The Old Man and the Sea
This novel reflects Hemingway’s iceberg theory. We read from it to know the old man entirely, furthermore, the boy, the sea, the creatures in the sea, the attitudes of the man on the sea and its creatures, the old man’s skills, courage, dignity, experience and adventures. Also we can read from it to know Hemingway’s love on baseball, fishing, adventuring and his full knowledge of fishing and other sports.
From the beginning of the novel, we can know that the old man had fished no big fish in 84 days, near to his record of 87 days, but he still had humor and hope. The boy learnt fishing from him since young, and he kept following the old man despite his father’s dissuasion. He had believed in him. They even joked the day 85 as the old man mentioned the lottery of number 85. They also talked about baseball. They loved it so much that they were totally familiar to the names of any teams or players.
They were dependent on each other. The old man woke up early and awoke the boy, and the boy served the old man with sardines or coffee. The old man always dreamt of lions in his nights, that’s because he had been to the African coasts on a boat to see the lions in childhood. The old man was full of adventures.
On the 85th day of not a big fish, the old man set out alone towards the sea, beginning his hunting for big fish. He skillfully dropped lines straight down to different levels of the sea. He gradually went out far at sea. In the sea, he said aloud to himself and he thought about everything. From his words and thoughts we can know the man entirely.
A fish was hooked and it drew the skiff. It was a giant fish. Its sudden drawing had cut the old man’s hands several times. To avoid the other lines cutting the hooked line, the old man cut them all. The fish pulled the boat steadily and the old man held the line for the whole night nonsleeping. The giant marlin drew them far out at sea. To keep strength, the old man took in the stored sardines.
On the second day, the old man’s left arm cramped because of the whole-night use of it. He took it as humiliation to himself. He hooked a dolphin and brought it aboard and killed it for meat. From its gut were some flying fishes taken out, which were used as food later.
The fish jumped out of water once and the old man could see how big it is. When it was deep in the water, it pulled steadily and slowly. Gradually it got dark, and the old man judged that the move was steady, taking the chance to sleep for some hours. And he was woken up by the fish’s sudden pull. Another day began, and the old man thought about many things. He even thought of it a sin to kill a noble fish. But he thought, “I am born to fish and I fish to live. I kill it for my pride. I am unlike those who sell fish meat in the market”.
The tired fish began to swim upwards the surface and the old man prepared to harpoon it. As the fish appeared up, the old man felt faint and was going out. His sight became weak and could only see from the margin. But he kept making his head clear and squeezed out all his strength to hit the fish’s heart. He succeeded finally and rested tired. Then he slowly tied the marlin alongside the skiff so as to keep its flesh fresh in the water. Blood colored the water. Then he set up the mast and the sail, sailing the boat by the trade wind. But the fish’s scent had attracted the first shark. The shark took away one third of the fish and the old man harpooned its head. Second and third sharks came and the old man cleared them away, at the cost of half the fish and the harpoon. Much closer to the shore, the old man encountered a pack of sharks. With little arms, the old man clubbed them and lunged them hard with the club and after the club was gone, the tiller. With nothing to take any more, the sharks left, leaving the old man helpless in the boat. Before dawn, the old man sailed into the shore and stepped back to his shack. Desperately he lay down and slept. The boy found him and saw his palms, and the boy cried. He was proud of him and glad for his great success. The backbone, the head and the tail of the fish alongside his skiff was appreciated by the fishermen around. They had never seen such a giant fish and they admired the old man. The old man awoke and the boy declared to follow him to learn fishing. The old man slept again soundly and he saw lions in his dreams again. The backbone of the fish was appreciated in the shore by the proprietors and tourists. And this is the end of the story.
The old man considered the fish his brother, as well as the bird, the sea and sometimes the wind.
How great the old man was! If I hooked a fish, I wouldn’t be as patient as he was. Big as it would be, I would not let it hold me into the night. I’d pulled it upwards or give it up. It sounds terrible for me to link to a fish for totally 2 days with little sleep. What’s more, he had to face the old age and relatively weak body. It is a pity that he couldn’t bring the fish complete. He had driven out too far at sea. But he had won his reputation and pride and dignity. A man can be destroyed but not defeated. He had not feared the pack of sharks. With little arms, he hit the sharks with all his strength. The old man was fearless, strong-willed, confident, consistent, experienced, skilled and intelligent. He taught us how to tackle with difficulties or handicaps. Keep our heads clear and devote all of ourselves to our goal, and keep holding on till the end of fight. Never surrender to any kind of enemy. Be fearless to beasts and even the cruel nature.
From this novel, I learn a lot about Hemingway, and about being a man. What I should do is bear the old man’s spirit in mind and always take it into practice. When tackling with difficulties and problems, I should fight against them whole-heartedly and painstakingly. I should be well-prepared and gain much experience of tackling with difficulties. Success is supposed for the well-prepared. Only by fishing more can you fish a giant fish. Likewise, as a student, I should keep learning to live and learning to be a real man, despite the age or handicaps, always with hope and faith in life.