Thoreau writes that “This curious world in which we inhabit... is more marvelous than practical; more beautiful than useful; it is more to be admired and appreciated than used. This seems to be a philosophy that Hemingway's character Santiago would adopt. Throughout the short story “The Old Man and the Sea,” Santiago is constantly on the same existential plane as nature. He considers the sea and nature itself as equal and undoubtedly superior. Whether the origin is through senility, loneliness or true brotherhood with nature, Santiago treats nature (more specifically the sea and the wildlife it shelters) as a real entity for which he harbors a true love.Say no. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Hemingway himself was often intimate with nature; It's no secret that nature has had a huge influence on his prose. It is important to note that “…of all Hemingway’s protagonists, Santiago is the closest to nature: he feels himself an integral part of nature; he even believes that he has hands, feet and a heart like those of large turtles. (Hovey). There is a sense of unity between Santiago and the natural world. Hovey's expression that he "feels part of nature" is crucial to understanding Santiago. There are several nods to this unity in the text itself in which Santiago's patterns of behavior are paralleled with those of nature. The book says of Santiago before his trip: “His hope and confidence had never faded. But now they were cooling like when the breeze rises. (Hemingway 13). Hemingway shows the correlation between the breeze and Santiago's newfound confidence thanks to it. The associated connotations between “refreshment” and “the breeze” are probably not accidental either. The implication here is that the weather has a direct impact on Santiago's mood. The cooling breeze arrives, which refreshes Santiago's attitude. The reader can see another example of this relationship in another quote in which the old man sleeps at night before planning to go far into the ocean: "...the old man was sleeping in his chair and the sun had set . .” (Hemingway 18). A more subtle example is that it's still hard to ignore that Santiago's sleep patterns reflect the cycle of the sun; the same sun that gave Santiago earlier in his life, “[the] skin cancer [that] the sun [brought] from its reflection on the tropical sea [to] his cheeks.” (Hemingway 10). The sun left a physical imprint on Santiago's body. But this is not the only physical relationship between him and nature. The book says: “…[his eyes] were the same color as the sea and were joyful and unconquered. » (Hemingway 10). Santiago also walks around barefoot and urinates outside. Even his house is constantly open to the elements, as he leaves all the openings ajar. When Manolin talks to Santiago, he says, “…you've been turtling for years off the Mosquito Coast and your eyes are good. » (Hemingway 14). While all the other fishermen who went to fish for turtles had poor eyesight, the sun spared Santiago's for no apparent reason to the reader. Another example of synchronicity between Santiago and nature concerns, once again, the old man's sleeping habits: "Usually, when he smelled the land breeze, he would wake up and get dressed to go wake the boy. » (Hemingway 25). There are a multitude of examples that show that Santiago and nature are unified or, at the very least, connected on thebehavioral and physical level. This also gives us an idea of ​​why Santiago is such a talented fisherman. Manolin says: “There are a lot of good fishermen and a few great ones. But it's only you. (Hemingway 23). The reader may wonder why is there only Santiago? What makes him different from other fishermen? It is subconsciously implied that no other fisherman could have handled the marlin; so why Santiago? Besides his experience (shared by several other "old fishermen"), he has no real characteristic that distinguishes him from others, except that he has a deep affinity with nature. Beegel goes further, saying: "Given the nature of the sea in Hemingway's short story, it is not a 'safe' romance at all, but a story about the tragic love of 'a mortal for a capricious goddess. He even suggests that there is a romance between Santiago and the sea. Hediger further reinforces this assertion by saying: "With such awareness, Hemingway treats animals neither as pawns in a human competition, nor as beings so entirely alien that he believes himself to be outside the natural economy in which life depends on other forms of life. » Despite the extent of the relationship, it cannot be denied that there is indeed a relationship; and this relationship seems to be the only thing that allows Santiago to achieve the legendary status of a fisherman. Before the reader even gets to the heart of Santiago's journey with the marlin, the relationship is clear. However, once we progress into the short story, we become almost excessively imposed on it. The duration of his journey with the marlin was almost a kind of communion between him and the other marine animals. Santiago constantly considers fish his brothers: “They [the dolphins] play, joke and love each other. They are our brothers like flying fish. (Hemingway 48). He also says: “He was very fond of flying fish because they