The christological symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea has been much written about - the wounds on the hands, the fish, Santiago carrying the mast of his skiff back to his shack and stumbling - so it seems Hemingway was trying to create a connection between Santiago and Christ or equate them or something, but I don't understand what point is being made with this connection.
If the point is merely to say Santiago's ordeal was like that of Jesus, well, that much was clear on the literal level. Why bring in this Christ connection?
Is he using Santiago to say something about Jesus? I don't understand what Hemingway is saying with this connection and why the connection was established at all.