How Does Santiago Influence Ernest Hemingway's Early Life

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Ernest Hemingway, a renown author of many books, was born on July 21, 1889 in a place by the name of Walloon Lake, Michigan. Here, instead of cars and machinery, Hemingway grew up to the sounds of nature. (Palin, Ernest Hemingway) By the time he was four, his father had already taught him how to use a gun and how to hunt. (Palin, Ernest Hemingway) Hemingway loved hunting, but this was not the only thing he inherited from his father. Ernest also shared his father’s love and respect for the animals they hunted. (Palin, Ernest Hemingway) At the age of twenty-two, Hemingway married a woman by the name of Hadley Richardson. (Palin, Hemingway in) Soon after his first marrage, Ernest was convinced by a fellow author to move to Paris. (Palin, Hemingway in) This trip …show more content…

Throughout most of the story, Santiago, the protagonist, is in a constant fight with a massive marlin on his line. During this struggle, Santiago talks both to himself and to his fish companion, saying things mentioning his love and his respect for the marlin on his line but how he must kill him saying things like, “I’ll kill him though… In all his greatness and his glory,” (Hemingway 41). Santiago’s respect and love for the animal he is hunting reflects much of Hemingway’s own respect and love for nature. The story’s setting can also be compared to Ernest’s early life. Most of the novella takes place either in a poor fishing community with very little machinery or in place of pure nature mainly such as the ocean. Where Hemingway grew up, a secluded place where he was surrounded by nearly nothing but nature strongly influenced the setting of The Old Man And The Sea. Also, as seen by flashbacks in Santiago’s life, the old man had once traveled to the shores of Africa. Hemingway also traveled throughout his life, hence Hemingway’s personal experiences also affected that of his characters’