El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha and The Old Man and the Sea: A Study of the Symbolic Essence of Man in Cervantes and Hemingway

EL INGENIOSO HIDALGO DON QUIJOTE DE LA MANCHA AND THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA: A STUDY OF THE SYMBOLIC ESSENCE OF MAN IN CERVANTES AND HEMINGWAY Sergio H. Bocaz Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and Ernest Hemingway are two authors who, at the peak of their creativity, dealt ultimately with the essence of man. Both Don Quijote and the Old Man in The Old Man and the Sea are archetypes with similar characteristics which tend to measure the essence and meaning of the eternal idea of universal man. Don Quijote is an example par excellence of this, as is Santiago the fisherman, Hemingway's Old Man. What makes these archetypes, these paradigms, the conveyors of the most important intrinsic human values? Both Cervantes and Hemingway give us a definite answer through their symbolism: the essence of man stems from the importance of a human endeavor applied toward the fulfillment of a morally good ideal. And when, in the pursuit of an ideal, these two heroes strive and have the power for action, this essence comes into existence because the essence in question is nothing more than the truth that both heroes consciously accept—and their acceptance of a moral attitude toward that truth. What is the moral attitude of both heroes, Don Quijote and Santiago, once the confrontation with their truth has been established? The answer is "action." They both have the power to act, as a sine qua non element, to achieve their reason for being moral men. Action gives meaning to their morality and, ultimately, to their essence. Don Quijote and Santiago the fisherman know one essential truth: life is cruel. They do not assume, however, the Unamunian attitude of sadness and despair, or the cynical belief that a moody God created man as a supremely bitter joke which is assumed in The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain. They take life in a most male fashion; they give meaning to their lives and existence by a strenuous human approach, by showing their stamina in fighting life, thus earning their immortality. It is at this point that both Cervantes and Hemingway use similar symbolism in their parallel artistic studies in the essence of man. It is interesting to note the similarity in the portraits of the two heroes. Cervantes writes: Frisaba la edad de nuestro hidalgo con los cincuenta años; era de complexión recia, seco de carnes, enjuto de rostro, gran madrugador y amigo de la caza ("The Master himself was about fifty years old, of a strong complexion, dry flesh and a thin, withered face; he was an early riser and a great friend of hunting.")1 This portrait coincides almost exactly with the one Hemingway paints 1MIgUeI de Cervantes Saavedra, £/ ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, I (Buenos Aires: W. M. Jackson, Inc., 1958) 24, my translation. Henceforth, all page references from this work will appear in the body of the text. 49 50RMMLA BulletinJune 1971 of his Old Man. "The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. . . . Everything in him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated."2 Both portraits show not only the similar physical and psychological stature of both men but also their spiritual and moral authority as prototypes among men. Although Don Quijote and Santiago the fisherman are chronologically old, their attitude is as youthful as the sea, to use Hemingway's metaphor . The fact that they both like hunting, an indication of their capacity for action, puts them even more at an equal level. Don Quijote and Santiago the fisherman are positive men inspired by positive ideals. The ideal, a complex absolute in Don Quijote, is Dulcinea. The Old Man's love and admiration for life is incarnated by the marlin and, in a larger sense, the sea: cruel in a pre-moral manner, but beautiful and pure when the Old Man is in direct contact with Nature, with that sea, with life. In pursuit of their ideals, both old men show their stamina. Don Quijote and Santiago the fisherman are frugal and self-denying. Sancho often reminds...