . . . " (Islands, p. 122), and that the broad­

bill is a male because of his strength.

71

Both Santiago and Thomas Hudson wonder how the fish

can see in the dark depths of the ocean. They come to the

conclusion that the fish have eyesight similar to that of

horses, enabling them to see clearly in the dark (Old Man,

p. 67, and Islands, p. 132). Although the two fish are

similar in physical appearance, their significance for these

two novels is much more important than the fact that they

are huge, male fish.

The marlin and the broadbill can almost be consid­

ered mythical fish, at least in the sense that they fall in

line with the literary tradition of seemingly "uncatchable"

creatures (e.g., Moby Dick and Old Ben, the bruin of Faulk­

ner's "The Bear"). Santiago catches the marlin but is un­

able to retain his prize due to the sharks, and David is

unable even to land his broadbill, since it slips off the

hook just at the moment when Eddy is about to sink in the

gaff. The fish appear to symbolize some unattainable glory,

carrying with it a supernatural aura. This divine quality

of the fish is hinted at by Andrew during the conversation

after David has lost his fish. The crew tries to cheer

David by reminding him that everyone on the boat had a part

in the loss of the fish, just as everyone would have shared

in the glory if the broadbill had been caught. Andrew says

that he and Tom would have been famous as Dave's brothers

and because Tommy had kept everyone supplied with drinks

during the fight. Roger says that he would have been

72

famous because he is Dave's friend. Thomas Hudson would

have owned a share of glory because he steered the boat, and

Eddy's claim to greatness would be that he had gaffed the

fish. After listening to this conversation, Dave interjects

this question, "'what about the fish? Wouldn't he be

famous?' . . . " (Islands, p. 142). Andrew's answer is

"'He'd be the most famous of all. . . . He'd be immortal'"

(Islands, p. 142) . But whether or not it can be proved that

these fish are worthy of such lofty acclaim, it probable

that they do represent more than just fish.

Nancy Hale has stated that after A Farewell to Arms,

the emphasis of Hemingway's novels shifts to

a man fighting, not to be with his love, not in the common struggle, but against powers that threaten to overwhelm him, represented by bulls, by big game, by the sea.

We have reached a point where we may view the Hemingway hero as one who, having quit the collec­tive struggle of mankind, has internalized the conflict so that he is at war with whatever it is that bulls and lions, game fish and the ocean repre­sent. 22

The recognition that tjie fish symbolizes something against

which men have to struggle can be seen in the fact that Hud­

son allows David to continue fighting the swordfish in spite

of the injuries which the boy is sustaining, because Hudson

realizes, as he tells young Tom, that "there is a time boys

have to do things if they are ever going to be men. That's

^^Nancy Hale, "Hemingway and the Courage to Be," pp. 631-632.

73

where Dave is now" (Islands, p. 131). The artist sees this

experience as an initiation into the struggles which his

son will have to face as he grows older, and Hudson knows

"that if David catches this fish he'll have something in­

side him for all his life and it will make everything else

easier" (Islands, p. 131) .

It may not be stretching the point too far to sug­

gest that the fish may represent some aspect of the indi­

vidual fishermen that they (and all mankind in a larger

sense) must fight to overcome. This suggestion may be sup­

ported by the fact that during their ordeals, both Santiago

and David express pity and love for their fish as well as

directly associate themselves with them. David admits that

there was a period during the fight when he could not tell

which was he and which was the fish (Islands, p. 142) , and

when the first shark hits the marlin, the old man feels as

if he has been hit (Old Man, p. 103) . So, in a sense, the

fishermen may be struggling against themselves. At any

rate, both fish are gallant foes for heroic fishermen.

Leo Gurko has commented that "'The Old Man and the

Sea' is remarkable for its stress on what men can do and on

II2 3 the world as an arena where heroic deeds are possible."

Obviously, though the two fishing sagas are heroic efforts

^\eo Gurko, "'The Old Man and the Sea,'" College English, 17 (1955), 11.

74

for the youth and the old man, it would be difficult to

prove that Hemingway intended these adventures to be of

epic proportions. But the fishing stories are structured

in such a manner that it is possible to show certain simi-

larities between these tales and Homer's epic The Iliad.

The two elements of The Iliad which most closely

parallel the fishing stories of The Old Man and the Sea and

Islands in the Stream are the lengthy descriptions of the

arming of the Greek and Trojan heroes (paralleling the

preparations for the fishing trips) and the squires and

assistants of the warriors (paralleling Manolin and Santiago;

25 the fishing crew and David).

Prior to several individual, one-to-one-type bat­

tles. Homer describes the process of arming the combatants.

This procedure is followed before Paris' s fight with Mene-

laus, before Aias' s battle with Hector, as Patroclus dons

Achilles's armor before leading the Myrmidons against Hec­

tor, and when Achilles puts on his new armor fashioned by

Hephaestus.

