The Old Man and the Sea- Religious Symbolism

The Old Man and the Sea has some religious symbolism when you start to understand the reading. There a lot of meanings hid in this book that you may not get from reading, but if you study it you can see all of them. Most of the religious symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea occurs when Santiago is trying to kill his big marlin after catching it. While Santiago was fighting the huge marlin, his hands got cut up pretty badly. This symbolizes how Christ got his hands cut and screwed to the cross. I know that what Christ went through was way worse, and nothing will ever compare to that. Santiago would have gave his life for that marlin, and he just about did, like Christ did for us. Santiago really loves the water and the fish, and that is all he cares about, and that is also what his life revolves around. Christ loves this earth and all of the people in it, and he would do anything for each and every one of us. Also, while fishing Santiago lets out a loud yell, or scream, in pain. This yell is supposed to represent the screams that Christ let out when he was getting nailed up to the cross. I did not realize how much this book really represented all of the things Christ went through, and when I did I thought that it was pretty awesome. When Santiago was back to shore he struggled walking up the hill to the village, and this is also supposed to represent Christ's hard walk to Calvary. Then, when Santiago gets home, he collapses on his bed and his arms are out, palms up, and this represents Christ while he was on the cross. Santiago was really struggling in the end just like Christ did. Hemingway, the author of this novel, really wanted to link Santiago to Christ in many ways. This book really had some great religious symbolism.