The Old Man and The Sea: Thoughts On Hemingway’s Short Novel

There are certain books I try to read often, even every year, and The Old Man and the Sea is one of them.  It’s a short book, a novella really, that packs in a lot of material.  In the collection Ernest Hemingway Selected Letters 1917-1961, Hemingway has said, “Then there is the other secret. There isn’t any symbolysm [sic]. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The shark are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know.”  However, the story is still one that captures you despite it being a more literary work.

True, there isn’t a lot of plot going on with cliffhangers and drama and a fast-paced story, but there is a lot about the setting and the character that draws you in.  Santiago is the old man and he’s not caught a fish in over 80 days, which to his community is unthinkable and signals that his luck (or possibly talent) has reached an end.   

Yet, when going through the motions of the day, he goes out and lands a huge fish and fights it for days before being able to kill it and attach it to the side of his little boat.  During his trip back to shore, his fish is attacked by sharks and he must fend them off as they continually hit at the marlin and slowly devour it as Santiago tells them of how they are ruining things for him.  

The fishermen are impressed when they find the remains of the fish and pass along their sympathies to Santiago.  He rests from his fight and dreams of younger days but there is still a sadness to it all. Yet, there’s also hope.  For starters, Santiago has broken his streak, despite failing to bring the catch in whole. Also, he proves to himself that not only is he not unlucky but he’s also capable of fighting for days to bring in a large catch so there is still some fight left in him.

The Old Man and the Sea might not be loaded with symbolism, according to Hemingway, but it’s still a tale of endurance and not giving up hope.  For me, the book is one I like to read each year because it reminds me, whether we’re looking for the next big catch or simple going through a tough time, things might not work out the way we want but enduring those times by pressing onward is what makes a difference and we have to keep fighting no matter how bleak the outcome may look.