The story of The Old Man and the Sea, as the name may suggest, revolves around an aged man named Santiago. He is a fisherman in Cuba who has come upon some hard times, in that he has not caught a decent fish in eighty four days. He has been so unlucky that his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with Santiago any more. Santiago believes that his bad luck is drawing to an end and sets out on his eighty-fifth day to search for a fish far into the Gulf. He travels farther than all other fisherman and casts his lines. A very powerful fish, which he believes to be a marlin, takes his bait. The fish is so powerful that it pulls Santiago's skiff along. Santiago does not let go and braces the lines with his body. So starts an arduous journey for both the fish and the old man that lasts two days and two nights. On the third day, the marlin is so tired out that Santiago, who himself is delirious with pain, manages to pull it close to the skiff and kill it.
The fish is too big for his skiff and so he ties it to the side and starts for Cuba. However, the trail of blood oozing from the slain fish draws in sharks. Initially Santiago is able to defend his catch against the sharks but it is not long before the inevitable happens and Santiago has to watch as sharks completely devour the marlin, leaving only a skeleton and the head of the once great fish. Eventually Santiago reaches shore and drags himself to his hut and falls asleep. In the morning groups of fishermen and tourists notice Santiago's skiff and the skeleton of the enormous fish, measured at eighteen feet. Manolin rushes to Santiago's hut and cries when he sees the old man fast asleep with the injuries received from his battle with the marlin. He brings the old man coffee and newspaper and upon waking the old man promises they will fish together again. He falls back to sleep and dreams of his youth, of lions on the African beach.
During my reading it was difficult to keep an open mind, my mind being filled with preconceptions of my mother's and sister's opinions. Their opinion was that The Old Man and the Sea was a testament to the resilience of human nature and our ability to endure pain and suffering in our battle against nature. Of course the old man has to endure a lot of pain and hardship to catch the marlin. The marlin represents nature and the old man humanity. Humanity's resilience and endurance are certainly showcased but there are other characteristics of the human species which have been showcased more prominently. I assume that the old man is quite an experienced fisherman, seeing as he had been fishing for some time and some of his feats of skill have been mentioned. I do not question his bout of bad luck but his attempt to try to fight against the marlin even after its strength had been revealed when it started pulling the skiff. The old man is an experienced fisherman and he knew how powerful the marlin was. Despite that the old man still carries on with his efforts.
Readers are reminded of the old man's past, how he was called 'Santiago the champion' and how strong he once was, how he dreamed of lions playing on the African beaches. I think that his efforts push into the spotlight a quality of humanity that is evident to anyone who but looks: arrogance and pride. The fisherman refers to the marlin in a tone of respect, as a brother, and acknowledges its strength and that it is a worthy opponent. But I think that is just to comfort himself and convince himself that there is another reason why he is trying to catch it. It is conveyed that Santiago yearns for the strength that he once had. He knows that he would have been able to catch the marlin by himself when he was younger. He yearns for acceptance in his community and, most of all, he wishes to prove to himself that he still has the strength that he once had.
It may be evident that Santiago, in fact, does still have the strength and endurance to bring the fish in himself. But take a look at what happens afterwards. Santiago knows that at one point, if he manages to bring the fish in, he will have to slay the fish. He knows that in order to slay the fish he has to harpoon it and he knows that harpooning the fish will release its blood which will bring in sharks. He knows all that and still he cannot bring himself to let the fish go. He goes through hell and back to catch that fish and in the end he can do nothing but satisfy himself with the thought that he still can bring a large marlin in as he helplessly sees his effort and hard work dissolving in bloody water as the sharks munch on it. It seems pathetic, the lengths to which he will go to satisfy his ego, which is almost as big as the marlin. In the end, it is all for an 18-foot skeleton lying on a beach which shows that "yes, the old man caught this". Does nature not reclaim itself? One wonders what would have happened if Santiago had kept on fishing near the bay. As he says himself, his bad luck cannot last forever. Everything that he does is the act of a desperate man who lets his emotions get the better of him. Santiago's actions are not so distant from a depiction of humanity's tendency to act without thinking about the consequences or often ignoring the consequences all together.
Hemingway's style of writing is precise. It is simple, yet elegant and succinct. One would recommend it as a good book to read and reflect upon. One's reactions may seem critical and pessimistic but one is entitled to one's own opinions.
