Reading through the novel The Old Man and the Sea one, as a reader, can perceive several themes in the book. Hemingway suggests certain subjects for discussion which built up the whole plot, therefore giving us options to choose the one we believe is the main one. In the past weeks we have been discussing, in a debate, which is that main theme. My group’s theme was “Man Defeated” and although it is hard to affirm that this theme was the prevailing one of the book, we firmly defend it. Various arguments were established. Some argued that the novel’s theme was Santiago’s struggle, the friendship with the fish and other characters; Santiago’s perseverance and that he really ended up as a triumphant man. But to argue that those were also the main themes of the book is also a difficult thing to do. Even though Santiago fought and kept on with his struggle to catch the fish, he was defeated because he lost it at the end.

Defeat, according to the Larousse Chambers English Dictionary, is when you are overthrown in a battle, you lose a game and therefore you don’t win: you don’t gain or reach your goal. As we can see Santiago, in spite of the fact

Although he caught the fish, Santiago couldn’t manage to keep it. He stubbornly tied it to his little boat and knew that the sharks were going to come and eat it. He fought with the sharks but didn’t have a favourable result. We can’t say that the old man was triumphant; he was defeated, not only because we think so but because he felt that way. Santiago admits his failure and doesn’t deny it : “They beat me , Manolin. They truly beat me.”(page 124). He accepted his lack of success and knew that he couldn’t achieve his goal. If he had been truly happy and joyful he wouldn’t be that pessimistic. He didn’t even care about what would happen with what was left of the fish “…let Pedrico chop it up (the head)…You keep it if you want it (referring to the spear)” (page 124). The old man is too tired and sad as to care about his ‘trophy’. He doesn’t even appreciate it and really doesn’t have any value to him. We can have an opinion and say that the man gained spiritual victory and that he achieved his aim, but we have to think if he would trade that ‘spiritual victory’ for the necessities of the coming winter. There is no point in having dreams or illusions if you are going to starve and feel miserable. We have to see the facts and realise what Santiago really thought and how he felt about it. He is not triumphant , as the book shows with Santiago’s words; he feels defeated.

hear and he felt something seize the club and it was gone.” (page 118).

As far as Hemingway and Santiago are concerned, the old man is not fortunate anymore. Since the beginning of the book we are told that the old man is “ salao, which is the worst form of unlucky” (page 9). And again, at the end : “ I am not lucky. I am not lucky anymore.” (page 125). If you are lucky it is because you have good luck and you happen to be fortunate, but this didn’t happen with Santiago. He knew it. And we are not only told this at the beginning of the book but reaffirmed at the end. In regard to his unluckiness we can also remind us of the 84 days that Santiago had spent trying to catch a fish and which didn’t succeed. The fishermen of his community knew his situation and made fun of him, but in a ‘tender’ way, because they knew what it was like, to not catch anything in a long time.

can a man do against them in the dark without a weapon?

Throughout the book we get the persistent idea of Santiago being beaten, a synonym for defeated. We can divide the idea of being beaten into two: the fact that Santiago knows it and that he accepts it. Showing the knowledge of his situation, the author tells us: “He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy…”(page 119).“…it is easy when you are beaten. I never knew how easy it was. And what beat you, he thought”(page120). With these quotes we can see that Santiago knows that he was finally beaten. He knew that the sharks won even though h

Some common words found in the essay are:
English Dictionary, Fight I’ll, Hemingway Santiago, Defeated Reading, lost fish, catch fish, fish lost, gained spiritual victory, sharks ate fish, didn’t care happen, santiago doesn’t, santiago defeated, couldn’t accomplish, hope fight, defeated santiago, santiago weaponless, favourable result,
Approximate Word count = 2067
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)