Biography

Baker, Carlos. Hemingway: The Writer as Artist, 4th edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972. 438 p.

Definitive, biographical study of Hemingway's works that includes discussions of The Old Man and the Sea.

Criticism

Adair, William. "Eighty-Five as a Lucky Number: A Note on The Old Man and the Sea" Notes on Contemporary Literature 8, No. 1 (1978): 9.

Claims that when the numbers eight and five are added, subtracted, or multiplied, the result is always a significant number.

Backman, Melvin. "The Matador and the Crucified." In Ernest Hemingway: Critiques of Four Novels, pp. 135-143. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1962.

Examines two major motifs in Hemingway's work—the matador, who releases force, and the crucified, who accepts pain—that are perfectly blended in The Old Man and the Sea.

Baskett, Sam S. "The Great Santiago: Opium, Vocation, and Dream in The Old Man and the Sea." Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual (1976): 230-42.

Examination of baseball allusions in The Old Man and the Sea.

Bennett, Fordyce Richard. "Manolin's Father." Fitzgerald/ Hemingway Annual (1979): 417-19.

Contrasts Manolin's father with Santiago, arguing that the boy's father represents the Mundane while Santiago represents the Heroic.

Brenner, Gerry. The Old Man and the Sea: Story of a Common Man. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1991, 120 p.

Detailed study of the work, offering details on its literary and historical context and critical reception, providing a detailed reading, and pointing students to further critical sources.

Cooperman, Stanley. Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea: A Critical Commentary. With Murray H. Cohen. New York: Barrister Publishing Co., 1966, 72 p.

Study guide with bibliography.

Davison, Richard A. "Carelessness and the Cincinnati Reds in The Old Man and the Sea." Notes on Contemporary Literature 1, No. 1 (1971): 11-13.

Notes Hemingway's error in placing the Cincinnati Reds in the American League.

Elliott, Gary D. "The Hemingway Hero's Quest for Faith." McNeese Review 24 (1977): 18-27.

Sees Santiago's religious faith as his reason for living.

Halverson, John. "Christian Resonance in The Old Man and the Sea." English Language Notes 2 (1964): 50-4.

Maintains that Santiago's example is "profoundly Christian" and that the novella embodies religious values.

Handy, William J. "A New Dimension for a Hero: Santiago of The Old Man and the Sea." In Six Contemporary Novels: Six Introductory Essays in Modern Fiction, edited by WilliamO. S. Sutherland, pp. 58-75. Austin: University of Texas, 1962.

Views Santiago as a successful hero in the "internal world of singular values" that Hemingway creates.

Harlow, Benjamin. "Some Archetypal Motifs in The Old Man and the Sea." McNeese Review 17 (1966): 74-9.

Examines symbols representing death to rebirth archetypes in the novella.

Heaton, C. P. "Style in The Old Man and the Sea" Style 4 (1970): 11-27.

Examination of the novella's punctuation, sentence types, word choice, and figures of speech.

Hurley, C. Harold, editor. Hemingway's Debt to Baseball in The Old Man and the Sea: A Collection of Critical Readings. Lewiston, NY: Mellen, 1992, 117 p.

Features discussions about the use of baseball in the novella.

Jobes, Katherine T., editor. Twentieth Century Interpretations of "The Old Man and the Sea": A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968, 120 p.

Collection of eighteen essays on the novella written by noted critics, including Malcolm Cowley, Delmore Schwartz, Bickford Sylvester, and Carlos Baker, ranging from brief early reviews to in-depth analyses of single themes.

Johnston, Kenneth G. "The Star in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea." American Literature: A Journal of Literary, History, Criticism, and Bibliography 42 (1970): 388-91.

Examines the use of astrology in the novella, particularly how the star Rigel is used thematically.

Longmire, Samuel E. "Hemingway's Praise of Dick Sisler in The Old Man and the Sea." American Literature: A Journal of Literacy, History, Criticism, and Bibliography 42 (1970): 96-8.

Discussion of baseball player Dick Sister's fame in Cuba.

Kovacs, Jozsef. "Ernest Hemingway, Mati Zalka and Spain: To the Symbolic Meaning of The Old Man and the Sea." Acta Litteraria Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 13 (1971): 315-24.

Maintains that Hemingway's understanding of the Spanish Civil War was integral to his artistic development and played a role in his producing The Old Man and the Sea.

Mansell, Daniel. "When Did Ernest Hemingway Write The Old Man and the Seal" Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual (1975) 311-26.

