Publication date: Wednesday, 28th September, 2005
SIR — The other day, I was thinking about Santiago, the main character in The Old man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway’s masterpiece. Santiago is an accomplished fisherman.
He sets out on a fishing trip and catches a fish which surpasses all his expectations. He does not believe it when the fish refuses to give in and pulls him across the ocean in his tiny boat. For three days and nights the master fisherman refuses to let go of his prize catch. He eats raw fish and clings on to the line as if his life depends on it.
It seems to be a battle of egos between the old man and the fish. In the end, as the fish tires out, Santiago, equally spent, pulls out his harpoon and deals him a fatal blow. Exhausted but elated, he sets out on his homeward journey.
But all the while, he keeps asking himself aloud whether he had been wise enough to go so far out to sea because of the fish he had caught. As he sails back home, attracted by the blood of the fish, the sharks close in on him and although he fights valiantly and kills several of them, he only has a skeleton strapped to his boat when he finally reaches home.
Does Santiago’s behaviour have any lessons for us in Uganda’s contemporary politics?
Yes! His fishing trip can be likened to the five-year bush war. The intact fish before the sharks set in can be likened to the first 10 years of the NRM when there was hope and joy. The fish itself can be likened to political power. And who does Santiago remind you of?
Santiago’s determination not to let the fish go even when he realises he is exposing himself to the treachery of the sea is a sad commentary on human folly. In the end, Santiago has nothing to show for his resilience but massive exhaustion and lacerated hands.
he gets nothing from his prize fish and when the tide turns the skeleton of the great fish will only be swept away with the the garbage although people have marvelled at its great size. Isn’t there a way man can recognise his limits when the going is still good? What will it benefit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
J. Mbaroraburora
Hoima
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