^^For a review of the epic, see the first chapter ("Some Characteristics of Literary Epic,") in C. M. Bowra's From Virgil to Milton (London: Macmillan and Company, 1957), pp. 1-32.

^^The translation used in the discussion of The Iliad is a paperback edition by E. V. Rieu (Baltimore: Pen-i^UiTBooks, 1967), pp. 72, 73, 127-130, 137, 293-296, 340, 349-353, and 363-364.

75

Often related to the arming of the heroes is an­

other element of The Iliad—the squire, who usually assists

his master in preparing for battle. The best example of

this type of relationship in The Iliad is the devotion of

Patroclus to his master and close friend, Achilles. Patro­

clus not only loves and serves Achilles faithfully, but he

even dies in his friend's armor while leading Achilles's

warriors into battle.

Before setting out to sea, Santiago and David are

assisted in checking their equipment and in making sure

that all is ready for the trip. Thomas Hudson asks Eddy

if he has tested the fishing line, and he replies that he

has and that they are going to need more thirty-six- and

twenty-four-thread line. Eddy removes all the rotten line

and splices enough good line to replace it, so that the two

big reels have all the line they can hold. In addition,

he has- cleaned and sharpened all the big hooks and has

checked all the leaders and swivels (Islands, p. 104) . Not

only does Dave have all the line he needs; he is also out­

fitted with all the equipment he will require for fishing.

He fishes from a yacht specially rigged for deep sea fish­

ing. Fighting seats are built onto the stern of the boat,

and these seats contain sockets for fishing rods. In addi­

tion to the regular straps on the fighting seat, there is

a kidney harness which can be used for additional support.

The boy is also provided with a drag on his reel which will

76

be of benefit in helping to slow the swordfish so that he

can be handled.

Like Eddy, Manolin also provides assistance. The

boy helps Santiago by bringing him bait, and by aiding the

old man with his fishing equipment. Manolin also tries to

take care of the fisherman's physical needs, providing him

with food and drink, and as many comforts as the boy is

able to produce. But more important than this material

and physical assistance is the love and companionship which

Manolin brings to the fisherman. Like Patroclus, Manolin

is more than a squire; he is a friend.

Actually Manolin has little to do in order to assist

Santiago in preparing his equipment, because the old man is

poor and therefore has few fishing supplies. His small

boat is described as having a sail which has been patched

with flour sacks, giving the appearance of "permenent de­

feat" -(Old Man, p. 9) . Santiago still has a harpoon, but

his cast net has been sold, and although he has a large

quantity of good line, he has no poles and no reels. He

must use his hands for a drag, and for corks, he uses green-

sapped sticks. After assembling his equipment with Mano­

lin 's help, the old man drinks a cup of coffee and rows out

to sea, alone.

As was mentioned above, the author depicts Eddy as

a valued assistant, making preparations for the fishing

excursion, but it would be difficult to single out the one

77

individual member of the crew who fills the role of the

squire more than any of the other members. For, as soon

as David hooks the swordfish, everyone on the boat begins

to perform duties assisting the boy in his struggle. Hud­

son steers the boat; Roger Davis instructs Dave on the steps

to take in landing the fish; Eddy offers advice, works to

protect Dave from sunstroke, and tries to gaff the fish;

and young Tom and Andrew provide drinks and food for the

crew (Islands, pp. 104-143) . Hemingway may not have been

thinking of a Homeric epic when he included in the two

books the elements of the helpful assistants and the de­

tailed descriptions of the fishing equipment, but these

elements do aid in building an air of expectancy and in

elevating the importance of the sea battles and the com­

batants.

One incident which occurs in both books, and which

seems too coincidental not to have been planned, is the

fact that each fisherman hooks his fish exactly at noon.

As it relates to the heroic nature of the fishing segments,

what could be more appropriate than to have the protagonists

(in true Western fashion) face their opponents at high noon?

Like the allusions to the epic, possibly this circumstance

is another example of the author's attempt at heightening

the reader's sense of adventure.

No discussion of the heroic element in these fish­

ing adventures would be complete without a reference to the

78 26

Christ imagery. Many scholars have labored over the allu­

sions to Christ in The Old Man and the Sea, and it is not

the intention of this writer to add to the confusion, but

rather to point out some of the "references" to Christ that

seem to appear in both novels.

The most feasible parallel in terms of Christian

symbolism in the two works is the similarity of the suffer­

ing endured by the fishermen. Like Christ, Santiago and

David undergo a trying ordeal in which both withstand great

pain and receive wounds (especially to the hands and the

feet).

Santiago has numerous injuries. The fishing line

burns his back and cuts his right hand, and his left hand

recovers from a cramp only to be cut by the line also. In

addition to the wounds to his hands, the fisherman fears

that something has broken in his chest.