were his main friends on the ocean. He felt sorry for the birds…” (Hemingway 29). Concerning these seabirds, Santiago extends his hand to them: “'Stay with me if you want, bird,' he says. “I'm sorry I can't hoist the sail and take you away with the little breeze that's picking up. But I'm with a friend. ”(Hemingway 55). About his “friend”, the marlin, Santiago has a lot to say: “Now we are together and have been since noon. And no one to help us. (Hemingway 50) and that “I wish I could feed the fish,” he thought. He's my brother. (Hemingway 59). Throughout his journey, Santiago refers to the marlin as his brother and asks him how he feels. And for this fish that he slowly kills, he feels immense sympathy and even shame. The ocean or, perhaps more appropriately: la mar ("He always considered the sea as la mar, that's what people call it in Spanish when they love it."), seems to be his real “house” (Hemingway 29). The floorless cabin in which he lives, with half-open openings, is only a rallying point; a place to rest until he can return to the ocean. In his small town, the old man is rather sad: people pity him, he is (in general) incapable, he is alone without Manolin and he is poor. Santiago has spent his entire life in the ocean. It is important to note that Santiago spent almost four days at sea with nothing other than what he ate the morning of his trip and a single bottle of water. It can be difficult to truly appreciate the extent of what a sea expert was, since readers only hear remarkably mild complaints; thus, this fact seems to be put aside. But let's put it into perspective: this pitiful old man goes to sea for almost four days, most of the journeybeing dedicated to battling an absolutely enormous marlin. He had a bottle of water to feed himself and, thanks to the ocean, he managed, with ingenuity and skill, to obtain enough food to sustain himself. Again, this was all done by the old man while he was struggling with a marlin that was of legendary size. This, among other things, shows Santiago's immense skill at his craft (he says he was simply doing "what [he] was born to do [being a fisherman]"); however, it goes beyond that (Hemingway 40). Santiago's journey, and more importantly, his complete complacency, shows his supernatural connection to nature, because if anyone else had been in his place, they surely would have failed. Santiago shows love for many marine animals: birds, flying fish, dolphins, turtles. But the animal he felt the deepest connection with was the marlin. He constantly talks to the marlin: whether he apologizes to him, tells him that he is his brother, or simply converses with him for the pleasure of conversation. However, the death of the marlin comes when the raw intimacy between the two emerges. Hemingways writes of Santiago and the marlin's final fight: “There are three things that are brothers: the fish and my two hands. » (64). It's almost the end of the marlin's life and, speculating about what will happen to the fish's life, Santiago calculates how much the fish will be worth. Then he said: “But are they worthy to eat it? No, of course not. No one is worthy to eat it…” (Hemingway 75). Santiago grants the marlin a sort of honor; and since this fish is his last catch, his last masterpiece, the honor paid to the marlin could be a scapegoat for Santiago's "long-vanished pride" (Hemingway 93). Their relationship is certainly close, but at the climax of In Their Struggle, the reader sees something that almost transcends a two-way relationship and becomes a kind of unity. Santiago says: “But you have the right to [kill me]… my brother. Come on, kill me. I don't care who kills who. (Hemingway 92). This interchangeability and complete indifference towards something as important as death shows an immense sense of unity. For Santiago, it doesn't matter who kills who since they are one. Continued on the same page, Santiago talks about “…how to suffer like a man.” Or a fish, he thought. (Hemingway 92). On a much more subtle scale, Santiago still shows the interchangeability and synchronicity between himself and the fish. He does this by placing the act of suffering on an equal footing between a man and a fish, more specifically himself and the marlin. In this short sentence (or rather this fragment of a sentence) which seems insignificant, Santiago shows that their sufferings are equal. Suffering like a man or suffering like a fish is the same thing for him. Not only does this show his unity with the fish, but it shows Santiago as almost more part of the animal nature than the humanist nature. To further solidify this unity, Hemingway writes of the fish after it was attacked by sharks: “He no longer liked to look at the fish since it had been mutilated. When the fish was hit, it was as if it was being hit itself. (103). Santiago felt the blow to his honor vicariously through the fish's suffering and mutilation, which in turn paralleled his own. Although he himself was not physically altered by the sharks, it did not matter. In the same way that it didn't matter who killed who, it didn't matter who was mutilated. Once the marlin was completely stripped of everything, Santiago said, “…you killed a man. » (Hemingway 119). “Fish” and “man” are here. 283-294.