In Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea", an old Cuban fisherman, named Santiago, proves that he can still catch large fish for the market by struggling to kill a large swordfish he has hooked. The marlin drags the old man's fishing boat far out into the ocean where they fight to the death. Finally, Santiago kills the fish after struggling for three days and three nights. Unfortunately, total victory isn't in his grasp yet, because soon after, sharks begin to attack and eat his marlin. They consume the whole fish and when the old man returns to his village, he has only the skeleton. In the portrayal of a man suffering willingly, Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" allegorically parallels a fundamental part of Christian mythology, Jesus Christ. .
Both Santiago and Christ have general similarities, for Hemingway recreates Jesus as the old man in the novel. He is very patient and suffers willingly just as Christ did. When both are in plain, they don't complain but do it voluntarily for themselves and others. The love for nature and life is in both the old man and in Jesus. When fishing in the sea, the old man knows he is at the mercy of the ocean that can give or withhold large favors. Since he is the son of the Creator of the world, Christ comprehends that men are only a small part of the world and must respect the environment. Besides both understanding nature, they also have apprentices whom they lovingly mentor. As the teacher of twelve disciples, Jesus is respected by all of them. The boy, who is the old man's student, learned how to fish from him and is now his close friend and follower. Fish was the earliest representation of Christ who was a fisherman of men, and converted people to the religion just as a fisherman catches fish. While the old man relies on the fish for his food and income, Christians rely on the Gospel for their spiritual food. A direct tie to fish in the Christian mythology and the great presence of fish in the old man's life are similar.
