The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

‘the old man was now definitely and finally salao ’ – This word defines a particularly bad kind of luck. The key words, however, are ‘definitely and finally.’ They imply that the old man is too old; he’s finished, and he only has death to look forward to.

‘The sail… looked like the flag of permanent defeat’ – The old man is represented by this symbol of failure, but note that it is permanent defeat. To be permanently defeated implies continual, endless struggle to the bitter end – which, in a sense, is not really defeat at all.

‘his hands had…deep-creased scars’ – The first of many images which connect Santiago with Christ. Hemingway does not see him, however, as a religious figure, but as a great sufferer. Christ is also someone Who was apparently defeated on the cross, but Who in fact won a great victory.

‘[scars] old as erosions in a fishless desert’ – This picks up the idea of the Biblical period of suffering in the desert experienced by Christ, Moses etc.

‘Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same colour as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.’ – Still on the first page, the title of the novel is explained. There is a connection between the old man and the sea , and that connection is Santiago’s eyes, which still show that he has the mental strength and resilience his body lacks, and also, perhaps, suggest that he is near to becoming a creature of the sea himself (consider how often he calls sea creatures ‘brothers’).

Page 6.

‘the boy loved him’ – The first use of the word love is Manolin’s love for Santiago. The reader must look between the lines in these pages to realise that Santiago only survives because of the care shown for him by ‘the boy.’ Santiago acknowledges this at the very end of the story.

[Manolin’s father] ‘hasn’t much faith’ – Part of Santiago’s strength is his constant hope and faith, despite his not being a religious man.