While reading The Old Man and The Sea , we encounter an array of allusions that seem to exhibit close similarities to Ernest Hemingway's own experiences of writing the actual book. The most outstanding of these would be the allusion of the old man to Hemingway himself. When learning of his own trials and tribulations of writing the novel, one learns that their situations are relatively comparable. One of the first descriptions might suggest this to be true. "He was an old man...he had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish." (Hemingway 9). In view of the old man's recent lack of success, the two are alike because Ernest Hemingway's book prior to this one (Across The River and Into The Trees) was considerably unsuccessful. For him, this meant a loss of respect as a writer. As a result of this, Hemingway was ridiculed as the old man is. "They sat on the Terrace and many of the fishermen made fun of the old man and he was not angry" (11), much like critics bashed Hemingway's last book and gave it bad reviews and he was not discouraged. In addition, we are reassured of these allusions when we read, " 'You better be fearless and confident in yourself, old man,' he said" (84). Here, Hemingway is referring to himself as the old man in that he is saying that he must have confidence in himself first if he wants this book to be successful. Other allusions relate consistently as well. The fish, or the marlin, is an allusion to the novel The Old Man and The Sea. " 'Eighty-five is a lucky number,' the old man said. 'How would you like to see me bring in one that is dressed out over a thousand pounds?' " (16). We are really listening to Hemingway tell us that in the same way it could be the old man's lucky day for fishing, The Old Man and The Sea could be a great success and change the reputation of his writing after his last novel. T...