A Perfect Combination of the Real Life and Literary World: An Analysis of The Old Man and the Sea

Being distinguished from many greatest American writers, Hemingway is noted as an iron man and his powerful philosophy: “Man can be destroyed, but not defeated”. Among all his works, The Old Man and the Sea is considered to be the masterpiece of Hemingway’s works and the one that best demonstrates this powerful philosophy. And The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel about an old Cuban fisherman Santiago and his battle with a great marlin. In his masterpiece, Hemingway portrays Santiago with every dominant and strong characteristic, which is the prototype of an iron man. This is one of the basic characteristics of the novel which gives Ernest Hemingway great honor and makes him become one of the authors who define American literature. The Old Man and the Sea is the one that best represents American social life on the period Hemingway lived. In this short novel, a lot of facts are used. Most of the facts come from Hemingway’s own experience. Reading up the masterpiece, it is evident that the story and the hero are the self-portray of the author himself. With the real life and the literary world perfectly combined, we read Hemingway’s and we read through Hemingway and his inner world.