OLD MAN AND THE SEA
There are many writers who's books inspire the people who read them. Ernest Hemingway just happens to be one of these chosen few. Hemingway has long been regarded as one of America's greatest writers mainly because of the diversity of his work. He did many short stories such as: "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and "The Snow of Kilimanjaro." Hemingway also wrote poetry for many years. Tho he wrote many novels during his life none received more praise than "The Old Man and the Sea." This restored Hemingway's somewhat lost reputation to full strength. After it was published in 1952 it was an instant success that won him the Pulitzer prize in 1953 and the Nobel prize for literature the following year. This outstanding story is set in Cuba where Hemingway was living at the time. Even though the story is a fiction it has a good story line to it and the reader gets drawn to the character from the first chapter and even closer in the last. The story is based around an old fisherman named Santiago who despite all his bad luck he still stays strong. Although his body is old and worn his eyes are still "cheerful an
After reading "The Old Man and the Sea" the reader realizes that no matter how hard things get there is always going to be something worth waiting for. Santiago also draws inspiration from baseball's Joe DiMaggio because he represents triumphant survival. Hemingway describes Santiago as and old man with "wrinkled hands" and a "sea beaten body. Although the message of "The Old Man and the Sea" is tragic in many respects the story of Santiago and the destruction of his greatest catch is far from dismal. Santiago is a model of good, simple living who transcends the evils of the world and the contempt of his fellow man by enduring them. Santiago can compare himself to DiMaggio because no matter how much bad luck he has he knows it will get better before it gets worse. " He dreams of the lions because they have stayed with him since childhood and connect the end and beginning of his life together. Even though this happened Santiago was still not defeated because even if no one else believed he had coght the great marlin he knew in his heart that he had and to him that was all that mattered. Santiago had to go farther than any of the other fisherman were willing to go before he could catch the marlin. When Santiago sleeps he does not dream about women or fish but only of the "young cats in the dusk" which "he love[s]. The reader gets their question about the old man being physically strong enough to catch the marlin and realize that it was not a physical thing but a spiritual one. He had over everything accomplished his goal and that was all that mattered to him.
Common topics in this essay:
Cuba Hemingway,
Joe DiMaggio,
Kilimanjaro Hemingway,
Ernest Hemingway,
Sea Review,
catch marlin,
bad luck,
marlin heart,
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Acceptance Essays
