Christian Symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea
             Although Hemingway claimed not to be religious, one of his greatest works The Old Man and the Sea is one of the best representations of Christian symbolism. Like denying that he believed in Christianity, Hemingway also denied that The Old Man and the Sea was a Christian allegory (Gradesaver).
             "There isn't any symbolism. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The shark are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know."
             Ernest Hemingway, 1952 (Gradesaver).
             Despite his own opinion of his work, Ernest Hemingway uses Christian symbolism in the novel The Old Man and the Sea.
             Santiago, the name itself, is a religious symbol. Translated into Spanish Santiago means St. James was a fisherman-apostle in the New Testament. Santiago reflects a Christ like figure in the way he respects, and loves nature. While other fishermen view the sea in the masculine form, "el mar", and as only a source of economic gain, Santiago refers to the sea as "la mar, which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her," (29). He also loves each of the animals he comes across especially the "flying fish as they were his principal friends on the ocean"(29). When Santiago was younger he had gone out in turtle boats for many years. All turtles fascinated him but "he loved green turtles and hawk-bills with their elegance and speed and their great value" (36). Santiago looks at the sea and its inhabitants with love and respect the same way Christ looks at Earth and his father's creations.
             "The relationship between Santiago and Manolin can be summed up in one sentence: The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him" (Gradesaver). Manolin is Santiago's apprentice, but their relationship isn't strictly business. Manolin idolizes Sa...