The Old Man and the Sea

As Santiago sees the two sand sharks approaching, he says "Ay," a word which Hemingway describes as "just a noise such as a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the woods" (107). This is an explicit identification of Santiago with Christ. Later, Santiago carries the mast back to his shack, much as Christ carried the cross on his shoulders, falling several times (as Christ did on the Stations of the Cross) only to collapse on his bed to sleep "face down on the newspapers with his arms out straight and the palms of his hands up," recalling the crucifixion (122).