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

Abstract

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 aFnos; era de complexion 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.")' This portrait coincides almost exactly with the one Hemingway paints