Student Question
What are some examples of personification in The Old Man and the Sea and their effects?
Quick answer:
In The Old Man and the Sea, examples of personification include of the fish and nature itself. Santiago personifies the great fish, referring to it as "he" and imbuing it with human feelings and thoughts that, in turn, have the effect of making the struggle between them more noble in his mind. There is also personification of nature. For instance, Hemingway refers to the ocean as a tempestuous woman full of beauty but also of fury and danger.
In The Old Man and the Sea, the old fisherman, Santiago, personifies the fish that he catches on his reel, imagining it has human feelings and thoughts, which make the struggle between them seem more noble to him and perhaps the author also. Santiago refers to the great fish as "he" and refers to other fish as "our brothers like the flying fish."
Nature is also personified in the novel. Hemingway refers to the ocean as a tempestuous, beautiful woman who is also full of fury and danger. Santiago asks himself why nature made birds that were as delicate as the sea swallows are "when the ocean can be so cruel." He then refers to the ocean as "she," thinking that it is often so kind, as when it gives forth its bounty and he has a good fishing season, and beautiful. He thinks to himself, however, that "she...
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can be so cruel" also. When people love the sea, they call the sea "la mar," and Hemingway even refers to the sea as "her" in this passage. Santiago thinks of the sea as a woman, and her unpredictable nature—whether there will be a good catch or not, whether there will be danger, follows the moon's cycles just as a woman's cycles follow the moon. Hemingway writes that
The moon affects her as it does a woman, [Santiago] thought.
Later, he calls the sea a "whore," when he is disappointed.
Where does Hemingway use personification in The Old Man and the Sea?
In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway consistently uses personification to illustrate Santiago’s intimate bond with the natural world. More specifically, Hemingway supplies Santiago’s natural surroundings with human characteristics in order to highlight the respect that Santiago has for the awesome power of nature. As Santiago is out at sea, Hemingway writes:
“Just before it was dark, as they passed a great island of Sargasso weed that heaved and swung in the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket” (72).
The most striking instances of personification in the novella, however, occur when Hemingway describes the sea life that Santiago encounters. Hemingway imbues the fish, turtles, and other creatures with human characteristics. In one specific instance of this personification, Hemingway portrays porpoises as distinctly human:
“'They are good,' he said. 'They play and make jokes and love one another. They are our brothers like the flying fish'” (48).
This personification is all used to illustrate the brotherhood and kinship that Santiago feels with the natural world. He holds a deep and sincere relationship with nature that is striking.