The Old Man and The Sea: Post-meeting

Written by Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel that was published in 1952. The story revolves around the old fisherman, Santiago, and his struggles as a fisherman. Whilst the other fishermen return successfully every day with their catch, Santiago returns empty-handed for eighty-four days consecutively. Despite his apparent failures, he preserves and rises with every sunrise to head to the sea for another day of fishing. On his eighty-fifth day, a peculiar incident occurs which covers most of the book. Santiago lays his hands on a Marlin, a gigantic fish, however, instead of catching it, his hook gets stuck in it and then begins his struggle at sea.

At a surface level, the story does not have much happening as it deals mostly with the old man and his struggle with a marlin. However, if one reads between the lines and analyses the story, it can be observed that there is more to the story.

A few points we discussed in our meeting on Saturday,4th April 2021 are as follows:

Is Santiago successful as a fisherman?

Santiago spends almost three months in the sea. Even though he maintains his journey without catching a single fish, he shows great perseverance by keeping fishing. Santiago believes in both luck and skills as a fisherman at certain points in the book. Quotes from the beginning of the story:

“Eighty-five is a lucky number,” the old man said.

Only I have no luck anymore. But who knows? Maybe today. 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.

However, the fisherman questions his luck towards the end in the following lines:

Maybe I’ll have the luck to bring the forward half in. I should have some luck. No, he said. You violated your luck when you went too far outside.

“Don’t be silly,” he said aloud. “And keep awake and steer. You may have much luck yet.”

While Santiago speaks of chance, he still tends to rely on his skills and success in fishing. In a relationship of apprentice and teacher, the boy, Manolin, praises him as a fisherman.

“And the best fisherman is you.”

“No, I know others better.”

“Que va,” the boy said. “There are many good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only you.”

…

“But I know many tricks and I have resolution.”

Santiago thinks he was born to be a fisherman. He dedicates himself to fishing for eighty-five days. He is a successful fisherman since he does not give up despite everything. The process and effort bring success, not the results.

What idea of manhood was Heminway trying to portray?

The members mostly were unanimous on the out that the idea of manhood that

Hemingway was trying to portray “to accept one’s duty without complaint”. From the very beginning, Santiago accepted his duty as a fisherman. Even though he could have stopped, this notion of duty was a driving force that made him fish even after 84 days of no success. Despite calling himself “cursed”, he still made sure to look forward to a new day of fishing, hence it shows that he accepted his duty, put the effort into fulfilling it instead of dwelling on the past.

What is the moral of the book?

At a surface level, one cannot see the moral of the story, however, digging deeper can give clues as to what the author was trying to get across. During the review, each member had a different say on it, so we are going to try to summarize it over here. Despite considering himself “cursed” Santiago doesn’t give up. Rather he battles the unusual circumstances thrown at him, despite apparently there is no way out. This shows his preserves that he held on to. Another one from marlin’s perspective is that there would be people in life who would see the potential in you but would not want you to see it. Santiago realized the potential of the fish yet he did not want marlin to realize it, rather he wanted to use this potential for his benefit. The question is: are you going to be Santiago or marlin?

Aleena Nadeem and Beyza Dilbaz