“The Old Man and the Sea”

 
A novella from Ernest Hemmingway. It is a story that follows the character Santiago, an old man who has not caught a fish in over eighty days. Santiago with limited bait and only one jug of water sets off on a skiff to try his luck catching a marlin. He succeeds in snagging a monstrous fish, larger than his boat. He is tugged by the fish out into open-ocean and soon Santiago can no longer see his home (Cuba) but is being gradually pulled north. On his five day journey the old man grips the fishing line with his bare hands struggling to hold on; in the midst of fighting hand cramps, hunger, exhaustion, and dehydration. Alone it is up to the old man to pull in the biggest fish of his life and conquer the eighty four days of bad luck.

 This is a classic story about the connection between man and beast, and the competition of wills between old man and nature. Santiago finds a closeness with the fish and thinks how much easier it is to catch and kill the fish than it would be to chase and kill the moon or sun '"I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars." Imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. The moon runs away. . . . Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. . . . There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity. I do not understand these things, he thought. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.' The old man humanizes the fish and relates to him as a fellow experienced being.

 I won't ruin the ending. This book was on my summer reading list and I found it to be an exciting story. Another book on the summer's list is "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck. Read it at the same time and found many similarities between the two novellas. Do you think there is a pervasive subconscious theme going on inside my head? Anyways, if you have read the book and liked it then I would also recommend "Legends of the Fall" the movie adapted from a book. I have not read the book yet, but plan to read it soon.


 
Photo: http://educatingpetunia.blogspot.com/2008/01/review-old-man-and-sea.html