the old man and the sea essays

78 The Old Man and the Sea Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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• Hemingway’s Code Hero in The Old Man and the Sea. Traits & Definition To solve the misconception, Hemingway sets in with his The Old Man and the Sea, featuring Santiago, an aged angler and an epitome of code heroes.
• The Old Man and the Sea “The Old Man and the Sea” is a story of a modest old man and his struggle for the greatness. This essay seeks to make a detailed review of the story, “The Old Man and […] We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• Friendship in The Old Man and The Sea The book was the last published during the author’s lifetime, and some critics believe that it was his reflection on the topics of death and the meaning of life.
• Human Victory in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Hemingway “[…] he wrote about pity: about something somewhere that made them all: the old man who had to catch the fish and then lose it, the fish that had to be caught and then lost, […]
• The Old Man and the Sea It can also be stated that the novel itself has distinct religious overtones as evidenced by Santiago’s reference to the crucifixion in the scene where the sharks came to eat the body of the marlin.
• “The Old Man and the Sea”: Unlucky but Undefeated The main character of Hemingway’s book The Old Man and the Sea is a person with great experience in life and in his work but he does not seem to be lucky; this is where […]
• The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway In The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway reveals his conception of heroism not as a measure of the glory and recognition his character receives, but instead in the determination of the struggle.
• Don Quixote Comparison to Movie “The Old Man and the Sea” Both stories, The Old Man and the Sea and Don Quixote have a number of common features as they are based on all those characteristics inherent to men who are challenged the world they live […]
• The Need of Being Versed in Country Things and “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Representation of Individuality in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Portrayal of Love and Friendship in Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Internal and External Conflict of Santiago in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• Losing Faith in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• The Use of the Iceberg Principle in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• An Evaluation of the Hero in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Struggles of Man and Nature in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• The Symbolic Use of Christianity in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Effective Use of Imagery in Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Analysis of the Narrative Point of View in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Story of Santiago in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• The Journey in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• Solitude and Its Language Manifestation in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• “The Old Man and the Sea”: The Old Fisherman as a Hemingway Code Hero
• Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” Characters Transposed in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• An Interpretation of Key Symbols in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Theme of Isolation in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• The Symbiotic Relationship Between Lennie and George in “Of Mice and Men” and Santiago and Manolin in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• Inner Happiness in Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Narrative Techniques and Style of the Language in Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Resilience of the Human Spirit in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• Historical Context of “The Old Man and the Sea”
• Santiago’s Battle Against Nature and the Sea in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• The Hero in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• Structural Techniques and Language Style in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• The Route in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Similarities and Differences of the Old Man, the Boy, and the Sea in in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• the Theme of Pride in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• Santiago as a Man Defeated in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• Religious Symbolism in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• The Luck in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• Final Impression of Triumph and Despair in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• Moving Past Triumphs and Tragedies in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Concept of Man in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• Theme of Heroism in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Character Santiago in Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”
• Comparison of Tom in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and Santiago in “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Different Perspectives on “The Old Man and the Sea”
• The Dangerous Yet Rewarding Road to Success as a Fisherman in “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway
• How Does “The Old Man and the Sea” Prompt the Audience to View the Human Condition?
• How Is Luck Important to Santiago and Manolin in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Does Hemingway Convey About Success in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• Why Did Santiago Loose the Prize He Was After in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Are the Nightly Precautions Santiago Takes With His Fishing Equipment Both Realistic and Optimistic in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• Is Santiago a Prideful Man in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Does Santiago Embody Hemingway’s Ideals for Manhood in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Is the Main Conflict in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• Is Santiago Successful as a Fisherman in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• Why Won’t Santiago Borrow Money in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Does Hemingway Imply That Santiago Is a Christ-Like Figure in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Is Santiago’s View of His Sinfulness in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Is the Figure of Joe Dimaggio Used to Emphasize Santiago’s Respect for Nature in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• Is the Old Man Right to Kill the Marlin in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Significance Do the Lions on the Beach Have for the Old Man in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Is Santiago Characterized Early in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Is the Relationship Between Santiago and Manolin in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Is Santiago Separated From or Different From the Other Fishermen in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Do Santiago and Manolin Pretend in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Is Santiago’s House Described in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Are Santiago’s Feelings for Creatures of the Sea Including the Birds in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• Why Does Santiago Call the Sea “La Mar” in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• Why Doesn’t Santiago Worry About Talking to Himself in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• Is the Ending of “The Old Man and the Sea” Hopeful or Discouraging?
• In What Ways Are the Fish and Santiago Alike in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Do the Sharks in “The Old Man and the Sea” Symbolize?
• Why Does Santiago Say the Fish Is More Noble Than He in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Does Santiago Feel About the Marlin in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• How Does Hemingway Stress the Endurance of Santiago in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
• What Does Santiago Conclude Even When Things Are Hopeless in “The Old Man and the Sea”?
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• The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway

