The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 and was the last major work of Ernest Hemingway. It’s a brutally simple story about an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago who is alone in life and his only friend is Manolin, a boy who used to fish with him before but because of a series of bad luck including not catching anything for 84 days, was soon told by his parents to go with other fishermen instead.

On the 85th day though, Santiago sailed further out than the other fishermen and was able to hook a giant marlin who happened to pull him farther away in the sea. What happened next? Where did the fish pull him to? Was he able to bring it home? Did he really hook the fish or was it the fish that hooked him? Was he able to change his luck?

This might not sound much of a plot for most people but I think it’s a good read. I found it an engaging story about an old man and his relationship with nature, an old man with nothing left to lose, an old man that has faith in himself, an old man who never backs away from his goal whatever it takes.

The ending was quite sad but moving. I felt really sad for Santiago but he was not at all sad for himself. Though he was totally drained in the end, he was still very optimistic  while talking with Manolin which reflects what he said earlier in the book, “A man can be destroyed but never defeated.”

Quotable Quotes:

“Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”

“Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so.”

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”

“Why do old men wake so early? Is it to have one longer day?”

Rating : 4/5 stars

Advertisement