Allusions In The Old Man And The Sea

It is surprising how many instances of Christ are portrayed in everyday life. This is exactly the case in the book The Old Man and the Sea written by Ernest Hemingway. In the book, an old man named Santiago is a poor man who can hardly make a living as a fisherman going 85 days without a fish being tempted like Jesus. There are many Biblical symbols such as Santiago meaning saint-like and him being in a “fishless desert” for forty days. But those are just some of the many Biblical portrayals yet to be revealed in the tale of Santiago: such as certain time frames, the passion, and specific objects depicting Christ. One of the largest areas for Biblical parallels to the book is the certain numbers used for passing time. For example, the

The fist parallels is when Santiago is carrying his fishing gear in a similar fashion to the way that Jesus carries his cross to his impending death. The next instance of the story illustrating the Bible is when Santiago finally catches the fish he has hooked for the passed couple of days and he is taking it back to the mainland. But on his way to his home he encounters sharks, this is a problem because his fish is so large it cant fit on the boat so he ties it to the side where it is in the range of the sharks. When he spots them, he lets out the cry “Ay” and the book portrays it as, “feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood.” This quote is depicting when Jesus is nailed to the cross through his hands. The last major instance of the Passion is when Santiago finally returns home. He carries his gear like a cross again but this time he is worn out like Jesus. He stops five times and when he finally returns home, he puts his gear vertically against the wall like the cross is when Jesus finished his journey. After that, he lies down to sleep in a position with his legs together and his arms horizontally outstretched revealing his totally scared palms. This position is eerily similar to the position Jesus is in on the cross. When his younger apprentice named Manolin walked in next morning and saw Santiago’s scared palms, he is in disbelief. This final