• Literature Notes
• Themes in The Old Man and the Sea
• Book Summary
• About The Old Man and the Sea
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Character Analysis
• Character Map
• Ernest Hemingway Biography
• Critical Essays
• Hemingway's Style
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Critical Essays Themes in The Old Man and the Sea

A commonplace among literary authorities is that a work of truly great literature invites reading on multiple levels or re-reading at various stages in the reader's life. At each of these readings, the enduring work presumably yields extended interpretations and expanded meanings. Certainly, The Old Man and the Sea fits that description. The novella invites, even demands, reading on multiple levels.

For example, readers can receive the novella as an engaging and realistic story of Santiago, the old man; Manolin, the young man who loves him; and Santiago's last and greatest battle with a giant marlin. Indeed, Hemingway himself insisted that the story was about a real man and a real fish. Critics have pointed to Hemingway's earlier essay — which mentions a presumably real fisherman who travels far out to sea in a small boat, catches a great fish, and then loses it to sharks — as the seed from which the novella springs.

However, the novella also clearly fits into the category of allegory — a story with a surface meaning and one or more under-the-surface meanings; a narrative form so ancient and natural to the human mind as to be universal; a form found in pagan mythology, in both Testaments of the Bible, and in Classical to Post-Modern literature. Likewise, the characters become much more than themselves or even types — they become archetypes (universal representations inherited from the collective consciousness of our ancestors and the fundamental facts of human existence).

From this perspective, Santiago is mentor, spiritual father, old man, or old age; and Manolin is pupil, son, boy, or youth. Santiago is the great fisherman and Manolin his apprentice — both dedicated to fishing as a way of life that they were born to and a calling that is spiritually enriching and part of the organic whole of the natural world. Santiago, as the greatest of such fishermen and the embodiment of their philosophy, becomes a solitary human representative to the natural world. He accepts the inevitability of the natural order, in which all creatures are both predator and prey, but recognizes that all creatures also nourish one another. He accepts the natural cycle of human existence as part of that natural order, but finds within himself the imagination and inspiration to endure his greatest struggle and achieve the intangibles that can redeem his individual life so that even when destroyed he can remain undefeated.

In living according to his own code of behavior, accepting the natural order and cycle of life, struggling and enduring and redeeming his individual existence through his life's work, and then passing on to the next generation everything he values, Santiago becomes an everyman (an archetypal representation of the human condition). His story becomes everyone's story and, as such, becomes genuinely uplifting. As the tourists who mistake the marlin for a shark still comprehend from its skeleton something of the great fish's grandeur, readers of different ages and levels of understanding can find something inspirational in this story — perhaps even more if they dip into its waters more than once.

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The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest hemingway, everything you need for every book you read..

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Old Man and the Sea: Introduction

The old man and the sea: plot summary, the old man and the sea: detailed summary & analysis, the old man and the sea: themes, the old man and the sea: quotes, the old man and the sea: characters, the old man and the sea: symbols, the old man and the sea: theme wheel, brief biography of ernest hemingway.

Historical Context of The Old Man and the Sea

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• Full Title: The Old Man and the Sea
• When Written: 1951
• Where Written: Cuba
• When Published: 1952
• Literary Period: Modernism
• Genre: Fiction (novella); Parable
• Setting: Late 1940s; a fishing village near Havana, Cuba, and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico
• Climax: When Santiago finally harpoons and kills the marlin; when Santiago fights off the final pack of sharks
• Antagonist: The marlin; the sharks
• Point of View: Third-person omniscient, although largely limited to Santiago's point of view

Extra Credit for The Old Man and the Sea

Awards: The Old Man and the Sea was the last major work of fiction Hemingway wrote. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and contributed to Hemingway's selection for the Nobel Prize in 1954.

Criticism of the Critics: Hemingway's novel Across the River and Into the Trees , published in 1950, met with severe negative criticism, although Hemingway said he considered it his best work yet. When The Old Man and the Sea was published to great acclaim, some viewed the story as Hemingway's symbolic attack on literary critics—the elderly master fighting and triumphing over his long-time adversaries.

The Old Man and the Sea

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Character Analysis

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Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

In The Old Man and the Sea, a 1952 adventure novella by American author Ernest Hemingway, an aging fisherman pits his life and wits against a giant fish as he battles to catch it and then protect its flesh from ravenous sharks. With its themes of endurance, perseverance, and respect for one’s opponent, this simple, straightforward narrative is widely regarded as an American classic and one of the greatest sea stories ever told.

