The Old Man and the Sea: Historical Context

The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway in 1952. The story follows Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman who, for 84 days, has gone out fishing and returned empty handed. His struggles continue to worsen when his young apprentice Manolin is forced by his parents to leave the old man and fish on a more prosperous boat. Though leaving the old man, Manolin still comes back at the end of the day to help the old man and take care of him, helping him with his equipment and talking to him about baseball.

Santiago is sure that his unlucky streak will end, that is why the next day he sails farther out than he had been. He sails beyond the island’s shallow coastal waters and into a Gulf Stream where he prepares his lines and puts them into the water. At noon, a marlin takes the bait Santiago has set up, and the old man hooks the big fish. Santiago quickly learns though that he cannot pull the fish in, so the fish begins to pull the boat. Unable to tie the line to the boat, Santiago grabs the fishing line to keep it from snapping. The big fish drags the boat throughout the day, the night, through the next day, and the next night. Throughout the entire time, Santiago is enduring the pain the fishing line is inflicting on him.

Whenever the fish jumps, moves quickly, or tries to make a run for it, the line cuts Santiago, but it is because of this pain that Santiago feels a connection to the fish. On the third day, the marlin tires out and Santiago pulls it in close enough to kill it with a harpoon. He ties the fish to the side of the boat and makes his way home. As he sails the dead marlin leaves a trail of blood that attracts Sharks. The first shark Santiago kills with the harpoon, but more sharks come. He ends up losing the harpoon in the struggle with all the sharks, and the sharks eat everything of the Marlin, leaving only the skeleton tied to the side of the boat. Santiago finally arrives home before daybreak and goes into his shack and sleeps. The next morning a crowd of amazed fishers and tourists gather around the skeleton of the big fish and think it is a shark. Manolin worriedly goes searching for the old man and wakes him. He takes care of Santiago and once suggests they become fishing partners again. The old man is pleased by this and accepts. He falls back asleep and dreams of lions playing on the beaches of Africa.

Ernest Hemingway, in his writing, draws from his life experiences to produce a richer and deeper story to draw audiences in. JiffyNotes states that The Old Man and the Sea is the last book Ernest Hemingway wrote before he killed himself in Ketchum, Idaho when he was 62 years old (Jiffy Notes). When writing his books, Ernest Hemingway draws influence for his stories from mainly his experiences in the military. Biography.com tells about how instead of going to college, Hemingway joined WW1 as an ambulance driver for Red Cross. He was badly injured and decorated as a hero (Biography.com). After this, he traveled to Spain during the Spanish Civil War to support the Republicans against General Francisco Franco’s Nationalists (Jiffy Notes). This is where he draws most of his inspiration for The Old Man and the Sea. DonQuijote editors tell us about the civil war explaining that the Spanish Civil War started in 1936 and ended in 1939 (donQuijote). The Spanish Civil War started when a group of generals, led by General Francisco Franco, carried out a coup d’etat against Manuel Azana, Democrat elected as a Republican serving as the president of Spain then. Civil war ensued from this. The Republicans or the left side was made up of the Spanish Government, unions, communists, anarchist, worker, and peasants.

The Nationalists or the right side was made up of the rebel part of the army, landlords, and generally the rich (don Quijote). The Republican side was supported by the Soviet Union and other democratic European groups. The Nationalists were supported by fascist Italy and Germany. The Nationalists ended up winning finally and the country was ruled by a dictatorship for almost 40 yrs from 1939 to 1975. Under Franco’s dictatorship, Spain suffered greatly. He wanted to change how the whole country ran and had set up for Prince Juan Carlos to take over after he died. Franco died in 1975 and instead of doing the changes Franco wanted to do, Carlos helped Spain return to a democracy (don Quijote). Another historical event that plays greatly into The Old Man and the Sea is the Spanish-American War. History.com editors tell us that the Spanish – American War started in 1898 when the U.S. battleship Maine was sunk (History.com Editors). There was a growing need for the U.S. to intervene and help Cuba in becoming its own country from Spain, and the sinking of the ship Maine during one of the Spanish riots was enough to push the U.S. in. On April 9, Spain declared an armistice which focused on taking away as many rights from the Cubans as they possibly could. From this, the U.S. declared that Cuba should be their own country and Spain declared war on the U.S. on April 24th, and the U.S. the declared war against Spain the 25th. Due to the mere strength of the U.S., the U.S. won the short war, and December 10, 1898 Spain signed a treaty that renounced their claim to Cuba and gave the united states Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines (History.com Editors).

Hemingway when writing The Old Man and the Sea drew many great parallels from what happened to the country, and the challenges they faced to the book itself. In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is an old poor Cuban fisherman who can’t seem to catch anything. The reader can see the effects of the Spanish Civil War here where poverty is rampaging the country and if you can’t take care of yourself they no one will be there to help you. This is seen when Manolin’s parents force him to leave the old man to a richer more prosperous ship when Santiago is not making any money. Hemingway also draws greatly from his ideals that he gained from the war. Hemingway fought in WW1, the Spanish Civil War, and many popular fights in WW2 like D-Day, the Battle of The Bulge, and he participated in the liberation of Paris (Biography.com Editors). Hemingway saw war as a symbol of the world, complex with unavoidable destruction and pain (JiffyNotes). To survive in a world like this, one has to have endurance and courage. To survive any losing battle one must have “grace under pressure” (JiffyNotes). Grace under pressure is a big theme in The Old Man and the Sea and it is seen in Santiago’s 3 days alone in the sea with the marlin pulling his boat. For The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway also draws from his life when he lived in Spain.

Hemingway loved bull fighting, fishing, big-game hunting, and being a part of expeditions in Africa (Jiffy Notes). While in Spain, Hemingway he fished for days in the coastal waters in search of marlins. This is perhaps where he drew the concept for his story. Hemingway loved one on one battles that were simple, but required strength and endurance. He viewed them as heroic, graceful, and even beautiful. This is seen in the book through the battle between Santiago and the marlin. “‘But man is not made for defeat’, he said. ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated’ (Hemingway pg 2).” This is the type of one on one battle Hemingway loved. Hemingway loved Cuba and lived there until he was forced to leave when Fidel Castro took over (Jiffynotes). From this Hemingway fell into a deep depression and the isolation he felt from the books’ popularity eventually led him to his suicide. Hemingway truly loved Cuba and it is seen through the book. Hemingway’s life in Cuba and his happiness there is felt throughout the book, but his frustrations are also felt too. He wanted change and sadly he wasn’t there to see it.

The Old Man and the Sea is a classic book that deserves praise. Ernest Hemingway draws from history, and his personal life to create a deep and rich story. The reader sees Cuba and Santiago in a new light when we see the effects of the Spanish-American War and the Spanish Civil War on Cuba throughout the book. Hemingway believed in strength, endurance, and courage and the reader can see those themes throughout the book. Hemingway truly loved Cuba and wrote a love story to the country with the things he loved in the book. He wanted change for Cuba and used the book to express that desire for change.

Works Cited

1. editors, Biography.com. “Ernest Hemingway Biography.” n.d. The Biography.com Website. https://www.biography.com/writer/ernest-hemingway.
2. Editors, History.com. “Spanish-American War.” n.d. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/spanish-american-war.
3. editors, Jiffy Notes. “Old Man and the Sea, The Historical Context.” n.d. Jiffy Nortes. http://www.jiffynotes.com/OldManandtheSeaThe/HistoricalContext.html.
4. Editors, SparkNotes. “Old Man and the Sea.” n.d. SparkNotes.
5. Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. n.d.
6. “The Spanish Civil War.” n.d. donQuijote. https://www.donquijote.org/spanish-culture/history/spanish-civil-war/.

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