Examples Of Archetypes In The Old Man By Ernest Hemingway
The novella The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway is filled with examples of archetypes or "universal representations". The story is clearly the quest plot type with Santiago as the Hero and Manolin the sidekick. As the hero Santiago encounters a temptress and a villain with the end result being a kind of great success.
"The Quest", one of the basic plot lines, is evident in The Old Man and The Sea. The hero and his sidekick travel in search of a valuable treasure overcoming all odds and great evils to finally achieve their goal. Santiago, the cuban fisherman, as the hero, has gone 84 days without a fish and the inhabitants of his village seem to have lost hope in his fishing abilities. Even the parents of Manolin (his apprentice) have
given up on Santiago and have found their son another fisherman to sail with. Santiago is close to tying his 87 day dry streak when, feeling inspired, he heads towards the gulf stream further out than he would normally go. His hooks are baited and he waits. After finally hooking a fish a 3 day fight to reel it in commences.“‘Fish,’ he said ‘I love you and respect you very much. But I will you dead before this day ends.’” (pg.54) He is truly fighting against all odds, the fish is strong and the man is older than he once was but eventually he does kill it.“So he did it, it was difficult in the dark and once the fish made a surge that pulled him down on his face and made a cut below his eye. The blood ran down his cheek a little way.”(pg. 57) Even though his great catch is eaten by sharks, or the villains of the book, he comes away feeling accomplished and content.
Manolin is very much Santiago's sidekick, even though he does not accompany him into the ocean, he supports him in important ways. It could even be said that Manolin keeps "The Old Man" alive. He shows the Santiago a great amount of devotion and expresses his love for him openly. He assures that Santiago has blankets, food and company without making it charity.
Santiago is very much a Christ like hero. The novella makes several allusions to Jesus's story throughout the book. “He then shouldered the mast and started to climb. It was then he knew the depth of his tiredness” (pg.121). The mast in this quote could easily be replaced by the cross that Jesus carries before his crucifixion. Even the way the old man lays in his bed at the end of the story is an allusion to the actual crucifixion. Santiago lays with his arms straight out and his palms facing upwards as Jesus did. The list of potential allusions is incredibly extensive and it becomes difficult to weed through in search of the intended ones.
The Temptress, a key character in the quest plot type, is represented by the sea. The sea holds Santiago captive. Even in his old age it brings him back to fishing again and again. It causes him pain and leaves him poor and hungry but keeps him, in a way, blind to all this. The sharks are the villains of the novella. They take away the thing Santiago worked hardest for, what he thought of as his treasure, but they lead him to find value in other aspects of his journey. He finds his own inner contentment not based on others acknowledgment of his catch. Although Hemingway refused to acknowledge that his story was based on archetypes and biblical allusions it seems to clearly be. The novella is brimming with typical characters and references to the story of Christ. This could well be a result of his writing experience in that, he may have subconsciously worked many of these features into the story.
"The Quest", one of the basic plot lines, is evident in The Old Man and The Sea. The hero and his sidekick travel in search of a valuable treasure overcoming all odds and great evils to finally achieve their goal. Santiago, the cuban fisherman, as the hero, has gone 84 days without a fish and the inhabitants of his village seem to have lost hope in his fishing abilities. Even the parents of Manolin (his apprentice) have
given up on Santiago and have found their son another fisherman to sail with. Santiago is close to tying his 87 day dry streak when, feeling inspired, he heads towards the gulf stream further out than he would normally go. His hooks are baited and he waits. After finally hooking a fish a 3 day fight to reel it in commences.“‘Fish,’ he said ‘I love you and respect you very much. But I will you dead before this day ends.’” (pg.54) He is truly fighting against all odds, the fish is strong and the man is older than he once was but eventually he does kill it.“So he did it, it was difficult in the dark and once the fish made a surge that pulled him down on his face and made a cut below his eye. The blood ran down his cheek a little way.”(pg. 57) Even though his great catch is eaten by sharks, or the villains of the book, he comes away feeling accomplished and content.
Manolin is very much Santiago's sidekick, even though he does not accompany him into the ocean, he supports him in important ways. It could even be said that Manolin keeps "The Old Man" alive. He shows the Santiago a great amount of devotion and expresses his love for him openly. He assures that Santiago has blankets, food and company without making it charity.
Santiago is very much a Christ like hero. The novella makes several allusions to Jesus's story throughout the book. “He then shouldered the mast and started to climb. It was then he knew the depth of his tiredness” (pg.121). The mast in this quote could easily be replaced by the cross that Jesus carries before his crucifixion. Even the way the old man lays in his bed at the end of the story is an allusion to the actual crucifixion. Santiago lays with his arms straight out and his palms facing upwards as Jesus did. The list of potential allusions is incredibly extensive and it becomes difficult to weed through in search of the intended ones.
The Temptress, a key character in the quest plot type, is represented by the sea. The sea holds Santiago captive. Even in his old age it brings him back to fishing again and again. It causes him pain and leaves him poor and hungry but keeps him, in a way, blind to all this. The sharks are the villains of the novella. They take away the thing Santiago worked hardest for, what he thought of as his treasure, but they lead him to find value in other aspects of his journey. He finds his own inner contentment not based on others acknowledgment of his catch. Although Hemingway refused to acknowledge that his story was based on archetypes and biblical allusions it seems to clearly be. The novella is brimming with typical characters and references to the story of Christ. This could well be a result of his writing experience in that, he may have subconsciously worked many of these features into the story.