The book helped cement Hemingway’s fame and legacy to a worldwide audience; it won a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and helped him win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. The story has three times been made into motion pictures and is a staple of student reading lists.

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Scribner’s 2020 hardcover edition contains the original illustrations and several analytical essays; it forms the basis for this study guide. An unpaginated ebook version of the print edition also is available.

Plot Summary

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Santiago, an old fisherman, rows his skiff out each day from a harbor in Cuba into the surrounding deep waters in search of large fish. He is assisted by a boy, Manolin, whom he has taught to catch marlin and shark. For weeks he has hooked nothing, and the locals decide he is unlucky; after day 40 of catching no fish, Manolin’s father reassigns the boy to another boat. Every evening, though, the boy visits Santiago, helps him stow the boat’s equipment, and shares with him a meal and conversation.

On day 85 of his unsuccessful streak, Santiago rows especially far out, where he hopes big fish lurk. Late in the morning, a very large marlin takes the bait and swims away, dragging the boat northward many miles from shore. Rather than tie the line directly to the boat, Santiago hangs onto it for hours with his hands, greatly straining his shoulders and back. As night falls, the fish keeps pulling them north. The chase continues all night and past dawn. On the second day, the fish jumps clear out of the water. Longer than Santiago ’ s skiff, it is a magnificent creature larger than any he has seen or heard of.

The fishing line cuts Santiago’s hands when it slides past them. He manages to catch a couple of smaller fish to eat; that night, he also grabs some sleep, his body braced painfully against the line.

As the hunt continues, Santiago’s respect and admiration for the fish grow, and he begins to wonder if so worthy an opponent should simply be killed and eaten. He decides that it is his task to do so, but that he will nevertheless respect the great creature.

On the third day, the fish begins to circle back underneath the boat. Each time it passes, Santiago pulls in more of the line. Finally, the fish cannot swim anymore; Santiago reels it close and kills it with a harpoon through the heart. He lashes the fish to his skiff, raises his sail, and heads for home with a catch that will pay him handsomely and get him through the winter.

Sharks, smelling blood, swim from miles away to feast on the marlin. Santiago defends his catch by stabbing and clubbing the attackers, but they are persistent, and as the hours pass they consume more and more of the great fish. Exhausted, and having lost most of the catch, the old man finally rests while the sharks clean off the last of the meat.

In the hours before dawn, the old man arrives back at his home port, where he pulls the boat and its skeleton cargo onto the beach. He collects the sail and trudges back to his shack, falling once and resting several times. At home, he collapses into bed and sleeps deeply, dreaming of his youth. Late in the morning, Manolin brings him coffee, and they talk about fishing together again. On the beach, villagers measure the marlin’s skeleton: It is 18 feet long, the longest anyone has ever seen.

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The Old Man and the Sea

By ernest hemingway, the old man and the sea essay questions.

Describe Hemingway's portrayal of Santiago's relationship with the sea.

Hemingway focuses on the connections between Santiago and his natural environment: the fish, birds, and stars are all his brothers or friends; he has the heart of a turtle, eats turtle eggs for strength; anddrinks shark liver oil for health. This connection with the sea and its creatures helps Santiago in the midst of his great tragedy. For Santiago, success and failure are two equal facets of the same existence. They are transitory forms which capriciously arrive and depart without affecting the underlying unity between himself and nature. As long as he focuses on this unity and sees himself as part of nature rather than as an external antagonist competing with it, he cannot be defeated by whatever misfortunes befall him.

Is Santiago a prideful man? Why or why not?

Hemingway's treatment of pride in The Old Man and the Sea is ambivalent. A heroic man like Santiago should have pride in his actions, and as Santiago shows us, "humility was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride" (14). At the same time, though, it is apparently Santiago's pride which presses him to travel dangerously far out into the sea, "beyond all people in the world," to catch the marlin (50). While he loved the marlin and called him brother, Santiago admits to killing it for pride, his blood stirred by battle with such a noble and worthy antagonist. Some have interpreted the loss of the marlin as the price Santiago had to pay for his pride in traveling out so far in search of such a catch. Contrarily, one could argue that this pride was beneficial as it allowed Santiago an edifying challenge worthy of his heroism. In the end, Hemingway suggests that pride in a job well done, even if pride drew one unnecessarily into the situation, is a positive trait.

How does Santiago embody Hemingway's ideals for manhood?