Argues that Hemingway may have written the novella in the 1930s.

Monteiro, George. "Santiago, DiMaggio, and Hemingway: The Ageing Professionals of The Old Man and the Sea." Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual (1975): 273-80.

Discusses Santiago's worship of DiMaggio, comparing the old man's adversity to that of the baseball legend.

Price, S. David. "Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea." Explicator 38, No. 3 (Spring 1980): 5.

Brief discussion maintaining that Santiago represents Hemingway and the sharks represent literary critics.

Radeljkovic, Zvonimir. "A Long Journey to Hope: Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea." Yugoslav Perspectives on American Literature: An Anthology, pp. 103-106. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ardis, 1980.

Views Santiago's victory-in-defeat in contrast to Hemingway's usual theme of the hopelessness of the human condition.

Sinha, Krishna Nandan. "The Old Man and the Sea: An Approach to Meaning." In Indian Studies in American Fiction, edited by M. K. Naik, S. K. Desai, and S. Mokashi-Punekar. Delhi: Macmillan India, 1974, pp. 219-28.

Study of the religious themes in the novella, in particular incarnation and religious sanction.

Stoltzfus, Ben. "Pride, The Old Man and the Sea." In Gide and Hemingway: Rebels against God, pp. 41-79. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1978.

Offers a new approach to reading the religious allusions in the novella.

Strauch, Edward. "The Old Man and the Sea: A Numerological View." Aligarh Journal of English Studies 6, No. 1 (1981): 89-100.

Discussion of the religious significance of numbers used in novella.

——. "The Old Man and the Sea: An Anthropological View." Aligarh Journal of English Studies 9, No. 1 (1984): 56-63.

Contends that Santiago's story can be seen as a religious pilgrimage.

Swan, Martin. "The Old Man and the Sea: Women Taken for Granted." In Visages de la feminite, edited by A. J. Bullier and J. M. Racault, pp. 147-63. St. Denis, France: Universite de Reunion, 1984.

Feminist evaluation of Hemingway's hostility to women and the feminine in the novella.

Sylvester, Bickford. "Hemingway's Extended Vision: The Old Man and the Sea." Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 81 (1966): 130-38.

Widely reprinted essay arguing that the novella presents a philosophical naturalism that also allows for transcendent meaning in the harshness of human existence.

Ueno, Naozo. "An Oriental View of The Old Man and the Sea." East-West Review 2 (1965): 67-76.

Praises the quiet control and descriptive action in the novella.

Vitacolonna, Luciano. "The Old Man and the Sea: Some Aspects of a Structural Analysis." In Micro and Macro Connexity of Texts, edited by János Petöfi and Emel Sözer, pp. 287-313. Hamburg, West Germany: H. Buske, 1983.

Examination of the structural coherence of the novella.

Wagner, Linda W. "The Poem of Santiago and Manolin." Modern Fiction Studies 19 (1973-74): 517-29.

Compares The Old Man and the Sea to Islands in the Stream to bring attention to the selfless love of Santiago and Manolin.

Waldmeir, Joseph. "Confìteor Hominem: Ernest Hemingway's Religion of Man." In Hemingway and His Critics: An International Anthology, edited by Carlos Baker, pp. 144-49. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1962.

Claims that The Old Man and the Sea elevates Hemingway's "philosophy of Manhood to the level of a religion."

Warner, Stephen D. "Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea." Explicator 33 (1974): Item 9.

Brief examination of the five references to Africa and lions.

Wells, Arvin R. "A Ritual of Transfiguration: The Old Man and the Sea." In Twentieth Century Interpretations of "The Old Man and the Sea": A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Katherine T. Jobes, pp. 56-63. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968.

Analysis of the novella's complex religious symbolism, in which affirmation and guilt, destruction and life, are intertwined.

Additional coverage of Hemingway's life and career is contained in the following sources published by Gale Group: Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Vol. 19; Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography, 1917-1929 ; Contemporary Authors, Vols. 77-80; Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Vol. 34; Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vols. 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 19, 30, 34, 39, 41, 44, 50, 61, 80; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vols. 4,9,102,210; Dictionary of Literary Biography Documentary Series, Vols. 1, 15, 16; Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook, Vols. 81, 87, 96, 98; Discovering Authors; Discovering Authors: British; Discovering Authors: Canadian; Discovering Authors: Most-Studied Authors Module; Discovering Authors: Novelists Module; Major 20th-century Writers, Vols. 1, 2; Short Story Criticism, Vols. 1, 25; and World Literature Criticism.