Old Man and The Sea. Repetition Part 2

In repetition part one I described what repetition is, the pro's and con's, and the how Ernest Hemingway used it. In part two I am going to go through and give specific example on how Hemingway used repetition in the book, the Old Man and the Sea. There are five different repetition topics that I am going to cover in this blog. The first of the five is the lions on the beach story. The story consists of the old man, Santiago, talking about his time when he sailed around Africa. He tells how he looked onto the beach and saw the lions playing. (Hemingway) One of the pro's about this repetition in particular is that he allows new information to be shared every time he talks about the story giving it more depth as it goes. Another pro is that it has a very prominent connection to the story. Every time he sleeps he dreams of sailing around Africa and seeing the lions which reminds him of days when he was younger and stronger. This nightly reminding of days of strength actually gives him more strength when he is on the boat fighting for the fish. The next largely repeated subject was Santiago's hands. They talked about how they were scarred from fish, how they would cramp up when holding onto to big fish, and when they were bleeding the image of Jesus came to his mind. (Hemingway) The quote "saw the old man's hands" (Hemingway)was just one of multiple times that the author talked of the old mans hands. The repetition of his hands made for a perfect way to add more bits of story line and information about Santiago. When it talks about the scars on his hands from fishing, it makes you know he has been fishing for a long time. That is a more complex and yet intriguing way to give a reader information on a character. This is a huge pro in my eyes because he allows the repetition to act in the story and not just a random part of the story.
(To Be Continued In Part Three...)


Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.