Hemingway's ideal of manhood is nearly inseparable from the ideal of heroism. To be a man is to behave with honor and dignity: to not succumb to suffering, to accept one's duty without complaint and, most importantly, to display a maximum of self-control. The representation of femininity, the sea, is characterized expressly by its caprice and lack of self-control; "if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them" (30). The representation of masculinity, the marlin, is described as 'great,' 'beautiful,' 'calm,' and 'noble,' and Santiago steels him against his pain by telling himself, "suffer like a man. Or a fish," referring to the marlin (92). In Hemingway's ethical universe, Santiago shows us not only how to live life heroically but in a way befitting a man.

In your opinion, is Santiago successful as a fisherman? Why or why not?

Hemingway draws a distinction between two different types of success: outer, material success and inner, spiritual success. While Santiago clearly lacks the former, the import of this lack is eclipsed by his possession of the later. One way to describe Santiago's story is as a triumph of indefatigable spirit over exhaustible material resources. As noted above, the characteristics of such a spirit are those of heroism and manhood. That Santiago can end the novella undefeated after steadily losing his hard-earned, most valuable possession is a testament to the privileging of inner success over outer success.

Discuss Santiago's obsession with being a worthy adversary for the marlin.

Being heroic and manly are not merely qualities of character which one possesses or does not. One must constantly demonstrate one's heroism and manliness through actions conducted with dignity. Interestingly, worthiness cannot be conferred upon oneself. Santiago is obsessed with proving his worthiness to those around him. He had to prove himself to the boy: "the thousand times he had proved it mean nothing. Now he was proving it again. Each time was a new time and he never thought about the past when he was doing it" (66). And he had to prove himself to the marlin: "I'll kill him....in all his greatness and glory. Although it is unjust. But I will show him what a man can do and what a man endures" (66). A heroic and manly life is not, then, one of inner peace and self-sufficiency; it requires constant demonstration of one's worthiness through noble action.

How does Hemingway imply that Santiago is a Christ-like figure?

Manolin has an almost religious devotion to Santiago, underscored when Manolin begs Santiago's pardon for his not fishing with the old man anymore. Manolin says, "It was Papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him," to which Santiago replies, "I know... It is quite normal. He hasn't much faith" (10). Manolin's father forced his son to switch to a more successful boat after 40 days had passed without a catch for Santiago; this is the amount of time Jesus wandered in the desert, tempted by Satan. Just as Christ resisted the temptation of the devil, Santiago resists the temptation of giving in to his exhaustion as he battles the marlin. "It was a great temptation to rest in the bow and let the fish make one circle by himself without recovering any line." But he is committed to beating the fish, to proving his strength is more steadfast, thinking, "He'll be up soon and I can last. You have to last. Don't even speak of it."

What is Santiago's view of his own sinfulness?

Throughout this final section, Santiago repeatedly apologizes to the marlin in a way that provides another way to read Santiago's sin. He says, "Half fish... Fish that you were. I am sorry that I went out so far. I ruined us both" (115). Santiago's transgression is no longer his killing of the fish, but going out too far in the ocean, "beyond all people in the world" (50). While the former sin helped account for the inescapable misery of the human condition, the latter focuses instead on avoidable misery brought about by intentional action. Santiago chose to go out so far; he did not need to do so, but in doing so he must surrender his prize, the marlin, to the jealous sea.

This understanding of Santiago's sin is strange because it seems to separate man from nature in a way which contradicts the rest of the novella. Going out too far is an affront against nature similar to the hubristic folly of Greek tragedy; he has courted disaster through his own pride. Nowhere previously in the novel was this apparent, though. The sea seemed to welcome him, providing him company and food for his expedition. There was no resistance from nature to his activities, except perhaps the sharks, but these were never made to be nature's avengers. This reading of Santiago's sin thus seems very problematic.

Describe the important aspects of Santiago's relationship with Manolin.

The relationship between Santiago and Manolin can be summed up in one sentence: "The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him" (10). Manolin is Santiago's apprentice, but their relationship is not restricted to business alone. Manolin idolizes Santiago but the object of this idolization is not only the once great though presently failed fisherman; it is an idolization of ideals. This helps explain Manolin's unique, almost religious, devotion to the old man, underscored when Manolin begs Santiago's pardon for his not fishing with the old man anymore. Manolin says, "It was Papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him," to which Santiago replies, "I know... It is quite normal. He hasn't much faith" (10).

Despite the clear hierarchy of this teacher/student relationship, Santiago does stress his equality with the boy. When Manolin asks to buy the old man a beer, Santiago replies, "Why not?... Between fisherman" (11). And when Manolin asks to help Santiago with his fishing, Santiago replies, "You are already a man" (12). By demonstrating that Santiago has little more to teach the boy, this equality foreshadows the impending separation of the two friends, and also indicates that this will not be a story about a young boy learning from an old man, but a story of an old man learning the unique lessons of the autumn of life.

