Did Hemingway expose features of Pain in the protagonist of "The Old Man and the Sea

International Journal of Development Research

Volume: 
11
Article ID: 
21201
3 pages
Research Article

Did Hemingway expose features of Pain in the protagonist of "The Old Man and the Sea

Otto J. Hernandez Fustes, MD, MSc, Carlos Arteaga Rodriguez, MD, MSc, Gabriela Sulzbach Solanho, Isabela de Assis , Lara Leonel Ferreira, Mariane Keppel and Olga J. Hernandez Fustes, MD, MSc

Abstract: 

Objective: To record the possible relationship between the author's health history and the main character of the book and motivate research on the causes of pain and neuropathy. Background: This year marks the 122nd anniversary of the birth of Ernest Hemingway and the 67th anniversary of the Nobel Prize for Literature. “The Old Man and the Sea” was his last novel, which was written in 1951 during his stint in Cuba and published in 1952. A sufferer of several health conditions, such as diabetes mellitus, the author emphasized the pain of its main personage in the work. Design/Methods: We reviewed the English, Spanish, and Portuguese versions of “The Old Man and the Sea” for descriptors of pain-related symptoms. Results: The narrative is centered on the story of Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman. After 84 days without getting a prey, the old man catches an enormous Marlim fish of almost 1550 pounds after being urged by a young companion to keep trying. After hours of fighting, Santiago managed to anchor the fish in his boat and left the Cuban coast. The book, with a total of 27000 words, expresses the pain in 30 of them. Conclusions: The book secured Hemingway the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and later the Nobel of Literature. It was a great and simple work that portrayed the noble characteristics of human beings. We are not sure of the neuropathy (diabetic or other etiology) the author was suffering from, but we can confirm the greatness of his work.

DOI: 
https://doi.org/10.37118/ijdr.21201.02.2021
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