The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

  
Old age gets little press but Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ is a great antidote to youth.  The old man of the title is a fisherman who while becoming less and less able to fish still does so determinedly.  He goes out to sea like usual with help from a boy who cares greatly for him and fishes as usual.  He fishes without luck until a giant fish gets hold of his line and takes him far out to sea where he has to contend with sharks and the elements threatening his survival.  This is man vs. nature where man is trying to dominate the world he lives in despite its reluctance to be mastered.  It is about the human will to succeed and the stupid stuboness to achieve it.  It is like a summerised version of ‘Moby Dick’ where the animal represents the mystery and wild nature of the universe however in Hemingway’s version the natural can be conquered, even if it does damage the conqueror in doing so.

  Hemingway’s sparse poetic style does the story wonders as it only needs bare simplicity to achieve his aims and it is all the more stronger for it.  So much can be packed in a short space, such as this passage: ‘Besides, he thought, everything kills everything else in some way.  Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive.  The boy keeps me alive, he thought.  I must not deceive myself too much’.  It’s written from the gut and from the heart of a hyper-masculine world where man is always on a journey to prove himself to himself.

  There is nothing supernatural about the fish or mystical about his voyage, it is set in what can be seen and nothing else is to be expected from it.  The old man gains and loses from it but there is no absolute conclusion, no final verdict just struggle and bittersweet victory.  It’s nice to see that what could be the old man’s last fishing trip brought him his best fish to date as it implies his life, in the end had worth.

  There is great heart in the boy that helps the old man, a vision of kindness and friendship admist the cruel world of the sea, and of youth serving and respecting the experienced.  Life is tough but there are reasons to be hopeful and optimistic about it, just expect to fight.