Discuss the importance of the sense of sight to the characters in the novella.

Hemingway peppers the novella with numerous references to sight. We are told, for instance, that Santiago has uncannily good eyesight for a man of his age and experience, while Manolin's new employer is nearly blind. When Manolin notices this, Santiago replies simply, "I am a strange old man" (14). Given the analogy between Santiago's eyes and the sea, one suspects that his strangeness in this regard has something to do with his relationship to the sea. This connection, though, is somewhat problematic as it might suggest that Santiago would have success as a fisherman.

Santiago's statement that his eyes adjust to the sun during different parts of the day furnishes another example of the importance of sight and visual imagery in the novella. Santiago says, "All my life the early sun has hurt my eyes, he thought. Yet they are still good. In the evening I can look straight into it without getting the blackness. It has more force in the evening too. But in the morning it is just painful" (33). Given the likening of natural time cycles to human age, e.g. September as the autumn of life, it is plausible to read this passage as a statement of the edifying power of age. While it is difficult to find one's way in the morning of youth, this task becomes easier when done by those who have lived through the day into the evening of life.

How is the figure of Joe DiMaggio used to emphasize Santiago's respect for nature?

As he struggles against the marlin despite the pain he suffers, Santiago recalls the figure of Joe DiMaggio, identified at the beginning of the novella as a heroic paragon. "I must have confidence," thought Santiago, "and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel" (68). It is strange, though, that immediately after valorizing DiMaggio, Santiago immediately diminishes the baseball player's greatness by thinking that the pain of a bone spur could not be as bad as the pain of the spur of a fighting cock. He even concludes that "man is not much beside the great birds and beasts. Still I would rather be that beast down there in the darkness of the sea" (68). Nature, and the marlin especially, is privileged above even the greatest exemplars of human endurance.

The Old Man and the Sea Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Old Man and the Sea is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

The Old Man and the Sea, Part 2

Worthiness is an important themes in the second part of the story, Being heroic and manly are not merely qualities of character which one possesses or does not. One must constantly demonstrate one's heroism and manliness through actions conducted...

Describe santiago

Santiago is the protagonist of the novella. He is an old fisherman in Cuba who, at the beginning of the book, has not caught anything for eighty-four days. The novella follows Santiago's quest for the great catch that will save his career....

Who is manolin

Manolin is Santiago's only friend and companion. Santiago taught Manolin to fish, and the boy used to go out to sea with the old man until his parents objected to Santiago's bad luck. Manolin still helps Santiago pull in his boat in the evenings...

Study Guide for The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea study guide contains a biography of Ernest Hemingway, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Old Man and the Sea
• The Old Man and the Sea Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

• Hemingway’s Fight with Old Age
• A Different Outlook on Christian Symbolism in Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea
• Santiago: Transcending Heroism
• Chasing Fish: Comparing The Ultimate Goals Found in "The Old Man and The Sea" And "Dances with Wolves"
• Hemingway the Absurdist

Lesson Plan for The Old Man and the Sea

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Old Man and the Sea
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Old Man and the Sea Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Old Man and the Sea

• Introduction
• Background and publication
• Reception and legacy
• Critical analysis

The Old Man and The Sea‎

Introduction the old man and the sea  ‎.

The Old Man and The Sea is a short and terse novelette by the world- famous American author, Ernest Hemingway . He wrote during his stay in Cuba in 1951. A year later, the novel was published in America , bringing a sort of revolution in the field of fiction writing. The novel comprises an aging Cuban professional fisherman who fails to fish due to his age for 84 days. However, in his last attempt, he hooks rather a giant marlin which tests his strength, resilience, expertise, and perseverance beyond his natural abilities. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize that year but went on to bring the Nobel Prize for Hemingway in 1954.

Summary of The Old Man and The Sea  ‎

The Old Man and The Sea is a heart-touching story of an experienced old angler, Santiago, who is dubbed as an unfortunate man on the Terrace where he used to stay when returned his fishing trips. It was the first time during his 84 days record of having arrived without any fish, he has been finally termed “salao” the most unlucky person. However, he is not disappointed with the fact that a young boy, Manolin, is always there to boost up his confidence who’d always say that Santiago is the best fisherman in the world. They also share their interests in baseball and the best players such as DiMaggio’s memories with each other.

