A Book Report of The Old Man and the Sea

He is a tough man who always bears it in mind that he is going to the sea， fishing with his skiff day and night until he hooks a fish. He can leave the land but he cannot stand leaving the sea， although he always comes back from it， empty-handed.

He is a little man when he is in the pub where other strong young fishermen always laugh at him; he is rather little when he is on the sea， compared with those big fishes who he always wants to conquer.

But he is born to be a fisherman， who happens to be old in this story.

His author is a tough one， too. Ernest Hemingway， born in 1899， rolled an American novelist， a short story writer and a journalist into one. What’s more， his iceberg theory of writing style as well as his characteristics have a strong influence on the literature and later generations.

In 1951， he wrote a draft of a novel in eight weeks， saying that it is “the best I can write ever for all of my life”. The Old Man and the Sea is the short novel published in 1952， which is the last major work of fiction by him in his lifetime and it is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1953. Generally， The Old Man and the Sea tells a story of Santiago， an aging， experienced Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin in the sea for a long time.

Hemingway was a lonely man， the same as the protagonist in the novel， Santiago. As he once defined his life as a writer like “Writing， at its best， is a lonely life”， while Santiago， the fisherman， tough as he looks， is always feeling lonely without Manolin’s company -- a child as well as his apprentice who is in favor of the old man. In my opinion， when someone is suffering loneliness， he usually seems little， too. On the contrast， when he is accompanied by others and whenever he has some things delight him， he can share with them; whenever he gets into a dilemma， he can ask for help which can be easily within his reach; and whenever he is depressed， he can alleviate his pain by recounting his worries and difficulties. Therefore， he who has a great social circles looks big in it as associated and connected with so many people. However， Santiago can only think aloud or talk to the bird who just flies by. And when there is “the old man said aloud” on the paper， which appears frequently when he is on the sea fighting against his big fish， I feel sorry for him.

Although many readers regard Santiago as a dauntless， unyielding man of iron， as he is depicted by the renowned sentence， “But a man is not for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” ， I still reckon him as a lonely little man， deeply hidden in the character of a tough old man.

However， as a fisherman who is ambitious of getting a large fish and find his own fortune on the sea， it is inevitable to be lonely before his harvest. Besides， facing the most difficult fight of his life against an enormous marlin while alone in his small boat far into the sea， he overcomes the loneliness and doesn’t ever get lost in it. He survives from it and to himself， as far as I can concerned， he is as powerful as the lion he always dreams of.

As a typical tough man as Hemingway always depicts， though in the third-person point of view， Santiago is brought alive by Hemingway’s meticulous and detailed description. Or maybe because this novel is loosely based on a real story. Before the old man went to the sea again， he told that boy that he would go far out on the sea to fish and he kept telling the boy that he knew many tricks and he had resolution， which contribute to his ultimate triumph. One of the episodes in their conversations is that the old man wants to buy a terminal of the lottery with an eighty-five， because the next day is the eighty-fifth day， which delineates he is so confident about his approaching luck and is not discouraged by his old days at all that he wants to celebrate it in advance. This kind of thing is what we ordinary people will do in our daily life， and it also indicates the old man is not so masculine as a warrior who is scared of nothing and doesn’t even feel the loneliness.

On the contrary， he is just a real old man who earns his living as a fisherman. And finally when he caught the enormous marlin， because of the great backbone and power of his “brother”， he was so determined that he thought no one deserved to eat it. Therefore， we can regard him as a tough little man and understand him and his success better. Though he is little， he overcame the fish which is even longer than his skiff and win himself the respect and esteem from others; though he is tough， he shows his human side to nature and others as well.

The sea to the old man is like the life to us， and we are all chasing our dreams. It can be the chase of a fish for about ninety days as a fisherman， and also can be the chase after girls as a bachelor. We will face our challenge as well. For the old man， it can be sharks， the feeling of loneliness， the wound on his hand， or storms; for the bachelor， it may be any other men. But we should be brave， confident and tough like the old man， as long as there is a lion living in us， we are not little anymore， and we shouldn’t stop fighting until we reach the destination of our dreams as the old man “sailed into the little harbor” and “knew where he was now and it was nothing to get home” and finally reached the shore.

Reference：

[1] Wang Hongxin， 2013， On the Theme of Loneliness in The Old Man and the Sea[D]， Qingdao University.