In Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is confronted by a series of sharks, which come in a specific order. This order is significant in a few ways. One significance in the order in which the sharks come is that it shows us how nature is organized and arranged. In this book, Hemingway seems to view nature as having a specific arrangement and believes that things in nature work in a specific way. The sequence of the sharks show Hemingway's ideas about nature. Santiago first encounters the Mako shark, which is described as "beautiful and noble and knows no fear of anything," and "a fish built to feed on all the fishes in the sea." After ...view middle of the document...
Another detail that the sequence of the sharks points out is the greatness of the marlin that Santiago caught. The marlin is powerful and beautiful. The first shark that comes to feed on it is noble and intelligent and worthy to feed on such a great fish as the marlin. However, the shovel-nosed sharks which are hateful and killers, are only worthy to feed on the marlin after it has been ruined and disfigured. This comes to show how magnificent the marlin was while intact, that only the noblest shark was worthy enough to feed on it.Santiago's story implies an interesting relationship between man and nature. Santiago's ordeal is a perfect example of man struggling against nature for survival. However, this story also shows how man and nature exist side by side and how all of nature's creatures are considered brother and equals with men. Santiago calls the fish his brother but only kills it because he has to. He says, "It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers," and feels great sorrow for having to kill the marlin. Although man and nature are considered equals, it is acknowledged that death and conflict is a basic part of nature. All creatures interact with each other in certain ways, but mainly, one lives and feeds off the other. There is also an order which all of nature's creatures obey and live by. This is shown through the sequence in which the sharks come and also portrays as man being at the top of this chain. Man depends on nature for survival and therefore man and nature are intertwined.