On the 85 th day that Santiago leaves quite early in the morning after setting fishing gear in his skiff and goes long and deep into the Gulf Stream for fishing. After setting up various lines with proper baits, he waits for the fishes to come. By afternoon, he catches a giant marlin after seeing which he feels that it is going to test his fishing skill, stamina, and perseverance. By the evening the old man is exhausted, as the marlin does not appear on the surface. Both are hidden from each other, testing each other and trying to free from each other. Santiago believes that fate has something else for them in-store. For two days and nights , the old man continues struggling to kill the fish to haul him around to lash beside his skiff. However, he does not succeed, neither the marlin succeeds in breaking his resolve. On the final day, the marlin starts circling around the skiff after coming to the surface at which the old man becomes quite happy but is exhausted to the point of madness. He starts using his fishing tactics and finally succeeds in placing the harpoon in the heart of the marlin. However, he soon faces the dilemma of confronting the sharks, thinking they will come running amuck toward his skiff on account of the blood trail the dead marlin is leaving behind in the water.

His worst fear comes to pass as the first wave of attack comes from the mako sharks. He also sharpens his weapons and starts using a harpoon to kill them. Soon he succeeds in slashing five of them but many others are on the way. The fight continues until the sharks have devoured almost half of the marlin but the old man does not lose his heart and strength. He continues fighting until he reaches the shore. However, when he reaches the coast, he sees that only the skeleton of the marlin with its head and tail. Santiago, however, has uttered the most memorable sentences during his fight that a man can be defeated but not destroyed and he has shown it through his stamina and prolonged fight with such a giant marlin. Soon he falls upon his bed after reaching his hut and goes to sleep.

When the day breaks, other fishermen gather around his boat to see the giant skeleton. At first, they do not believe Santiago would have caught. Pedrico, a local, gets the head of the fish, while other fishermen feel sorry for the old man for having lost such a great prize. However, the boy only cries for the old man for having exhausted himself without getting that prize home. Finally, Santiago dreams of baseball as well as African beaches with lions while he is asleep in his hut.

Major Themes in The Old Man and The Sea  ‎

• Perseverance: Perseverance is the major theme of the novel. In spite of the old age, Santiago prepares to fight the giant marlin. He eventually succeeds in catching the fish and also kills and hauls it to the seashore. Above all, he shows his perseverance against the heavy odds of the sharks among which he kills many while they tear most of the marlin’s flesh. Despite this, he continues fighting them until he brings the skeleton of the marlin to the shore.
• Suffering: The Old Man and the Sea story also shows the sufferings a man can go through. Santiago couldn’t keep himself awake for three days and three nights and then continue fighting a giant fish. He proved that he could suffer without regret for that great prize. The sufferings of Santiago show his power of endurance and his perseverance, the reason that it is the central idea of the novel.
• Strength and Skill: The story encourages the readers to be courageous through the character of Santiago and Manolin. Strength is not enough for fishing but one must be skillful. Any other person having less experience than the old man in the face of such a giant marlin would have cut down his line to let the fish go. However, the old man has skills as Manolin testifies that other fishermen have guts and strength but not the required skills.
• Pride: The novel shows pride through the old man, Santiago. However, it does not stay until a backup is there, which in the case of Santiago is the boy, Manolin. He constantly reminds Santiago that he is the best fisherman in the world in terms of skills, and he feels pride at it. Therefore, when he comes to the shore even with a skeleton, he is proud that his teacher has demonstrated excellence in his skills.
• Memory and Past: Memory and past stayed fresh with Santiago. He has a picture of his wife in his shack that is a relic of the past. He also remembers his exploits of the past in the hand-fighting game and fishing including his visits to the African beaches. These memories of the past continue to rejuvenate his spirits during his tough times with the marlin.
• Defeat: Defeat is another theme of the novel. The character of Santiago experiences defeated in form of delay and also loss of his prized hunt, marlin. However, the defeat only leads to hope and determination. The old man refuses to accept defeat as he demonstrates in the face of the marlin, saying that a man can be destroyed but not defeated.
• Respect: The old man, Santiago, comes to know through fishing in the expanse of the sea that if there is respect in profession and skill, then its execution becomes an enjoyment as well as satisfaction. The old man clearly states that he respects the fish but he will have to kill it as it is his profession.
• Luck: The novel shows the role of luck in a person’s life. However, the old man, Santiago, defies the traditional notions about luck, saying that it is better to be exact then lucky, for when luck comes, a person is ready to grab it at that moment.
• Friendship: The novel also shows the theme of friendship through Manolin and Santiago, as other fishermen only talk about the old man and his bad luck. It shows that he has not a permanent friend which often happens in the case of professionals.

