The Old Man and the Sea is the story about an old fisherman, Santiago, and his fight with a marlin. After 84 days without catching anything, Santiago finally gets an enormous marlin on the hook. But the marlin is strong and doesn’t give up without a fight. 

‘I have never seen a calmer, greater, nobler, braver fish or one who is as beautiful as you are my brother!’, he complimented the fish.

Santiago is fishing alone. He used to bring the young boy, Manolin, whom he has taught everything he knows about fishing. But due to Santiago’s meagre luck on the sea, Manolin’s parents have transferred him to another boat. While fishing together, a strong friendship has formed between the old man and the boy. Manolin still visits Santiago and helps out as much as he can. 

The Old Man and the Sea is an allegory of man’s struggle with nature and primarily with himself. In every challenge we face, it really comes down to finding the necessary strength within. Hence every fight is a fight with ourselves. 

Age plays an important role in the allegory. Santiago has reached the age, where his wife and friends are gone. Most of his life is behind him. 

At night, the old man dreams about lions at the beach, a childhood memory. The lions remind him of a time, when he was young and strong. He likes to dream about the lions. I found the dream, like the novel, poignant and beautiful. 

He dreamt of the Africa he had seen as a little boy. He saw the long, golden beaches as well as the white beaches. The beaches were so white that they tended to hurt your eyes. He dreamt of the high capes and the great, brown mountains.

The friendship between the old man and the boy is wonderfully described. To the old man, this friendship is the light in a rather dark life. It helps him to keep going, when he wants to give up. Also, it emphasises the circle of life. The old man’s life may be coming to an end, but his skills and values will live on in the boy.

And then there are the sharks. Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea shortly after Across the River and into the Trees got an unkind reception from critics. It has been argued, that the shovel-head sharks in the novel represent the literary critics, feasting on the creations of true artists, without creating anything themselves.

In any case, the sharks represent a destructive and unworthy enemy in sharp contrast to the marlin. They don’t really win, though. They may destroy the prize, but they can’t touch the process, the fight, the challenge which was overcome. 

In the end there is peace and acceptance. And the lions reappear.

The Old Man and the Sea took me by surprise. Yes, I am aware it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953, but the sad truth is, I often don’t get on with modern prize-winning literature.

A beautifully written story about a man and a fish, illustrating the essence of the human condition, that is something I can relate to. 

Title: The Old Man and the Sea [1952]
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Format: e-book, illustrations by Aadil Khan and Manoj Kumar Prasad
Genre: General Fiction