The Old Man and the Sea: Similes 7 key examples

The simile comparing the sail to a "flag of permanent defeat" conveys precisely how terrible of a situation Santiago is in now that it has been 84 days of fishing without a catch. While Santiago remains steadfast, the “permanent” nature of the defeat suggests that his luck will not change. Hemingway's note that the sail was patched with "flour sacks" gestures at Santiago's impoverished state before that poverty is confirmed later on. Indeed, the mood only gets darker once Santiago’s humble residence is described.

And yet, Santiago is victorious over the marlin in the climax of the story. The sail of the skiff in which Santiago achieves this victory is no longer a flag of defeat—until, that is, the sharks eat the marlin's meat, turning Santiago's triumph into a pyrrhic victory. In one sense, then, the rest of the novella disproves this initial simile, as Santiago is ultimately victorious. In another sense, though, it does not, as Santiago remains without food or money despite catching his largest fish ever.

Hemingway describes the appearance of both the Sargasso weed and the Portuguese man-of-war using imagery. For instance, the two are characterized by vibrant colors: the Sargasso weed is "yellow" and "sun-bleached," while the jellyfish is "purple" and "iridescent." Both the Sargasso weed and the man-of-war float along on top of the water beside Santiago's skiff. Despite the similarity in descriptions, however, the Sargasso weed is helpful—Santiago later eats shrimp from some Sargasso weed—while the man-of-war is deadly and potentially harmful.

There is a similar juxtaposition inherent to the description of the man-of-war. The simile comparing the Portuguese man-of-war to a bubble is barely a simile, as the Portuguese man-of-war does in fact float like a bubble. The use of "cheerfully" in "floated cheerfully as a bubble" is also an instance of personification, as the jellyfish presumably does not do anything "cheerfully" or otherwise. While both the simile and the personification suggest that the jellyfish is well-meaning and harmless, it is in fact neither.

Imagery is everywhere in The Old Man and the Sea, but the description of the first time Santiago sees the marlin is particularly important. From the "dark purple" of his head and back to the "light lavender" of his sides, what the marlin looks like is described first and foremost. There are also two similes in the brief description: one compares the length of the marlin's “sword" to "a baseball bat” and another describes the marlin re-entering the water as smooth "like a diver." 

The imagery and similes both suggest that the marlin is a formidable opponent. They also, however, highlight his beauty and humanity. After all, Santiago has a particular affinity for baseball, and a diver is a human. Thus, the first time Santiago lays eyes on the marlin, the marlin’s humanity is gestured at through figurative language at the same time as its fearsome and capable nature is also emphasized. 

The simile describes the moving Sargasso weed as if it is "making love with something under a yellow blanket." This simile subtly contributes to the personification of the ocean that occurs throughout the novella: after all, the ocean is unable to make love. The simile makes the unalive alive as it simultaneously makes the alive unalive; in other words, it compares the ocean to a person having sex as it simultaneously compares Sargasso weed to a blanket. This playing with what is alive and not alive continues through the end of the sentence. As the ocean figuratively makes love, the dolphin eats the bait and thus is fated to die.

The intermingling of life and death highlights the role nature plays as a provider for Santiago, as well as the complicated cycle of life and death that is inherent to the natural world. The ocean gives life to Santiago through enabling him to take the life of the dolphin, which in turn fuels him on his journey to kill the marlin. Santiago recognizes this complicated relationship as best he can, prompting his feeling of kinship with the natural world.

While an atypical instance of personification, Santiago talks to his hand specifically as if it was a person in and of itself. Indeed, he uses the second-person perspective when offering to "eat some more for you," acting as if his hand was separate from his body and yet benefited from his actions. Ironically, Santiago treats his personified hand as if it was alive, while Hemingway's simile compares Santiago's hand's stiffness to rigor mortis, which occurs after something has died. The two instances of figurative language exist in tension with one another, connoting both life and death.

For one, this instance of figurative language emphasizes Santiago's age and his isolation. As he explains elsewhere, Santiago didn't use to speak when fishing with Manolin. Moreover, the cramp can be understood as Santiago's body continuing to betray him as he ages. At the same time, nature's benevolence is illustrated through the food that Santiago eats in order to resolve the cramp: the ocean provides the fish that Santiago needs for fuel in order to continue battling the marlin.

Santiago is in the middle of convincing himself that he needs to sleep, which he eventually does. The irony here is that the reader knows Santiago is not "too clear" in the head. A non-comprehensive list of evidence that Santiago is not "too clear" in the head includes Santiago talking to himself out loud, Santiago's loose grasp on whether or not he has food and a bait net at beginning of the novella, and Santiago's admittance directly prior to this quotation that he needs to sleep

The simile comparing Santiago's state of mind to the clear stars supports the irony: the stars are not in fact Santiago's brothers, and thus the simile allegedly supporting Santiago's clear-headed nature instead reveals the irony of the claim. Specifically, the claim is one of situational irony, as the facts of the scenario appear to directly contradict Santiago's assertion. While Santiago becomes confused at points throughout the story, he remains level-headed enough to catch the marlin (although he does end up sleeping before doing so).

Hemingway uses the same type of figurative language to describe this first shark sighting as he uses to describe Santiago's first sighting of the marlin. In both instances, the aquatic animals are described as beautiful (or "handsome") yet dangerous, whether that's because of the marlin's long sword or because of the shark's sharp teeth. The shark's teeth have "razor-sharp cutting edges on both sides," and they are compared through simile to "claws."

However, the jaws are also compared to "man’s fingers" generally and to "the fingers of the old man"—meaning Santiago—specifically. The creature Santiago is attempting to kill is thus compared to a human through figurative language. The similarity between sharks and Santiago extends beyond this simile, too: Santiago spends his life hunting fish just like a shark does. While both the marlin and this shark are similar to Santiago in a myriad of ways, Santiago nevertheless kills them both.