The Old Man And The Sea

A detailed Summary of The Old Man And The Sea

Ernest Hemingway was an American Author, born in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. Hemingway did more to change to style of English writing than any other writer in the twentieth century. While in Paris in 1920, he became part of the expatriate community, which included writers Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ezra Pound. This experience would prove to give him the strong foundation in writing that would eventually propel him to international fame. Shortly after, Hemingway published The Sun Also Rises, and three years later, A Farewell to Arms. These two publications alone had already secured his place among the greatest twentieth century writers, but Hemingway's best was yet to come. In 1952, Hemingway published The Old Man and the Sea, a successful and powerful novella, confirmed the power and presence he had in the literary world. One year later Hemingway was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea. And in 1954 he won the Nobel Prize for literature. Hemingway suffered unseen physical as well as emotional scars due to tragic events obtained from the wars, and in 1961 in Ketchum Idaho, less than two weeks short of his birthday, he died by his own hands.

Although Hemingway denies the fact that this story held a special meaning, moral, or some type of inspirational motive, I think he was trying to get a point across. I think what he meant was just when you think your dream is realized, it may not always work out the way you want, and if it doesn't, it can hurt, and it can get even worse, just like the sharks; but just as Hemingway said, "A man can be destroyed but not defeated." That was Hemingway's favorite quote.

The Old Man and the Sea is a powerfully written masterpiece of the struggles of an old man named Santiago during his 84-days without catching a fish. The story begins with the old man and a boy named Manolin, who, in the last forty days was with the old man fishing, but since he was so unlucky his parents told him he must not go out with him anymore. The boy went with his parents and they were catching many fish the first week, but the boy was sad because the old man came in on his skiff every night and every night it was empty. One day the boy had risen early and brought some coffee to the old man. He came to the old man's shack, which had a floor of bare earth, and a bed constructed of newspapers. The old man was sure this was the day to break his unlucky streak. He was out further than usual and the other boats could no longer be seen, nor the coast. About noon, he felt something move his line, "it was only his turn", he said, "He'll take it". (43). Moments later the fish had done what the old man hasn't seen for nearly three months, it took the bait. "He's taken it," he said, "Now I'll let him eat it well". He could tell the fish was big, he couldn't stop the line form going out and the skiff started to move slowly out to sea. This went on for hours, and before long, it was dark and the boat still was going further out to sea. "I wish I had the boy", he said aloud. (51). Through the night the old man could not gain any line, all he could do was hold what he had, and the skiff still traveled out to sea even further, but slightly slower than before. The

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Approximate Word count = 1380
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels