The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is the story of an old,
fisherman and the greatest catch of his life. For eighty-four days, Santiago, a
Cuban fisherman, has set out to sea and returned empty-handed. So unlucky is he
that the parents of his young disciple Manolin, have forced the boy to leave
the old man in order to fish in some other boat. Nevertheless, the boy
continues to care for the old man upon his return each night. He helps the old
man to manage his hut, secures food for him, and discusses the latest developments
in American baseball, especially the trials of the old man’s hero, Joe
DiMaggio. Santiago is confident that his streak will soon come to an end, and
he resolves to sail out farther than usual the following day.
On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak,
Santiago does as promised, sailing his boat far beyond the island’s coastal
waters and goes into the Gulf Stream. He prepares his lines and drops them. At
noon, a big fish, which he knows is a marlin, takes the bait that Santiago has
placed one hundred fathoms deep in the water. The old man hooks the fish, but
he cannot pull it in. Instead, the fish begins to pull the boat.
Unable to tie the line fast to the boat for fear the fish would snap a line, the old man bears the pain of the line with his shoulders, back, and hands, ready to prepare if marlin makes a run. The fish pulls the boat all through the day, through the night, through another day, and through another night. It swims constantly northwest until at last it tires and swims east with the current. The entire time, Santiago bears constant pain from the fishing line. Whenever the fish makes a try for freedom, the cord cuts Santiago badly.
Although wounded and tired, the old man feels a deep admiration for the marlin.
On the third day the fish tires, and Santiago manages to pull the marlin in close enough to kill it with a harpoon. Dead beside the boat, the marlin is the largest Santiago has ever seen. He lashes it to his boat, and sets sail for home. While Santiago is excited by the price that the marlin will bring at market, he is more concerned that the people who will eat the fish are unworthy of its greatness.
As Santiago sails on with the fish, the marlin’s blood attracts sharks. The first to attack is a great mako shark, which Santiago manages to slay with the harpoon. In the struggle, the old man loses the harpoon. The old man fights off the successive group of sharks as best he can, stabbing at them with a spear he makes by lashing a knife to an oar, and even clubbing them. Although he kills several sharks, more and more appear, and by the time night falls, Santiago’s continued fight against the sharks is useless. They took away the marlin’s precious meat, leaving only skeleton, head, and tail. Santiago blames himself for going “out too far,” and for sacrificing his great and worthy opponent. He arrives home before daybreak, goes to his shack, and sleeps very deeply.
The next morning, a crowd of amazed fishermen gathers around the skeleton of the fish, which is still lashed to the boat. Knowing nothing of the old man’s struggle, tourists at a nearby cafe observe the remains of the giant marlin and mistake it for a shark. Manolin, who has been worried sick over the old man’s absence, is moved to tears when he finds Santiago safe in his bed.The boy gets some coffee and the daily papers with the baseball scores and take them to the old man, and watches him sleep. When the old man wakes, the two agree to fish as partners once more. The old man returns to sleep and dreams his usual dream of lions at play on the beaches of Africa.
Unable to tie the line fast to the boat for fear the fish would snap a line, the old man bears the pain of the line with his shoulders, back, and hands, ready to prepare if marlin makes a run. The fish pulls the boat all through the day, through the night, through another day, and through another night. It swims constantly northwest until at last it tires and swims east with the current. The entire time, Santiago bears constant pain from the fishing line. Whenever the fish makes a try for freedom, the cord cuts Santiago badly.
Although wounded and tired, the old man feels a deep admiration for the marlin.
On the third day the fish tires, and Santiago manages to pull the marlin in close enough to kill it with a harpoon. Dead beside the boat, the marlin is the largest Santiago has ever seen. He lashes it to his boat, and sets sail for home. While Santiago is excited by the price that the marlin will bring at market, he is more concerned that the people who will eat the fish are unworthy of its greatness.
As Santiago sails on with the fish, the marlin’s blood attracts sharks. The first to attack is a great mako shark, which Santiago manages to slay with the harpoon. In the struggle, the old man loses the harpoon. The old man fights off the successive group of sharks as best he can, stabbing at them with a spear he makes by lashing a knife to an oar, and even clubbing them. Although he kills several sharks, more and more appear, and by the time night falls, Santiago’s continued fight against the sharks is useless. They took away the marlin’s precious meat, leaving only skeleton, head, and tail. Santiago blames himself for going “out too far,” and for sacrificing his great and worthy opponent. He arrives home before daybreak, goes to his shack, and sleeps very deeply.
The next morning, a crowd of amazed fishermen gathers around the skeleton of the fish, which is still lashed to the boat. Knowing nothing of the old man’s struggle, tourists at a nearby cafe observe the remains of the giant marlin and mistake it for a shark. Manolin, who has been worried sick over the old man’s absence, is moved to tears when he finds Santiago safe in his bed.The boy gets some coffee and the daily papers with the baseball scores and take them to the old man, and watches him sleep. When the old man wakes, the two agree to fish as partners once more. The old man returns to sleep and dreams his usual dream of lions at play on the beaches of Africa.
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