The Old Man And The Sea

Ernest Hemingway's novella The Old Man And The Sea was his last major work published during his lifetime. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was mentioned by the Nobel Committee when they awarded the author the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Plot

The story is about an old experienced fisherman, Santiago. Like the others in his Cuban fisher village, he is poor and lives in spartan conditions. At the start of the story, he has gone 84 days without catching a fish. In a young boy who he mentors, he has a friend and companion, but the boy's parents have forced him to take service on a different, less unlucky boat.

The old man sets out to sea the next day, further out into the Gulf Stream than he usually ventures. He sets his fishing lines and catches a marlin, but is unable to haul it in. The fish is too big and strong, and it drags the skiff with it as it swims away to sea. The old man considers tieing the line to the boat, but decides against it as the line might break from sudden movements from the fish. Instead, he holds the line to his back, shoulders and hands, giving slack to the line as needed. The line causes him great pain, but he endures it so that he can catch the fish.

Hours pass and become days. The old man realises that this is the catch of his life. He barely sleeps for fear of losing his great prize, should it suddenly make jerky movements and snap the line. He eats a little from fish he catches using his other hooks, and he has some water with him.

His body is sore, his hands are cut from the line and he has become more and more tired. The further it goes on, the more he starts admiring the fish, realising that it is his brother in suffering and resolve.

On the third day, the fish is fatigued and it starts circling closer to the surface. The old man is tired and nearly delirious, but finally manages to get the fish close enough to the boat to kill it with his harpoon. The fish is truly huge, and does not even fit into the boat. Instead, the fisherman ties it to the side of the skiff, and finally sets sail and starts heading homewards. He does not have land in sight, but with his experience he knows how to reach familiar waters.

As he heads home again, he thinks about how magnificent a catch it is, and what a price it will bring. He knows it will feed many people, but still determines that none are worthy of eating a fish of such greatness.

The blood of the fish leaves a trail behind in the water, and soon sharks are attracted to the ship with the great marlin tied next to it. The first shark that comes takes a large bite of the fish. The old man manages to kill it with his harpoon, but loses the weapon in the process, leaving him vulnerable to other shark attacks. Using his knife and an oar, he creates a makeshift spear, with which he manages to kill additional sharks that soon come. Every shark that comes each takes bites from the fish, and the scent and trail become more pronounced for new sharks to come.

At last he saw the lights from the city in the night sky. More sharks come though, drawn to the fish. The knife snaps as he kills the third shark with it. He resolves to beating other sharks into submission first with a club, then with the tiller. However, they all take bites of the fish that keeps getting lighter. Finally, a shark tried to eat from the head of the fish, and the old man knew this meant that there was nothing left for the sharks to devour. He beat the shark with the tiller until it broke, and the sharks left him alone for a while.

He could still steer the skiff towards land with the broken tiller, and the vessel was now light as the fish did not weigh it down to any large degree. The old man "sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind. He was past everything now and he sailed the skiff to make his home port as well and as intelligently as he could. In the night sharks hit the carcass as someone might pick up crumbs from the table. The old man paid no attention to them and did not pay any attention to anything except steering. He only noticed how lightly and bow well the skiff sailed now there was no great weight beside her."

He made it back to his port before the sun had risen and everyone in the village was in bed. He pulled the skiff up on the beach, the remains of the fish still attached to it. He put his things in order and went to bed himself. The next morning, the young boy came to visit him, relieved that he was still alive. The fishermen of the village were amazed at the catch the old man had made, saying "there has never been such a fish", but of course, there was just the carcass left, an empty husk.

Analysis

The book depicts the epic struggle between a simple man and nature. Santiago is a humble fisherman, but reflects on whether he has the right to kill a fish of such greatness. Despite this wondering, he still regards it almost as a manifest destiny of his; that the fisherman must pursue the great catch no matter what.

The story shows how a man can prevail by persistence despite having to endure days of ceaseless struggles and suffering. Hemingway was fascinated with the idea of men proving their worth by facing and overcoming the challenges of nature, and the novella depicts just that. It is the triumph of the mind over the body. Hemingway makes religious comparisons, where he compares the suffering of the old man to that of Jesus on the cross: "He had sailed for two hours [...], when he saw the first of the two sharks. “Ay,” he said aloud. There is no translation for this word and perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood."

The novella almost has something Sisyphusian over it; the never ending struggle to go out to sea each morning, but no matter how close the man gets to his goal, it slips out of his reach.

It is interesting also to note the very down to earth dialog between the old man and the young boy. They communicate about facts and say only what is needed. A very male discussion, with little room for expressed feelings.