Sarah+L.+*EC+The+Old+Man+and+The+Sea

__The Old Man and the Sea __

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899. Some of his many works include //The Sun Also Rises //, //A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. // Hemingway based a lot of his stories off of his own experiences during World War I and his experiences as a reporter (//Ernest Hemingway.// 22 Jan 2010. The Nobel Foundation. 1954. <[|nobelprize.org]). Hemingway died after committing suicide on July 2, 1961 in Ketchum, Idaho (//Ernest Hemingway//. 22 Jan 2010. Esther Lombardi . 2010. <[|about.com].). // The Old Man and the Sea // tells a story of one very elderly man’s perseverance in chasing his dream. This old man is a fisherman, whom for 84 days couldn’t catch a thing. Then finally one day, he hooks a great big marlin that is so big and powerful that it actually pulls the old man in his boat. The old man embarks on a great adventure out to see. He will not give up on this fish, and he knows he can kill it as long as he can hold on to the line.

This story was written in third person and has an adventurous, action-filled tone to it. The writing style is unique too. Although this old, frail man is going through a lot at sea that would make anyone else go into a state of panic, the story is written in a light and care-free attitude as to not lead the reader on to how tense of a situation this really is. For example, towards the end of the story, after the marlin that had been towing the old man had finally died, the old man hung the dead fish off the side of his boat. The fish was too big to put in the boat. But due to the smell of the blood of the dead fish, sharks naturally followed the boat. But the old man wasn’t worried about his life, more so he fretted over the fact that the shark would take all the good meat of his fish. “He leaned over the side and pulled loose a piece of the meat of the fish where the shark had cut him. He chewed it and noted its quality and its good taste. It was firm and juicy, like meat, but it was not red. There was no stringiness in it and he knew that it would bring the highest price in the market. But there was no way to keep its scent out of the water and the old man knew that a very bad time was coming.” (Hemingway 106).

The Old Man and the Sea is great because it shows an example of the great theme of perseverance and chasing after your dreams. It shows the “overcoming obstacles to get what you want” dream that I’m sure exists in all of us. It’s an example of how you really can achieve your goals if you try hard enough and never give up.