Who Is Santiago As A Christ Figure

Santiago as a Christ Figure In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, there are many comparisons between the main character Santiago, who is often called the old man, and Jesus in the Bible. For someone who is familiar with the Bible and then reads this story, the similarities are easy to pick up on. Many debate if Hemingway did this intentionally of if it was weird similarities that just happened to be there. A few of these similarities include characteristics of Santiago and of Jesus, the Spanish names in this story translate closely to Biblical names, and the events that occur in Santiago’s life and those in Jesus’. Santiago throughout the story is seen and described as a mentor to Manolin, gently teaching him and giving him advice.
For example, one of the most well-known stories of Jesus Christ is His crucifixion story. In most depictions of the crucifixion story people focus on Jesus’ hands. In The Old Man and the Sea, a significant part of Santiago’s journey is his hand getting sliced open (page 37). Some say this was Hemingway’s equivalent of Jesus’ hands getting nailed to the cross. Another major comparison that can be made of Christ and Santiago would be the immense sacrifice they both made with others in mind. There was a time in Santiago’s struggle with the fish that he felt remorse and weighed his options, including giving the fish up. It was not until he told himself how many people in the village it would provide for that he made up his mind to stick with his fate of catching the fish. There are undeniable similarities between that and the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus asks for another way to save the world, without having to endure the pain and suffering he knew was coming, yet he chose to go through with it because of the multitudes of people it would help (Bible, Matt