The Old Man and the Sea: Thoughts of Nature

You know what surprised me? How Santiago did not get upset with nature at all. He loved the sea, and the sea creatures in it, no matter what they were even the sharks. Nature was the main issue throughout the entire book of The Old Man and the Sea. Keep in mind that nature is involved in the fish, the sea, and even human nature.  Santiago was fishing for a marlin. It soon was eighty four days and still no fish.  He had bad luck with nature because he still hadn’t caught the fish.  When he did catch the fish sharks did come up and eat most of the marlin. The strange thing was he didn’t get mad a nature at all. It was one of his friends. “I still love the sea, the birds, and all of its creatures” (Hemingway 114). The funny thing is though; he eventually decides that he is not going to eat the fish. It’s sad because I think he just wanted one of the sea creatures to be his friend and actually be able to come home with him, to his small shack in Havana. As stated the sharks eat the marlin. It doesn’t seem like nature like Santiago but he sure does like him. Along the way Santiago also “talked” so some of the birds. They didn’t of course respond but I think all he wanted was company. Nature was where he could find where he wanted to be, and that specific type of nature was the sea.  He loved the sea with his whole heart, and everything in it. I don’t see why he still liked nature, it betrayed him! It was his last couple years on earth and nature still betrayed. I would not be happy with nature, but Santiago still loved nature. He also had bad confrontations with human nature when his wife died, and the boy wasn’t there to accompany him. As you can see Santiago is an extremely unselfish man, who loved nature because he thought it was his friend.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print

Old Man and the Sea #6

I think we still read the book today for many reasons. Including, to learn about perseverance and determination, and Hemingway’s unique writing styles. Hemingway is also a famous authors American history and should be remembered.

As stated earlier, we still read this book today because we need to learn how others are perseverant in many ways. Even in this novel, Santiago is perseverant about everything he does. “I won’t die until this fish is caught” (Hemingway, 76). We read this because we all need to be more like Santiago in our own lives. He never gives up even though he has horrible things that happen to him. Including that he is an extremely poor (on an American scale), his wife has died already, his best friend Miagao doesn’t see him as often as he would like him to, he caught a Marlin but it was eaten by sharks. See his much more unluckily than you or I am. The worst thing that has happened to me today is that I have to write these blogs. I also think we read this book to be thankful that we don’t have a life like Santiago, nobody really has a worse life than he does unless under worse worries.

The other reason why I think we read this book is because Hemingway himself. Hemingway writes differently than most authors, which in my view isn’t great but we should all explore different types of writing, so we can understand all types and genres of literature. Also Hemingway is a famous author that changed American literature during the 1950s. Hemingway won a Pulitzer prize because of the book, The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway did in my opinion betray his country, and was like many other authors during the Jazz Age, but that was his move, but if it were me I would have stayed here. He moved like many of the other writers, because we were too materialistic. He could have changed that during the Great Depression though too.

Both of the reasons that I have explained are extremely important reasons why we still read The Old Man and the Sea, more than fifty years later.  

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print

The Old Man and the Sea: Thoughts on Santiago

 NOTE*This was wrote in between the blogs of the Beginning and the Middle, so don't be confused.* 

 Santiago is the old man. I want to like him, but most of the time I find him boring. That makes it extremely hard for me to like him. I think I mostly just pity him. If it wasn't for the boy, he would be alone. His wife is dead, he has no other family, and the rest of the town thinks him a failure if they think of him at all. He has such a sad life, yet he still manages to think positively. He does need to keep in contact with the boy though. If he does not, I don't know what he would do. For example he said "I can't loose the boy, and I wish he were here now." (Heminway 45) 

I also noticed that he is extremely tenacious. He could give up and go work on another fishing boat when he doesn't catch anything for eighty-four days, but he stays with his own boat. He could let go of the line when he hooks the huge fish, but he resolves to keep hold of the line until either he or the fish dies.

I like that Santiago doesn't take nature for granted. He has a deep respect for and understanding of the sea and the creatures in it. He feels bad about killing the fish, so he kills them quickly instead of prolonging their suffering. In today's world I feel he would be kinda like a conservation officer, or something similar.