Major Characters in The Old Man and The Sea  ‎

• Santiago : Santiago is the main character of The Old Man and the Sea. He is quite an old man, having no living family members. There is only a picture of his wife in his shack that he keeps recalling his past. The old man only depends on the boy, Manolin, for his little needs. When he is unable to catch a fish for 84 days, the other fishermen terms him a “salao.” However, he does not lose heart, as his only disciple has a blind trust in his fishing skills which proves true when he hooks a giant marlin and brings its skeleton to the seashore after spending three days in the sea. This battle with the marlin in the open sea for three days tests the old man, his mettle, his perseverance, his stamina, and also his attitude and sanity in the solitude.
• Manolin: He is a young boy from the same village. He has been going fishing and other errands with Santiago since he was five. Therefore, his association and love for the old man are genuine, for he is his disciple having blind faith in his skills and abilities. Although his parents have asked him to go with other fishermen, he still comes to Santiago to boost him up and help him in setting up his mast and baits.
• Martin: Martin is the owner of the place where the Terrace is located. The fishermen stay on this Terrace and take food and drink from his shop. The old man also gets things from his shop, as Manolin brings him a coffee at the end.
• Rogelio : Although he does not formally appear in the novel, Santiago and Manolin often discuss him with reference to his fishing net.
• Perico: He also does not formally appear in the novel, nor does he talk to the old man. However, Manolin talks about him that he can bring a newspaper from Perico for Santiago. Therefore, his role is limited to facilitating the old man.
• Marlin: This giant fish is another active character of the novel that he appears at the point where the old man is about to lose his heart. He proves that the old man is not only lucky but also exact and that he has also faith in his abilities. He also tests the old man beyond his endurance, making him almost dead tired by the end of the exhaustive three-day long struggle. In the end, he is only reduced to a skeleton by the sharks. However, he redeems the old man’s reputation at the Terrace and in the community .
• Mako Sharks: These are a type of shark. They are important in that they appear in hordes and prove voracious when it comes to taking a bite of the marlin. Although Santiago kills many of them, they take away the major chunk of its meat, leaving only the skeleton for the old man.
• Galanos: These are also sharks, but different from Mako, though, they also demonstrate the same ferocity when attacking the marlin.
• Pedrico: Pedrico is the colleague of Santiago. He takes care of his gear and fishing net during his absence.
• The Tourists: They appear by the end of the novel where they come to see the skeleton of the marlin. They are amazed to see such a huge marlin when a person tells them about having seen this size for the first time.

Writing Style of The Old Man and The Sea  ‎ ‎

Ernest Hemingway ’s writing style in The Old Man and the Sea is direct and concise. He has given a realistic description of the old man, Santiago, and his three-day struggle against the marlin in the vast Gulf of Mexico. Using less figurative language to save words to show the real face of the old man, Hemingway captures the essence of struggles and presents them to the reader. In fact, this simple writing technique shows minimum details of the characters and their achievements, but it is very deceptive in hiding the actual meanings. It does not appear ironizing characters, places, fate, or even the divine power, yet it says many things all together.

Analysis of Literary Devices in The Old Man and The Sea  ‎

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the old man, the demonstration of his fishing skills, his perseverance, his endurance, and his ethos in the face of his enemy as well as his friend, the marlin. The rising action occurs when Santiago succeeds in hooking the fish and killing it, but the falling action occurs when the sharks attack and the old man loses most of the marlin’s flesh.
• Allegory : The Old Man and the Sea is an allegorical novel that shows the morality and religiosity of the ideas through the character of Santiago, who undergoes suffering to achieve his goal of catching a fish. Although the goal is lost, the moral reverberates in it that a man must not face or embrace defeat even if he faces elimination, as the old man says, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
• Antagonist : Although it seems that the marlin is the main antagonist of The Old Man and the Sea, as the old man and the marlin are pitted against each other, yet the old man calls him a friend. Therefore, sharks are the main antagonists as they block the old man and robs him of his prize catch after 3 days’ fight.
• Allusion : There are various examples of allusions given in the novel, The Old Man and the Sea . Santiago alludes to the figure of Jesus when he erupts the world “ay” which has no translation in emotional language. The second allusion is to DiMaggio, the baseball player, who suffers from bone spurs and has been battling this in the field. The old man thinks that he is a la the Great DiMaggio as both are nearing retirement and both have handicaps.
• Conflict : There are two major conflicts in the novel, The Old Man The Sea . The first one is the external conflict between Santiago and the marlin. The internal conflict goes in Santiago’s mind about his perseverance and his past.
• Characters: The Old Man and the Sea presents both static as well as dynamic characters. The old man, Santiago, is a dynamic character . He not only sees the marlin as a friend but also as a foe. He goes through a struggle of catching the fish and mental conflict of thinking that he is standing on the higher ground than the marlin, for he can think and is determined to do, while the marlin cannot think. The marlin is also a static character that makes the old man reflect about it, about self, and about nature.
• Climax : The climatic takes place when the marlin circles the skiff, making the old man think that as he is already exhausted, he musters up the last iota of his left strength and stabs the fish with his harpoon, leading to the anti- climax of his struggle to save the prize from the sharks.
• Foreshadowing : The first example of foreshadowing in the novel occurs when Santiago demonstrates his resolve that he is not going to stop fishing come what may and second that he is sailing out to the parts of the gulf other fishermen never dared to. This foreshadows that he is going to do some unusual and different.
• Hyperbole : Hyperbole or exaggeration occurs when Manolin makes the old man feel that he is the greatest fisherman, though, there is no evidence that Santiago is the greatest fisherman in that area, yet he says that “the best fisherman is you.” This is a good use of hyperbole .

