The moment when the line first cut into his hands in similar to the one when Christ's hands were nailed to the cross. Most readers are likely to make a connection between the two images at this point as the stigmata is an element which is present in both Santiago and in Christ.

Hemingway himself wants readers to be certain that the injured hand is an essential factor working as support to the comparison made between Christ and Santiago. The "Ay" exclamation also reinforces this belief. "There is no translation for this word and perhaps it is just a noise such a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood" (Hemingway, 1984, p. 82). Both the sufferings experienced by Christ and by Santiago have been made so that life will go on in peace.

Santiago stands as a living martyr (if such a...
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