Santiago is also a proud man. He won't beg or ask for anything, even though he has nothing. In a way, this almost makes me pity him more. I have no doubt that if he didn't have the boy to care about him, he would starve or freeze to death at night. I hope he does not become to proud though.

Santiago cares for the boy, Manolin, as he would a son. The boy cares for the old man in the same way, loving the old man more than his own father.

Santiago loves baseball. His favorite player is DiMaggio. He always tells the boy about the day's baseball. I think the old man likes the baseball so much because in some corner of his mind, he wants to be a baseball player instead of a fisherman. When he is out fishing, he wonders if he should have been something other than a fisherman. He dismisses that thought quickly though, saying that he was built to be a fisherman. Still, everyone dreams of being something they're not at some point in their lives.

Santiago is a character that I see with many contradictions. Hopefully, reading the rest of the book will help me understand him better.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print

Old Man and the Sea #5

The Old Man and the Sea, takes place in the Havana, Cuba.  Cuba has a history, about as long as the United States’. It is different than the United States in many ways though, and has always been kind of isolated compared to the rest of the word. The time period also makes a difference, and I have gathered the book took place in post World War II, Cuba.  Since the book was published in 1952. (Hemingway 2). This actually did have an impact on Cuba.

Cuba was a part of the Warsaw pact during post war era of until the collapse of the Soviet Union.  They had close ties with the Soviets since they were in America’s back yard. I know what you’re thinking though right now. You think, I’m going to talk about the Cuba Missile crisis of 1960’s, no. It just interests me that how Cuba is Communist, but Santiago still lived in a shack with no food. (Hemingway 5) It does not make much since to me because that is an anti-communist life style. Hemingway might not have known exactly how the poor people of Cuba lived since he was no one of them. Also, Hemmingway maybe didn’t know that Cuba was now a part of the Warsaw pact, and the radical political changes going on in Cuba at the time, since he was living in the states after the post war era. I was then thinking that maybe Santiago was rebel, and was to proud to stay in a government run home system. Then I corrected myself though, they were forced to live in the government run homes, if you were poor. This is just one of the downsides of communism.

I know this might be a different theory or historical blog, but the Cuban relationship with Soviet Union had a huge impact during the post war era. I guess maybe the old man was too busy fishing , and the government never found him at home.

http://www2.fiu.edul/~fcf/histcuba.htm

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.

Old Man and the Sea: Final Thoughts on the Ending

I actually liked the ending a lot. In my opinion, the author chose the most logical, realistic ending for a story like this. It would have made no sense if the sharks hadn't shown up, what with the fish bleeding so much and leaving a trail through the ocean. It was sad, but that's the way life happens. Ernest Hemingway seems to understand that. I also thought the title is kind of misleading. The sea plays a role in the book, but not a big one. The fish is the main focus for the old man. I think, it would have made more sense to name the book The Old Man and the Fish, but I guess Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea sounded better.

I felt bad for the old man at the end, but, like he said himself, he shouldn't have gone out so far in pursuit of the fish. It weakened him so that he didn't have sufficient strength to beat off the sharks. He was also so far out that if he got into trouble of some sort, no one would know or be able to help him. It was his own fault. At least now the other fishermen are reminded that the old man is still one of the best.

I believe the only reason he is alive is because of his fishing experiences. The old man even  said “This fish is the only reason I am alive. The Boy is the only reason I am alive” (Hemingway 103). I hope the old man goes back out, and tries to catch another Marlin, I think he has learned his lessons and he will do well the next time.

Sadly, Hemingway's writing style did not improve during the rest of the book. It still felt disjointed to me. I felt like I could have gotten so much more from this book if he had elaborated on some things better. I like books to be in depth.

Overall, I thought this book was fairly decent. It got kind of boring and monotonous at times, but the random anecdotes and dreams of the old man were pretty good, especially the dream about the lions that he has several times throughout the book. And the ending was good. I also now understand why Hemingway wrote the book, to show the readers that never give and anything is possible as long as you try and you’re prepared. 

