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Old man and the sea1

Old man and the sea1 The Old Man and the Sea was written by Ernest Hemingway and published in 1952. This is a captivating fiction story about a man named Santiago and his adventure when one day, he goes on a fishing journey to catch the big one. However, this adventure quickly becomes one of pain and suffering when things take a turn for the worse. The Old Man and the Sea takes in place in Havana, Cuba and the fishing waters off the coast of Havana. The Spanish names, Santiago and Manolin, are typical in Cuba. Cuba is mostly Catholic so this accounted for Santiago's devotion to Jesus Christ. The year seems to be around the 1930's and 1940's because Santiago is a big fan of Joe DiMaggio who played during these years. In the 1930's and '40's, the city of Havana was booming with population and business. Seafood is one of the most popular foods in Havana so to meet the rising demand of fish, many young boys learned how to be fishermen as Manolin did. Santiago is a complex character who learns a lot through the course of this story. He is a very good, humble man and loves Manolin, his apprentice. Santiago is a poor man and is regarded as bad luck by others because he was not caught a single fish in 84 days. One cannot help feel sorry for him because he is very alone. His wife died and the book suggested that he never had any children. Yet he was humble and did not complain at all about his hard life. Santiago is a very persistant and determined character. He fought the huge marlin that he had caught for three agonizing days desopite feeling intense pain. He often had contradictory feelings and thoughts. One that I found strange was when he felt sorry for the marlin while he joyfully pondered how much money he would get for selling the fish. Mololin is Santiago's apprentice. Since he was a young child, Manolin has accompanied Santiago to learn how to fish. Santiago loves him very much because he sees him as the son he never had. However Manolin's parents stops him from going to Santiago because they think he is cursed and has bad luck. Santiago is an old fisherman and has been for most of his life. He used to have an apprentice named Manolin but his parents made stop because of the belief that he is bad luck for he hasn't caught a fish in eighty four days. One day he decided that he wasn't going home without catching a fish. So he set out far away from the harbor in hopes of catching the big one. He sets his line and waits. Before long he feels a nibble in the bait. He tries to reel it in but he can't. Instead the fish is pulling the boat! He struggles and struggles with the fish for hours. After a while fatigue takes it's toll as his hands clamp up, and his back aches from the line tied around it. The fish surfaces and Santiago realizes that it is longer than the boat he is on! An unexpected jerk leaves a gash in his hand only to add to his pain. After a very long while Santiago shortens the line to harpoon it. He latches the fish to the side of the boat and begind to tow it back to shore triumphant. Then a mako shark approaches and takes a large bite out of the marlin. Santiago kills it with a harpoon. Only later did he realize that the sharks blood would attract more sharks. As more sharks approached Santiago fought with all his might to save his fish but there was too many sharks. By the time he got to shore, he had nothing more than a skeleton. Santiago collapses from exhaustion on the shore but is found by Manolin and calls for help. The community marveled at the size of the skeleton that is still attached to the boat. Manolin takes care of the old man and vows to return to him as an apprentice. Santiago finally gets the repect from his community. Hemingway wrote this novel in the third person. By writing in the third person, the reader was able to know more information than the protagonist, Santiago, knew. Knowing what might happen to the protagonist without him knowing raised the excitement of the story and allowed for more suspense. For example when Santiago is battling the sharks that are trying to eat the marlin, Hemingway vividly described how he killed the first shark with a harpoon. The author explained how the wound to the shark left a large blood trail and was sure to attract more frenzied sharks. Ernest Hemingway has a very simple way of writing. It was easy to understand and he used well thought out, precise words. Hemingway could convey detail with out writing a substantial amount about it. For example he did not write much about the cuts and bruises that he suffered, yet you still understood that he was going through intense, sever pain; almost to the point of loosing consciousness. The book did not have any chapters. This is probably because it is a continuous story. For nearly the entire story Santiago is on his adventure battling the marlin or the sharks. There is no need for chapters because the whole story is flowing without breaks. Hemingway uses great symbolism in this novel. Santiago is an old man who is thinking back at his youth. The battle he had with the marlin symbolizes all the goals that all people including Santiago want to achieve. He attempts to capture the marlin but he must work vigorously and is even injured. After he subdues the marlin, with a heavy price, his achievement is embittered when sharks come and takes large bits away from the marlin eventually eating the entire marlin. The sharks represent everything bad in the world that eat away people emotionally because they eat away from their achievements. The water represents the solitary life of Santiago; actually it is what created its solitary life. Fishermen must be in the ocean all day for days at a time. When they come home, they come home tired and hungry, so they really don't have any time to do anything else. The marlin and Santiago actually represent each other. The marlin kept on fighting the inevitable just like Santiago was trying to avoid his own fate. I greatly enjoyed this story because of its message of optimism. Even though All Santiago could show for his struggles was the skeleton of a once mighty marlin. He was triumphant that he had actually caught the fish. He received respect from the community and Manolin was allowed to stay with Santiago and did. The novel is telling its readers to look at the positive aspects of things, even if at first it seems like a tragedy. A personal example of this is when my family got our first cat. My mom was in subway on her way to work, she was already late. She was running to catch a train only to see the doors close right in her face. She got on the train worried on what her boss will say. She sat next to a very sad woman with a kitten in a cage. When asked what was wrong she said that she found a lost kitten and since her super doesn't allow cats in the apartment, she was going to the shelter to leave the kitten. My mother said she would keep the kitten and the woman gladly gave it to my mom. Hemmingway's novel goes to show that things aren't as bad as they first seem. The Old Man and the Sea also expresses humility. Santiago is a fairly poor man and often goes hungry, yet he never complains or protests. Santiago shows his humility many other times in the novel like when he was batting the marlin and he gashed his hand and received other severe wounds. Finally he never said a word of anger when he battled the sharks to save his fish but failed. Humility is a good attribute that many of us don't have . Bibliography:

Word Count: 1380