Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea

MULAOSMANOVIC, Nejra

“A man can be destroyed but not defeated”. In the Old man and the sea, Santiago says, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated. The true statement can be referred to throughout the novel. Santiago is in the end physically destroyed, but mentally he is not defeated. Santiago’s courage and pride pushes him forward throughout the novel, even when it looks like hope is lost, but is never defeated. Destruction means to completely ruin or spoil. Santiago experienced this destruction. It started with 84 days of not catching anything. He was being crushed but his spirit and pride prevented defeat. During the fight with the Marlin, he physically was being destroyed. He had a choice to spare his life and let the fish go but he knew he had to overcome his destruction so he kept at it and caught the fish. And finally, the fight with the sharks was his hardest battle. He was alone, in his own life battle. His fish was his ‘life’, and shark and other dangerous creatures, are actually all these things that can destroy life in general. And this statement ' man can be destroyed, but not defeated' is one remarkable combination of words. His soul, his hope and his belief they were still on surface and still vivid and real. We can learn through this statement that can be our own motivation. We should be prepared for dark life side, and we should know that we will lose in life, but that should not defeat us. We should take life as a game. We can lose, we can be destroyed, and disappointed, but just take that card or cube again in your hands, and play better than ever before. Cube cannot be destroyed, and that cube is your soul, in your destroyed life.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2013

1416