Old Man and the Sea: Universal Theme and Human Nature

The Old Man and the Sea  had many hints of human nature.  Human nature is basically the way a human thinks, feels, and acts naturally.  Hemingway incorporated human nature heavily in this novel.   Some qualities the reader can find were perseverance, strength, and a touch of insanity.  The first of the qualities is perseverance.  Perseverance is basically never giving up.  The way the old man acted by never giving up is part of his human nature.  The determination to catch this fish no matter how dangerous it could be.  It was very dumb for the man to decide to fight this fish until one of them died, and that can be identified as human nature.  Although the old man persevered, it was a bad decision because he could have died of exhaustion or starvation.

The second quality is strength.  The old man showed incredible strength when battling with the fish.  He never let go of the of the line.  He kept his muscles working at all times.  Not only did he have physical strength, he had emotional strength as well.  His emotional strength helped him to stay calm while catching this marlin.  He never let his emotions become too strong and distract him from what was important, which was catching the fish.  It takes a strong person to keep that calm when nothing is going their way.

A last quality was insanity.  The old man himself was not insane, but this battle made him temporarily insane.  The fact that he was alone, did not eat or drink much, and this battle was so long, made him slightly crazy.  He would talk to himself and the fish, although he knew that would not help either of them work with him.  He was not thinking completely clearly at times.  He would also talk to himself.  Many times he would say, "I wish the boy was with me".  While the old man was not full blown crazy, the loneliness, the lack of food and drink, and the length of his struggle made him that way temporarily.  This was brought on by human nature.

The last topic to explain is the universal theme in this novel.  Personally, I think that it is you can still be successful although you have been beaten.  Santiago lost his great fish, but he gained perspective and respect.  That might not have been what he was looking for, but he might have needed it.  Santiago found some greatness in defeat.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.