The strain from the fish's pulling Dave against the

straps of the fighting seat causes the boy's arms and

shoulders to hurt badly, and his bare feet and his hands

also undergo much punishment. Young Tom expresses concern

26 For more detailed information on Christ imagery

in The Old Man and the Sea, see Clinton S. Burhans, Jr.'s, "The Old Man and the Sea: Hemingway's Tragic Vision of Man," in Hemingway and His Critics, ed. Carlos Baker (New York: Hill and Wang, 1961), pp. 259-268; John Halverson's "Christian Resonance in 'The Old Man and the Sea,'" English Language Notes, 2 (1964), 50-54; and Carlos Baker's "Heming­way's Ancient Mariner" in Ernest Hemingway: Critiques of Four Major Novels, ed. Carlos Baker (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1962), pp. 156-172.

79

over this fact when he tel ls his father "'He's wearing the

bottoms of his feet right off. He's getting his hands bad

too. He's had blisters and now they're all open'" (Islands,

p. 131) . Hudson becomes worried about his son: "He could

see David's bloody hands and lacquered-looking oozing feet

and he saw the welts the harness had made across his back

and the almost hopeless expression on his face as he turned

his head at the last finish of a pull" (Islands, p. 136) .

But in spite of the pain, neither of the fishermen allows

his discomfort to distract him from his goal. Therefore,

not only do Dave and Santiago display the courage and stamina

of a Hector or a Gary Cooper; they also endure suffering in

a Christlike manner.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

It may be impossible to prove that The Old Man and

the Sea is actually a distillation of Hemingway's Caribbean

tetralogy; in fact, the author is possibly the only one who

could have furnished this proof; nevertheless, this thesis

has attempted to indicate the strong probability that like

the phoenix, Hemingway's colossal novel of the Caribbean

consumed itself and from the ashes, gave birth to The Old

Man and the Sea.

One argument for this theory is the fact that

Hemingway published The Old Man and the Sea but not the

larger work. Why would the author publish what is consid­

ered to be only a section of the major novel instead of 4

waiting to unveil the manuscript as a whole? Directly re­

lated to this thought is the fact that The Old Man and the

Sea has been praised as a work of art, possibly Hemingway's

greatest achievement, while Islands in the Stream has re-

27

ceived mostly negative criticism. If the author consid­

ered the novel published as Islands in the Stream complete,

why was it not offered to the public during his lifetime?

The answer may be that the work edited and published in 1970

"̂̂ See Matthew J. Bruccoli, ed. , Fitzgerald/Hemingv^ay Annual, 1971 (Washington: NCR, 1971), pp. 326-332 for a summary of reviews of Islands in the Stream.

80

81

by Mary Hemingway and Charles Scribner, Jr. was never in­

tended to be considered as a unified whole, and is instead,

only the skeleton of the full-bodied creation. The Old Man

and the Sea.

This writer has attempted to support his thesis by

indicating the many similarities between the two novels.

Both works are centered around the activities of men who

are past the prime of life, over-the-hill so to speak. But

these characters are far from being ineffective old men.

Both Santiago and Thomas Hudson are proud, disciplined men

of honor. They are loners, but each one experiences the

love of a father-son relationship. Both are courageous

without being foolhardy. They are authorities in their

fields and rely on their own capabilities and determination

to see them through the trials which each must face and en­

dure. They are "strange" men—noble men who do not hesi­

tate to try the impossible for fear of failure.

The similar principles which guide the lives of

these characters provide the basis for the themes revealed

in the two works: the life sustaining and enobling concepts

of honesty, courage, physical and emotional endurance, and

devotion to duty.

And then there is the most obvious parallel between

The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in the Stream—the fish­

ing expedition—with the almost identical sequence of events,

the Christ imagery, the symbolic representation of the fish.

82

the epic allusions, and the "high noon" confrontations.

It may well be Thomas Hudson was reincarnated as

the old Cuban fisherman, for Santiago's story compactly

dramatizes the themes, the character studies, and the heroic

fishing adventure of Hemingway's saga of the Caribbean.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Backman, Melvin. "Hemingway: The Matador and the Cruci­fied." Modern Fiction Studies. 1 (1955), 2-12.

Baker, Carlos. Ernest Hemingway; A Life Storv. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1969.

.. "Hemingway's Ancient Mariner." Ernest Hemingway; Critiques of Four Major Novels. Ed. Carlos Baker. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1962.

• '"The Marvel Who Must Die." The Saturday Review, 35 (1952) , 1 0 - 1 1 . ^

Bowra, C. M. From V i r g i l t o Mi l t on . London: Macmillan, 1957.

Burhans , C l i n t o n S . , J r . "The Old Man and t he Sea: Heming­w a y ' s T r a g i c V i s ion of Man." Hemingway and His C r i t i c s . Ed. Ca r lo s Baker . New York: H i l l and Wang, 1 9 6 1 .

Cooperman, S t a n l e y . "Hemingway and Old Age: Sant iago as P r i e s t of Time." Co l l ege Eng l i sh , 27 (1965), 215-220.

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