"The Old Man and the Sea"
Ernest Hemingway, 128 pages,
published by Charles Scribner
Santiago, an old and unsuccessful fisherman, found a sense of pride and his own type of heroism in a long battle against a marlin. Santiago's wife had died years before and his only friend was a young boy named Manolin. Manolin was also a fisherman and had once worked with Santiago, but his parents made him leave to find a more successful and more lucky fishing boat. Santiago was lonely; his only friend was the sea. In this book, the sea is characterized as a woman. She was without self control and doing whatever she pleased according to her own, selfish whims.
After eighty-four days without a single catch Santiago needs to prove to himself that he is still a good fisherman. He decides to go deep into the gulf to get a catch.
Ernest Hemingway in Milan, 1918
English: Hemingway posing for a dust jacket photo ...
Fisherman and his catch, Seychelles. The fishes in...Manolin cannot go with him but says he will park his boat near Santiago's to help him unload his catch. This shows the boy's faith in his old friend. Santiago was a sort of mentor to Manolin, and now that Santiago was failing as a fisherman Manolin did the best he could to support him. After leaving, he ended up being carried by a big wave farther into the gulf than he intended. But after the battle with the wave, he found himself surrounded by bait fish. He caught a few tuna and this started to bring back his pride and confidence.
Eventually Santiago got some good bites on his fishing line. A marlin had started a battle that would lead to Santiago's renewal and defeat. At first the marlin wouldn't take the bait completely. This is when Santiago developed a bond with the fish. He spoke to it...