ХEМИНГВEЈ ПРИПОВEДАЧ: СТАРАЦ И МОРE КАО ПАРАБОЛА О БОРБИ
HEMINGWAY THE NARRATOR: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA AS THE FIGHT OF FAITH

Summary/Abstract: The paper sets out to explore the structuring capacity of Hemingway’s narrative as presented in his last published book and his greatest commercial success. Not all of Hemingway’s biographers and critics admire The Old Man and the Sea, and some have even criticized it harshly. At present, The Old Man and the Sea seems to occupy only a marginal place in Hemingway studies, since it does not have very much to say about sexuality and gender; this short novel is briefly praised, severely criticized or simply bypassed, but the legacy of Hemingway criticism seems never to have handled it with proper care. Whether Santiago serves as an analogy for the writer himself or any artist that strives to achieve the impossible, is highly debatable, as there is nothing sentimental or sublime about his mission: the fishing might be just a simple symbol of a constant risky effort involved in everyday living. Hemingway’s use of the Christ motif brings a breath of medieval play into the popular culture interested in sports and competitions, whereas Biblical parallels and Christian heritage are used within a specific pattern which invokes idolatry, sacrifice and endurance at the same time.

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