e Sea. . . No doubt, an amazing book from start to finish, especially therealizations made by the characters that relayed to the reader.
The Old Manand The Sea, which is most certainly not the most attention grabbing bookin the first 50 pages however, the interest of the story becomes greater asHemingway’s words come into depth. Throughout the book Hemingway only makesuse of 3 main characters, Santiago who is an old fisherman with salao orunlucky, the boy who is assumed by me to be 12 to 13 and finally the fish,a giant, noble and brother of the sea, a marlin. When Hemingway writes, he writes with such description that I cannoteven believe that such feelings for an object or idea existed at all. Suchas the description of Santiago, “They were strange shoulders, stillpowerful although very old, and the neck was still strong too and thecreases did not show so much when the old man was asleep and his headfallen forward. His shirt had been patched so many times that it was likethe sail and the patches were faded to many different shades by the sun. The old man’s head was very old though and with his eyes closed, there wasno life in his face.
He was barefooted. ” (Pgs 18-19) This passage alonedescribes an immense amount of imagination and contemplation that I darenot try to question it any further. I love the way he builds the exactimage he wants you to perceive, leaving no room for assumption. Hemingway’s stories flow with a rhythm that forces you to stop andconsider the meaning and think deeper instead of just reading through thewords and immersing yourself in the action of the book. A great example andan opinion of mine is the entire dialogue with the fish, “Then when he hadseen the fish come out of the water and hang motionless in the sky beforehe fell, he was sure there was some great strangeness and he could notbelieve it. Then he could not see well, although now he saw as well asever.
” (Pgs. 98-99)I believe that this dialogue and many, many others throughout the bookrepresent our path of life and death. In the beginning, we catch the noble,worthwhile, awe inspiring fish. Our youth is filled with energy and life,hopes and dreams much like Santiago’s. Then in the middle of our life, weare determined to do the best for ourselves, even if it means dying noblyfor a fish, just one big fish “Fish” he said softly, aloud, “I’ll stay withyou until I’m dead”(Pg. 52).
Then the fish comes in, our big accomplishmentarrived and yet we express regret for the time wasted and most of all, thelife lost “I am only better than him through trickery and he meant me noharm” (Pg. 99) and “I am sorry that I killed the fish”(Pg. 103). As thesharks attack the fish and tear away at our life source or Santiago’s, inthis case “He did not like to look at the fish anymore since he had beenmutilated.
When the fish had been hit, it was as though he himself werehit”(Pg. 103) slowly we realize we will die and more regret, happiness andmemories all pool together at once. Then when there is nothing left of thefish or you and you pull back into harbor all that really matters is theeverlasting memories, feelings and lessons learned, that’s all you end upwith in the end, the skeleton, and that’s what the fish is all about. Conflict? Oh yeah we have conflict! Hemingway obviously puts allkinds of analogies and personifications in his work but one thing hiddendeep within paragraphs are his ultimate conflicts with life. Santiagoreflects these conflicts mostly in man vs. nature when he struggles withthe fish; he is willing to DIE for the chance to bring it in and almostdoes.
He catches the most noble of all the creatures of the sea, a giantmarlin, and what does the sea and mother nature do, it reclaims it in theend despite all our efforts. I must include the greatest of all time, “Butman is not made for defeat, a man can be destroyed but not defeated. I amsorry that I killed you fish” (Pg. 103). In simply one word, endurance,against all of natures odds and
