The Old Man and the Sea :: Essays Papers

The Old Man and the Sea The Old Man and the Sea Hemmingway, Earnest FVL Library 138 pp. The main theme of Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea, is not an easy one to pick out. At first glance the book seems to simply be a story about a guy who goes out and battles with a fish. However, there has to be some underling theme. It could be the relationship between a boy and a man, and how both are treated by nature. This is illustrated by the boy's parents not allowing him to continue with the unlucky old man. It is also shown by the success the boy had and the failure the old man experienced after their parting. Still through all of this the boy remembers how well the old man treated him and does everything he can for the old man. On the whole, I liked this book. It was written in relatively easy to follow language, yet Hemmingway was still able to convey unbelievable images of picturesque settings in the reader's mind. There is also an interesting use of dialog, not only between the boy and the old man, but es pecially with the old man talking to himself. This is something I really haven't seen used that extensively. I think Hemmingway used this to fill in the parts of the story where the old man is simply at a stalemate with the fish, when he is just sitting there being pulled around the ocean. The one thing I didn't understand about this one sided conversation was the constant reference to Joe DiMaggio. I don't know if this was simply a tribute to a great ball player, or some kind of historical reference that I just didn't get. The pace and general flow of the story was good. There were a few times during the struggle where the action all but disappeared, but on the whole there was almost always something happening. The plot was also pretty simple and easy to follow. Another quality of this book which I have seen in others I have previously read was the complete lack of a male-female love subplot. As I have said before, this often times just messes things up. In this case the only love affair was between the old man and fishing. However I would not say there was love between the old man and the fish.