Old Man and the Sea Review

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway

Simon & Schuster

1952

Realistic Fiction

    Hemingway`s Fishing Expedition

The story starts off by introducing an old man named Santiago on a fishing journey with no catch in 84 days.  He had a young boy, Manolin, as a companion for the first forty days, but the young boy`s family realized the old man was “salao” (really bad luck).  Since being alone, Santiago has accomplished nothing.  All is hopeless until an encounter with a giant marlin.  Does Santiago win the battle or does the marlin leave him stranded in the sea with still no catch to be proud of?  Find out by reading this magnificent novel.

“Using the simple, powerful language of a fable, Hemingway takes the timeless themes of courage in the face of defeat and personal triumph won from loss and transforms them into a magnificent twentieth-century classic.”-Will Byrnes.  

   

I chose this quote not only because we have the same name, but we feel the same way of Hemingway`s work.  The story is a prime example of David and Goliath.  All odds were stacked against David, but he overcame them by defeating Goliath.  Same with Santiago and the Marlin, Santiago overcame the fact that he had caught nothing in nearly three months, but when he had the chance he was prepared.  Even when defeated in the inside, you can still become victorious on the out.

   

“He was bright in the sun and his head and back were dark purple and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender” (Hemingway 62).  I imaged an old man in the middle of the sea when the sun was setting and the back of his body castes a large purple shadow with lavender stripes running across his side.

Heat by Mike Lupica has a similar conflict with the main character.  He lives alone in the big apple with his older brother illegally because he isn`t 18 until two more months.  Trying to wait out that time the protagonist was suspended from his baseball team because he didn't have a birth certificate to prove he was only 13.  Then the older brother got in trouble with the cops.  With all odds stacked against the protagonist, he overcame them with a little help.  Find out how by reading that fascinating novel.

 
The Alex Rider series is a different scenario though.  He has conflicts but has much assistance during his quests.  Also, he is not stranded in the middle of a gulf in the ones I have read.  Alex and Santiago are nothing alike.

“A man can be destroyed but not defeated” (Hemingway 38).  I think he was trying to say you can be knocked down time after time, but you should always rise back up and keep fighting until you accomplish what you need to do.  I 100% completely agree with this line from  The Old Man and the Sea.  

Santiago, many others and I have faced the biggest encounter with life and death in our lives so far.  But all of us had the same determination to be the better man (or woman) to have another day.

Rate: 4 paws