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The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
If you loved him it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?
The story of an epic struggle between a fisherman and the greatest catch of his life, this prize-winning novella by Ernest Hemingway metaphorically explores the conundrum of life.
Santiago is an old, experienced fisherman who has been conspicuously unlucky at sea for the past eighty four days. His lack of luck is such a public affair that the parents of his devoted apprentice have forced the boy to fish with a more prosperous boat. On the eighty-fifth day, Santiago strengthens his resolve and ventures out further into the depths of the Gulf Stream to reinstate his reputation. It so happens that, when the shore is well out of sight, a marlin takes the bait but instead of giving in to the hook begins to tow the skiff with great strength. The fish takes over, steadily swimming forward with the hook still pierced through his mouth and pulling the skiff along all through the day, through the night, another day and another night. All the while, Santiago has no choice but to relinquish control to the fish and to bear the strain of the line against his shoulders and back whilst enduring great pain. Each time the fish makes a dash for escape, jerks or leaps, the cord wounds Santiago. Sometime during this power play, the fisherman begins seeing the the fish as a brother. He reveres him. Quite truly, the marlin makes a fine doppelgänger in many respects. His pride and determination is as undeterred as Santiago's and just as the old man is unwilling to let go of his prize, the marlin is unwilling to give into lifelessness. They both tolerate immense physical injuries but remain vigilant. The man is literally connected to the fish since wherever he wishes to go, the man gets towed along with him, but beyond that, he also feels a spiritual connection to this worthy adversary of his. Perhaps he is more than worthy. It is more than likely that the man is overpowered. It is a large fish, larger than the skiff it tugs. It seems like Santiago bites off more than he can chew by taking on this endeavour.
Santiago is faced with the dilemma of whether he is righteous to be fulfilling his duty as a fisherman or sinful to be taking the life of such magnificent beings. He muses that although the fish has enough meat to feed a party of people, none of them would be deserving of a beast so noble. There is constant comparison between men and animals and the weighing of one's worth against the other.
His hope of returning with the majestic marlin is crushed soon. He does succeed in killing him and proceeds homeward but before he can make his way back, the trail of blood left behind by the marlin attracts a flurry of shark attacks. Attack after attack later, with meat torn off the fish each time, he is eventually left with nothing more to show for the greatest struggle of his life than a carcass.
Hemingway is known for his understated writing with terse but sufficiently descriptive sentences. His prose is not floral but it is witty. Most of The Old Man and the Sea is written in a stream of consciousness manner. Spending days in his painful position, Santiago begins to get sleep deprived and delirious, as a result of which he talks aloud to himself a lot, often going off on tangents. Although it is a short work of fiction, it could have been shortened further still by cutting out parts that get redundant. I realise, however, that the redundancy might be intentional to emphasise the pace of the story. He spends long days isolated from human contact with only the sloshing of the water and the creatures of the sea for company. The gentle rocking of the skiff and the clear blue sky. Perhaps if anything were to be omitted, the pacing would feel rushed.
The book appears to be semi-autobiographical in nature. The period of his life that had preceded the writing of this book had been bleak. He was lonely and his literary career was at a low. It appeared that he had exhausted his store of ideas. This mirrors Santiago's predicament. A great fisherman who no longer seemed to be able to catch any fish and even when he put in the entirety of his effort into the attainment of what he believed to be his biggest prize ever, he emerged unsuccessful.
Nonetheless, more than a story of desperation, this is a story of hope. Santiago never loses his pride or his manliness. Even after his defeat, he considers his struggle to be a monumental display of his fortitude and continues dreaming of lions.
Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.
The story of an epic struggle between a fisherman and the greatest catch of his life, this prize-winning novella by Ernest Hemingway metaphorically explores the conundrum of life.
Santiago is an old, experienced fisherman who has been conspicuously unlucky at sea for the past eighty four days. His lack of luck is such a public affair that the parents of his devoted apprentice have forced the boy to fish with a more prosperous boat. On the eighty-fifth day, Santiago strengthens his resolve and ventures out further into the depths of the Gulf Stream to reinstate his reputation. It so happens that, when the shore is well out of sight, a marlin takes the bait but instead of giving in to the hook begins to tow the skiff with great strength. The fish takes over, steadily swimming forward with the hook still pierced through his mouth and pulling the skiff along all through the day, through the night, another day and another night. All the while, Santiago has no choice but to relinquish control to the fish and to bear the strain of the line against his shoulders and back whilst enduring great pain. Each time the fish makes a dash for escape, jerks or leaps, the cord wounds Santiago. Sometime during this power play, the fisherman begins seeing the the fish as a brother. He reveres him. Quite truly, the marlin makes a fine doppelgänger in many respects. His pride and determination is as undeterred as Santiago's and just as the old man is unwilling to let go of his prize, the marlin is unwilling to give into lifelessness. They both tolerate immense physical injuries but remain vigilant. The man is literally connected to the fish since wherever he wishes to go, the man gets towed along with him, but beyond that, he also feels a spiritual connection to this worthy adversary of his. Perhaps he is more than worthy. It is more than likely that the man is overpowered. It is a large fish, larger than the skiff it tugs. It seems like Santiago bites off more than he can chew by taking on this endeavour.
Santiago is faced with the dilemma of whether he is righteous to be fulfilling his duty as a fisherman or sinful to be taking the life of such magnificent beings. He muses that although the fish has enough meat to feed a party of people, none of them would be deserving of a beast so noble. There is constant comparison between men and animals and the weighing of one's worth against the other.
His hope of returning with the majestic marlin is crushed soon. He does succeed in killing him and proceeds homeward but before he can make his way back, the trail of blood left behind by the marlin attracts a flurry of shark attacks. Attack after attack later, with meat torn off the fish each time, he is eventually left with nothing more to show for the greatest struggle of his life than a carcass.
Hemingway is known for his understated writing with terse but sufficiently descriptive sentences. His prose is not floral but it is witty. Most of The Old Man and the Sea is written in a stream of consciousness manner. Spending days in his painful position, Santiago begins to get sleep deprived and delirious, as a result of which he talks aloud to himself a lot, often going off on tangents. Although it is a short work of fiction, it could have been shortened further still by cutting out parts that get redundant. I realise, however, that the redundancy might be intentional to emphasise the pace of the story. He spends long days isolated from human contact with only the sloshing of the water and the creatures of the sea for company. The gentle rocking of the skiff and the clear blue sky. Perhaps if anything were to be omitted, the pacing would feel rushed.
The book appears to be semi-autobiographical in nature. The period of his life that had preceded the writing of this book had been bleak. He was lonely and his literary career was at a low. It appeared that he had exhausted his store of ideas. This mirrors Santiago's predicament. A great fisherman who no longer seemed to be able to catch any fish and even when he put in the entirety of his effort into the attainment of what he believed to be his biggest prize ever, he emerged unsuccessful.
Nonetheless, more than a story of desperation, this is a story of hope. Santiago never loses his pride or his manliness. Even after his defeat, he considers his struggle to be a monumental display of his fortitude and continues dreaming of lions.
Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.