The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by the famous writer Ernest Hemingway. It is one of his greatest works. The story is about the heroic struggle of a legendary fisherman named Santiago. He was an unusual old man.
Santiago was a skilled fisherman, but unfortunately, he had gone eighty-four days without catching a fish. He had only one friend, a boy named Manolin. Even though Manolin’s parents told him to leave the old man because of his bad luck, Manolin continued to care for and support Santiago. They especially loved to talk about American baseball players. Among many players, Joe DiMaggio was Santiago’s hero.
On the eighty-fifth day, Santiago decided to take a chance and go far into the Gulf Stream. He prepared his fishing lines and dropped the bait deep into the water. After some time, a marlin—the biggest fish Santiago had ever seen—took the bait, which was placed one hundred fathoms deep. He waited for the fish to swallow the hook, then pulled the line, but he could not reel it in. Instead, the marlin began pulling the boat.
The marlin pulled the boat for two nights. Santiago felt a lot of pain during this time. He missed the boy’s help very much. He talked to the birds, the sea, and to himself. On the third day, using all his experience and strength, he finally killed the marlin and tied it to the side of his boat. Even though he had caught the fish, he felt love and respect for it, like it was his brother.
While Santiago was sailing back with the wounded marlin, its blood attracted sharks. The sharks attacked the boat, trying to eat the fish. Santiago fought hard and killed several sharks, but the sharks still ate most of the marlin, leaving only its skeleton, head, and tail. Santiago returned home, focused only on steering the boat.
When he reached the harbor, everyone was asleep. He went to his small shack, lay down on his bed, and fell asleep. The next morning, people saw the marlin’s skeleton tied to Santiago’s boat and were amazed. Manolin, the boy, started to cry when he saw his friend Santiago sleeping peacefully on the bed.
It is one of my favourite books. There are many quotes in this novel. Some of them are as follows:
There are many good fishermen and great ones. But there is only you.
Now is no time to think what you don’t have. Think of what you can do with that there is.
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.
Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so.