i. The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert. ii. “I can remember the tail slapping and banging and the thwart breaking and the noise of the clubbing. I can remember you throwing me into the bow where the wet coiled lines were and feeling the whole boat shiver and the noise of you clubbing him like chopping a tree down and the sweet blood smell all over me.”

In the first example, the old man has been shown through the images of sight and touch, while the second paragraph displays the use of the senses of hearing, smell, and touch.

i. The Gulf Stream and the sea are the metaphor of natural aspects of man’s life. ii. The lions that the old man sees on the African beaches are the metaphors of vigor and vitality. iii. DiMaggio is the metaphor of victory and retirement.

• Mood : The novel, The Old Man and the Sea, shows a serious mood in the beginning but it suddenly charges up when the old man catches the marlin and continues to be fast until the old man kills the marlin and fights the invading sharks. When the last shark is killed and the old man reaches the seashore, the mood shifts to calm and peace.
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel, The Old Man and The Sea, are life and death and the religious allegorical symbols such as the crucifixion imagery .
• Narrator : The novel, The Old Man and The Sea, is narrated by a third-person narrator . It is also called an omniscient narrator who happens to be the author himself as he can see things from all perspectives . Here, Hemingway is the narrator.
• Personification : Personification means to attribute human acts and emotions to non-living objects such as Santiago talks about the Sargasso island where there is weed “that heaved and swung in ‎the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket.” It shows that the sea and the weed have human emotions.
• Protagonist : Santiago is the protagonist of the novel. He starts the novel and captures the interest of the readers until the last page. Santiago heads to a life-challenging quest after 84 days of no success. He catches a marlin in a great battle and for 3 days, he struggles to get the great fish to the shore. Sadly, the sharks eat marlin’s flesh. He returns with the skeleton but earns the respect, he thought he lost, in his community.
• Paradox : The Old Man and the Sea shows the use of paradox in its most famous sentence of the old man when he says, “Fishing kills as if keeps me alive.” The statement shows that keeping alive and killing are two contradictory ideas put into the same statement. Fishing is going to kill him as it is quite hard at this age and it is going to keep him alive as he has no other means of livelihood.

i. Where did you wash? the boy thought. The village water supply was two streets down the road. I must have water here for him, the boy thought, and soap and a good towel. Why am I so thoughtless?

This example shows the use of two rhetorical questions posed by Manolin. He himself is supposed to answer these questions.

• Theme : A theme is a central idea that the novelist or the writer wants to stress upon. The novel, The Old Man and The Sea , not only shows man’s love for nature, but also his endurance, his perseverance and his steadfastness against odds.
• Setting : The setting of the novel, The Old Man and the Sea , is the sea and the coastal area along with the Terrace where all the fishermen of the area have their coffees and meals.

i. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat. ii. The old man “had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.” iii. The clouds over the land now rose like mountains and the coast was only a long green line with the gray blue hills behind it.

The first simile compares the sail to a patchwork, the second man’s creases to a desert, and the third is the clouds to mountains.

• Symbol : The Old Man and The Sean shows that the marlin is the symbol of one’s passion for achieving a goal, while lions are the symbol of strength. On the other hand, sharks demonstrate the destructive laws of nature.

i. “What’s that?” she asked a waiter and pointed to the long backbone of the great fish that was now just garbage waiting to go out with the tide. ii. “Tiburon,” the waiter said. “Shark.” He was meaning to explain what had happened.

The passage shows the irony that what others are thinking the great feat is actually nothing as Santiago has to go fishing the next day, the same ordinary routine of fishing every day for livelihood.

Related posts:

• Ernest Hemingway
• A Farewell to Arms
• The Sun Also Rises
• Literary Writing Style of Ernest Hemingway

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Nature in The Old Man and The Sea: Moving from Surpassing Heroism to Modernism

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Analysis of Santiago's Heroism in The Old Man and The Sea

Christian symbolism in the old man and the sea, a man can be destroyed but not defeated.

Ernest Hemingway

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