This document discusses themes of age and youth in Ernest Hemingway's short story "The Old Man and the Sea". It analyzes how the story might have been different if the main character Santiago had been a young man rather than an old man. Some key points made include: 1) Santiago's age and identity as an "old man" is emphasized throughout the story and important to Hemingway, 2) As an old man, Santiago feels less in control of his body and dreams are limited, and 3) If Santiago was young, he may not reflect as much on his life and past adventures. The document considers how Hemingway may have used Santiago's age to convey specific themes.

1. MAHARAJA KRISHNAKUMARSINHJI BHAVNAGAR
UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
Enrollment number: 2069108420200018
Batch year: 2019-21
The American Literature
Presented by: Ruchi Joshi
ruchivjoshi101@gmail.com
What if the hero had not been a old
man in The Old Man and The Sea?

2. Age or the process of ageing is a
phenomenon which goes
unnoticed in theory, but
incorporates a part of the
unconscious of every human
being.
What is your age?
Does it matter?
Are old age and youth
contrasting concepts!?

3. What is to be young?

4. Youth: Solitary stage of life
- Kenneth Keniston
What is
young?
Resilience
Integrity
Resource
fulness.
Creativity.
Empathy
Assertiv
eness
Curiosity
Social
Skills

5. Decentering the center of
the Old Man
“We are given over to
absolute solitude. No one
can speak with us and no
one can speak for us; we
must take it upon ourselves,
each of us must take it upon
himself.”
― Jacques Derrida,
The Gift of Death

6. Hemingway and his heroes
Code hero
Is it old v/s young means
contradiction?
Is either young or old?
Are majority of
Hemingway’s
protagonists old?

7. How might the story have
been different if the hero had
been a young man?

8. The old man of The Old Man and
The Sea
Who is Santiago if we remove
‘fisherman’ and ‘The Old’?
What is exact identity of Santiago?
Is Old Man rejecting his old age or
younger’s will power to do or
prove something within Old man
rejecting old age?

9. Theme of Age
• Hemingway refers to
Santiago as 'the old man'
throughout the story.
• Why is it so important to
Hemingway that the reader
is constantly kept aware of
this character's age?
Can Santiago be
considered as a
representative of
all?
Santiago is referred
as old man only
instead of Santiago.
Why?

10. Slight of regret in not having young
man with him
• He wakes up early, thinks about his past
• we can say that part of the influence that
his old age has is on his physical body.
He feels less in control of his body, which
does not allow him to sleep late and which
makes it more difficult for him to catch
large fish.

11. Psychological aspects to the old
man's age.
misses the
adventures of his
youth
with his dreams
becoming limited to
places and especially
the coast of Africa
where he marveled at
the lions who
gathered on the
beach there
the old man starts
to reflect more on
his life
with the loss of
strength and
freedom, and being
trapped within his
weakened body
He also mentions
that he has started
talking to himself
when he is alone
himself.
something he didn't
do before

12. What if he would young as he
thinks of past?
Just imagine…
‘The Man and The Sea’
instead of
‘The Old Man and The Sea’

13. Young Man: Manolin
• Young boy
• Question on freedom
• Cannot overtly support
even if he wishes!
This anxiety is almost
in young men.
Manolin no longer cares what his own
parents say, for he views Santiago as
his "real" parent and teacher

14. “What cannot be said above all must not be
silenced but written.”
― Jacques Derrida

15. How might the story have
been different if the hero had
been a young man?
Now, What do you
think……
Is Santiago young man or
old man?
What if he, if his is not Old
Man?
How Old man satisfy urge
to Hemingway?

16. References
• Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: an Introduction to Literary and
Cultural Theory. Manchester University Press, 2019.
• Burhans, Clinton S. “The Old Man and the Sea: Hemingway's Tragic
Vision of Man.” American Literature, vol. 31, no. 4, 1960, pp. 446–
455. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2922437. Accessed 1 Dec. 2020.
• Hemingway ,Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1952. 1955.
• KENISTON, KENNETH. “Youth: A ‘New’ Stage of Life.” The American
Scholar, vol. 39, no. 4, 1970, pp. 631–654. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/41209802. Accessed 1 Dec. 2020.