CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES IN THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 1

Conflicting Ideologies in The Old Man and the Sea

Literature opens up a whole new world. With unique characters, captivating settings,

thoughtful plots, and an exquisite execution, each story provides a fine navigation through each

pages of the book and further guides us into new ideologies and insights, showing every time

that there are much to learn in every aspects of life. However, one might be conflicted on the

decision for an appropriate action when the early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets

the cheese, and when a plethora of borderline contradictory stances avalanches down, one might

be met with an inevitable breakdown.

The Old Man and the Sea is a story about the old man failing to catch a fish in the sea. It

opens up by introducing the main character, Santiago, who is an unlucky old man obtaining no

fish for months, being definitely and finally salao (9), and after a short exchange between

Santiago and his apprentice the story raises its action by having the now-confident old man set

sail far into Gulf Stream, as he dreams of an end to his unlucky streak. The old man sets his

fishing line, and sure enough, a fish took his bait, and as the story reaches its peak, the old man

and the fish fought each other for a long while, long enough to have the old man calling the fish

his brother. The fish which turns out to be a huge marlin was caught after being stabbed by

Santiagos harpoon on the third day, but was later nibbled away from him by the sharks when the

story falls apart as he sailed too far, and what remains was nothing but a skeleton as the old man

sails back home. The story concludes itself as the old man returns home empty-handed and thus

ends its narration after depicting the life that is Santiago.

Indeed, The Old Man and the Sea presents such a simple type of story of such a simple

old man, but this story is not at all mundane, as it has telltales on many insightful pointers for the

audience. The storys analyses went up along with its popularity, and through many iterations of
CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES IN THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 2

analyses arrives multiple views of the book that inevitably conflicts with each other. Whether

this is a deliberate plan from the authors part or not, it still stands that The Old Man and the

Seas conflicting implications on how to interpret the book elicits to the reader the generalized,

motivating fact that the world is whatever one wishes it to be.

First of all, the story formerly presents contradictory advocacies on femininity and

masculinity, then guide us from the clash of ideas by introducing the way Santiago views the sea,

leading to an insight that ones life depends on ones view of life. The story tells about Santiago,

who, according to Robert M. Hogge, is an old man seeking power and dominance as per his

inherent obsession with his ego, lacking self-awareness and being blinded by his own altruist

rationales (1992). He does obtain the fish in the sea from days of enduring times, and this does

back up on the notion of acting like a stereotypical man by glorifying strength and perseverance,

but the story itself then rejects the very notion it approved by pinching the fish away by reason of

Santiago having too much pride and sailing too far into the sea. With this, it should not be a

stretch to say that the story both praises and scorns a stereotypical man.

As if to guide on how one should navigate through these conflicting ideologies, the story

then presents Santiagos view and interaction with the sea where he sees the sea as a whole

instead of separating them, instead of viewing the sea as a woman when its kind and as a man

when its wicked (Momtazi, n.d.). This inspires one to not only judge people based on one of

their attributes, but to see them as themselves, and to not subject them into classifications, no

matter how stereotypical they make one feel. One can see that the sea Santiago views as a whole

both accepts and rejects him at the same time, as both laudation on vigor and disdain on pride are

present within the seas action. It may now be time for Santiago to choose whether he wants to

see the sea as an endearing entity, or a vicious one, like how one choose whether to accept or
CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES IN THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 3

reject others and also oneself, of whether to get bogged down on the mistakes of ones life or to

remind ourselves of the successes that made oneself.

Whether to glamorize on ones achievements or repulse on ones shortcomings is a

question whose answer can only be derived on ones own accord, but sooner or later, the choices

that are made will slowly but surely change oneself. As occurrences and happenings rush down

continuously, they offer multitudes of crossroads, chosen purely by each persons past

experiences, yearnings, desires, beliefs, feelings, actions and ultimately views on life, and after

passing through myriads of intersections of life, one may definitely look back and see how

everything is all connected, that ones view on life does indeed shape ones own action and,

altogether, how one lives their life.

Those antithetical implications does not stop at only the feminist theory, as the story also

presents contradictory advocacies about Marxist Theory, again, as to tell the readers that the

lenses we use to see in our life can change our behavior and our attitude. As the story portrays

the old man struggling to get a fish from the sea, putting in the lenses of Marxist Theory along

with seeing that the two main characters are Santiago and the Sea should allow one to see that it

might not be overreaching for one to equate the two characters with the bourgeoisie and the

proletariat. Since the sea is letting the old man fish, it should be adequate to associate the sea

with bourgeoisie and the old man as proletariat, like how the workers are paid by factory owners,

and with these clearly reasonable assumptions, one can see that the story takes advantage of the

old man by setting up a shark to take advantage to all of the old mans hard work, and this

reflects the bourgeoisie ripping off from the proletariats. However, the sea also provides such an

enticing marlin for the hardworking Santiago, and so once again, a conflict arises as the story

both agrees and counters Marxism.

CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES IN THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 4

There stands many fierce debates about communism and capitalism, and so another

argument for capitalism can be shown implicitly as Santiagos dedication to the New York

Yankees and belief in the sports as a whole can be seen to be showing how the United States

allegedly use media to win the heart of Latin Americans in the post-war era and how this is being

the means to fight against communism (Melling, 2006). However, there stands many valid

arguments against capitalism and its view on wage slavery, which leads to the fact that, once

again, the world is vast with many different valid takes on living life, and so the lenses that one

puts into oneself can definitely change ones life and ones action.

Those conflicting ideas given by the book continues on to many of the impactful theories,

including psychoanalysis, as the story presents contradictory advocacies on psychoanalytic

approaches, as if to express to us that the world is whatever one wishes it to be. The boy and

Santiago is seen to be living in a farce of having a cast net, a representation of their financial

status and control. The story presents their views on their lives in their unconscious minds as a

repression about their live has been clearly implied. They boy knows and approves repression of

Santiagos lack of control and finance, so in other words, the story approves repression by

making the boy character that approves repression onto an unconscious mind, and this supports

the idea of repressing oneself to function with others. However, Santiago later lets himself all out

on when he is fishing, and conversely, this supports the opposing idea of letting go of repressed

emotion from the unconscious mind.

Indeed, repression can be a useful tool to suppress ones own desires and subdue past

traumas, but too much can and does harm. The story supports conflicting ways to cope with

emotional stress, both holding it in and letting it go, as the old man is seen to be both faking

himself having a cast net, which promotes repression, and also letting himself out at times,
CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES IN THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 5

spitting at the sharks, talking to himself, and connecting to the fish without repressing himself.

Maybe it is because the old man is with other people the boy, and so he repressed himself, as

opposed to when he was alone, and that there are no contradictory advocates about repression;

that Santiago simply repressed himself while with others and became less repressed while alone.

However, this may not be as a valid argument as the boy is shown to be fairly intimate with the

old man, exchanging small talks and taking care of each other, and so there is no reason for the

old man to be repressing himself in front of the boy. With that said, it is fairly clear that these

conflicting arguments leads us to the fact that once again, the world is whatever one wishes it to

be.

Ultimately, we see that, as if purposefully, The Old Man and the Sea provides many

conflicting ideas on how and what the take of the story is on many ideologies. The story both

glamorizes and repulses being a stereotypical man, both supports and argues against the notion

of Marxism, and both disputes and concurs on the benefit of repression. The story approves of

Santiago acting as a stereotypical man by presenting him obtaining the fish via strength and

tenacity to sail far into the sea, but also rejects of Santiago acting as a stereotypical men right

when he lost the fish he obtained due to pride to sail far into the sea, conclusively telling the

reader that being a stereotypical man can both aid and hinder ones life at the same time. It

brings forth the sea that has sharks that take advantage of old man, which promotes Marxism and

communism, but also has winds and fishes for the old man, which argues against an assumption

of Marxist Theory, that bourgeoisies are inherently selfish. It gives contradicting arguments for

the idea of repression, as the old man is seen to be both faking himself having a cast net, which

promotes repression, but also letting himself out at times, spitting at the sharks, talking to

himself, and connecting to the fish without repressing himself.

CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES IN THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 6

Many literary theories were made for people to view the literature in a different way, but

even those lenses itself can offer contradicting views of the story, and this can illustrate to us that

no external factors can change people of the way they are, that the way they view the world are

not prohibited by their outside sources. Then again, looking back at Santiago, whats not to say

that the old man was living as peacefully and happily in his own way? Despite having such an

unlucky streak and struggling to make his living, as long as he is still a spiritual traveler who

wishes to remain in the Tao, or path, of correctness and right action (Waggoner, 1998), a

comfortable home, respectable peers, and even the sea itself will be there to guide him at times

where all else is but none. With this, one can wholeheartedly say that ones view does depend on

what one choose to absorb in, which serves as lenses to help understand the story, and ultimately

ones life, and that indeed, the world is whatever one wishes it to be.
CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES IN THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA 7

Works Cited

Hogge, R. M. (1992). Inside the Current: A Taoist Reading of The Old Man and the Sea.

Hemingway Review. Spring98, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p88-104. 17p. 1 Black and White

Photograph. Retrieved from

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=612146&db=a9h.

Melling, P. (2006). CULTURAL IMPERIALISM, AFRO-CUBAN RELIGION, AND

SANTIAGO'S FAILURE IN HEMINGWAY'S THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA.

Hemingway Review. Fall2006, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p6-24. 19p. Retrieved from

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fce984a02743%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=

22544589&db=a9h.

Momtazi, S. (n.d.). Destroyed but not defeated: Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea : A

psychotherapeutic story. Retrieved from

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/ipsa/2003/hemingway%20T.O.and%20T.S.html.

Waggoner, E. (1998). The old man and the sea (Book Review). Hemingway Review;

Fall92, Vol. 12, p88-90, 3p. Retrieved from

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fce984a02743%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=

509599072&db=hft.