The Old Man and the Sea Middle/Day 2

 Santiago's strength seems to be deteriorating slowly as the book progresses. The fish takes him by surprise and the old man cuts his hand on the line. For some reason, he washes his hand off by dipping it into the ocean. Salt water stings cuts like no other, but I guess the author forgot that. His other hand also develops a cramp after holding the line for so long. As the old man pointed out, he can't afford to have a cramp in his hand in case the fish does something unexpected and he needs two hands to hold the line. Then a bird lands on his line, and he strikes up a friendly, one-sided conversation with it. He says "Hello bird." and the conversation continues but in a strange way. (Hemingway 40)

Later, the fish finally surfaces. It's a huge swordfish, bigger than the boat that the old man is in. I'm finding it hard to believe that one old man could hold such a huge fish for so long. Even if he is a fisherman, I just don't think it's possible.

I'm not really seeing Ernest Hemingway's reason for writing this book so far. All of the parts I liked have nothing to do with the main conflict between the old man and the fish. I'm finding that my earlier statement about enjoying this book more than I thought I was going to is being proven wrong with every additional page I read. The characters don't make sense to me, and the plot is becoming monotonous. He's been holding a line for around twenty pages now. Even if the old man can somehow kill the fish, he won't have the strength to return home with it. I'm also guessing that there is morale that Hemingway is trying to teach us, and maybe that is why he is wrote this book. I guess, I will find out soon.  

Santiago catches a dolphin, but I don't think he caught an actual dolphin. He describes these as gold with purple stripes. That doesn't sound like any dolphin I know, and I know a lot of dolphins: they were my favorite animal when I was younger. He also says it's a fish, but dolphins are mammals not fish. It's doesn't really matter to the story, but I really want to know the actual name of the fish he caught.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.

The Old Man and the Sea: The Beginning/Day One

I’m not very sure on how I’m going to like this book so far. It know it’s only the beginning but, it doesn’t seems that interesting so far. And I’m not a big fan of Hemingway’s writing style either. His sentences are extremely short and choppy, and somewhat hard to understand. I’m sure I will get used to it though, so far the book it very slow, but it seems like it is about to pick up some.  

The beginning of this book sees the old man, Santiago, returning from a day out on the sea. He is a fisherman by trade, but has fallen into a rut of bad luck. He hasn't caught a single fish in 84 days. Most people would have given up by that point, but Santiago remains cheerful and undefeated. He remembers the time when 87 days passed before he caught anything and then went three weeks where he caught only large fish.

He used to have a boy named Manolin to help him on his boat, but the boy's father made him switch boats in order to bring in money for the family. The boy is his friend, and gives him confidence boosters, for example when stating  "'Keep warm old man,' the boy said. 'Remember we are in September.'" (Hemingway 18). He wants the old man to be happier and keep "holding on" because their are better days ahead. The boy takes care of the old man, and spends as much time as he can with him. He brings the man food, even though the old man keeps pretending he has food. They talk about baseball often. Joe DiMaggio is Santiago's favorite player in the whole league, and the two characters spend a lot of time talking about him.

Hemingway describes the man's hut/house in clear detail. The old man lives by himself because his wife died. He has only the bare necessities except for some religious pictures on the wall. He used to have a picture of his wife, but it made him sad to see it, so he took it down. The old man seems to be very lonely. It is a good thing he has the boy to keep him company.

They eat their dinner and the boy returns to his home. When Santiago goes to bed that night, he dreams his recurring dream about lions. The scene in his dream is a memory from when he was a young man on a ship traveling along the coast of Africa. In his dream, he sees the lions on the beach at sunset. The image brings him peace, and he loves his dream as much as he loves the boy. The dream makes him feel less lonely, much like the boy does. This sounds like a pretty awesome dream to me. It's even cooler that the old man actually got to witness something like that for himself when he was young. After he wakes up, he goes and wakes the boy. They prepare the old man's ship and he heads out to sea.

I predict that he will try and catch a Marlin, but it might not work to well since the boy is not with him. I’m excited to see what happens next in: The Middle. 

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.