The Old Man and the Sea
A fisherman and the greatest catch of his life
Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel[2] written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon Santiago, an aging fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.[3] The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and was cited by the Nobel Committee as contributing to the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in 1954.
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
The Old Man and the Sea
The old man who is very wise tells Manolin life lessons and stories. Together they become fishing friends. They often talk about Joe DiMaggio and the Yankees ball team. They learn to love and respect each other. Santiago is a poor, humbled, determined fisherman who has a bit of bad luck. Ernest Hemingway describes Santiago as "everything about him was old except for his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated". Santiago hasn't caught a fish in eighty four days. He needs his luck to change. Manolin is a young apprentice dedicated to Santiago. Manolin watches and learns about survival. The town's people make fun of the old man and feel he is to old to fish.
Santiago sets sail by himself in a small skiff. He is on a mission to change his luck. After a few days at sea Santiago feels one of his fishing lines tug. He knows immediately that this is not a small fish. For the first few hours the fish doesn't move but he knows he's underneath him. Santiago is very tired from lack of sleep and the strong sun. He also knows that the boat is getting dragged further out to sea by the fish. Suddenly the rope rips threw Santiago's hands. He will not let go. During this struggle the fish finally jumps out of the water. Santiago can't believe the size of this marlin. The marlin represents strength and Santiago expresses "Fish...I'll stay with you until I am dead". Both the marlin and Santiago compete to stay alive. After a long battle Santiago harpoons the marlin and ties him to the side of his skiff. Santiago feels his luck has changed. On his way home sharks attack the marlin for food and Santiago has to fight them off. In his mind he keeps reminding himself how far he is out to sea and knows the journey back will be difficult. There will be many other sharks to come. They do and it gets more trying for Santiago to keep them away. The sharks eat most of the marlin but the head and tail bones are still attached to the skiff when he returned to shore.
Santiago was weak and exhausted on his way home. He left the skiff and barely survived his days at sea. He wondered home and slept for days. Manolin and the town's people were happy and impressed to see the marlins remains. Before this the town's people thought he was a washed up old fisherman. It doesn't matter what was left of the marlin what mattered most was how hard a person is willing to work without giving up. Manolin greeted Santiago with great excitement. Santiago explained to the boy, "They beat me, Manolin he said, they truly beat me". "He didn't beat you not the fish" Manolin said. In my opinion the shark beat him and the distance of the sea.
I strongly praise this book. It kept my attention. The Old Man and the Sea teaches us to never give up and to have patience in hard times. I liked the relationship between the old man and the boy. Age didn't matter. Together they both enjoyed the sea. This reminds me of myself and my grandfathers. My grandfather lives on the water and we fish and crab all summer long. Actually, it's ironic that both of my grandparents have marlins mounted on their walls. So in the end I highly recommend sharing this reading with others.