Book Report

in English

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Submitted by:
Ashanti Mayumi Pe
10-Demeter

Submitted to:
Mrs. Dream Rose Malayo
 “The old man and the Sea” is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway and it was
published in 1952 for the first time in the magazine Life. It was written as an inner
monologue in which we find out the thoughts of the main character. The plot is not the
center of this literary work. An old fisherman named Santiago who struggles with a huge
marlin in the ocean. The fish is so strong that after swallowing the bait it pulls the boat
far from the shore. Two days and nights pass in this struggle. Santiago completely gets
exhausted and uses all the strength to pull the fish and stab the marlin with a harpoon.
Therefore, the long battle between the old man and the dogged fish ends. However,
when Santiago backs to the shore, sharks are attracted to the blood left by the marlin in
the water. More and more sharks come and bite the marlin, leaving only its skeleton.
After reaching the shore with the only marlin’s skeleton, he lies down in his bed and
goes to a very deep sleep.

The central character is an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago, who has not
caught a fish for 84 days. The family of his apprentice, Manolin, has forced the boy to
leave the old fisherman, though Manolin continues to support him with food and bait.
Santiago is a mentor to the boy, who cherishes the old man and the life lessons he
imparts. Convinced that his luck must change, Santiago takes his skiff far out into the
deep waters of the Gulf Stream, where he soon hooks a giant marlin. With all his great
experience and strength, he struggles with the fish for three days, admiring its strength,
dignity, and faithfulness to its identity; its destiny is as true as Santiago’s as a
fisherman. He finally reels the marlin in and lashes it to his boat. However, Santiago’s
exhausting effort goes for naught. Sharks are drawn to the tethered marlin, and,
although Santiago manages to kill a few, the sharks eat the fish, leaving behind only its
skeleton. After returning to the harbor, the discouraged Santiago goes to his home to
sleep. In the meantime, others see the skeleton tied to his boat and are amazed. A
concerned Manolin is relieved to find Santiago alive, and the two agree to go fishing
together.

This short novel, as the title suggests, is mainly set on the sea over a period of
three days. The protagonist, Santiago, is a fisherman by profession and lives in a small
village in Cuba. Geographically, Cuba is an island in the Caribbean, whose main
industry is fishing; Hemmingway himself had lived in Cuba for a few years before the
Fidel Castro revolution, obtaining an intimate knowledge of the places that are
described in The Old Man and the Sea. Havana is the capital of Cuba and forms a
distant background to Santiago's journey; he uses the lights of the city to find his way
back home at night. A more important town in the novel is the little fishing village in
which Santiago lives and where Spanish is spoken. Hemingway seems to have based
the village on a real one called Kojimar. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream flow very
close to this village, bringing the giant marlin in the mouths of September and October.
Santiago sets out on his momentous journey in the early fall, probably in September.
During the course of the novel, the setting becomes symbolic; the sea represents the
total universe against which humanity (represented by Santiago) is pitted and in which,
everybody has to take a chance.

Santiago was a strong hero that fought until the end. Even though he lost the
fish, he was the moral winner. He did not stop fighting for a second and his spiritual
strength, humanity and courage are the foundation of this novel. A man can never be
defeated.