Ernest Hemingway- The Old Man and the Sea Summary
Writer Flash View:
- Name: Ernest Hemingway
- Born: 21 July 1899
- Birthplace: Oak Park, Illinois
- Died: 2 July 1961 (suicide)
- Best Known As: Famously manly author of For Whom the Bell
(1952) The Old Man and the Sea Characters:
- Old Santiago – An old and very experienced fisherman
- Manolin – The little boy who takes care of old Santiago
- Fish – marlin, shark
Invisible character
- Joe DiMaggio
- Perico
- Martin
These characters were not directly present in the novel but they enriched the story of the novel from the back and carried it forward.
Old Man and the Sea Summary
The old sailor went out to sea to fish in Santiago. And with him was a boy named Manolin. Manolin takes care of Santiago and stays with him all the time. They have been waiting in the sea for 84 days to catch fish. But he was not getting any fish. At the end of 40 days, Santiago told Manolin to go home, because he had a family and there was no guarantee that he would ever get the fish again.
At first Manolin was not agreeing. Later he left. At 85 days after Manolin left, he found a fish, and it was a huge fish. Her name is Marilyn. About 18 feet in length. The experienced sailor Santiago realized it was a big fish, and when he hooked the fish, the fish began to take him to the sea. He tied the fish to his boat. Then the fish with his boat began to pull towards the sea.
The Old Man and the Sea Summary
After a while when the fish started to turn, he realized it was the last time. It must be caught now. He dragged the fish to the boat and hit the fish on the head with his fishing tool. At one point, the fish died from the tool. The fish was bleeding from the head. If there is any kind of bleeding in the sea, the smell of blood comes from the sharks around, but there is no exception. Santiago already knew the sharks would come running now. He was also mentally prepared.
Two sharks came running, he killed a shark with great difficulty with his fishing tool. Then the other shark left, but Santiago is an experienced sailor, so he understood the danger. He realized that many more sharks were coming. Meanwhile, another unfortunate incident took place. And that is that the Santiago fishing tool fell into the water while trying to hit the shark.
He could not save it. What he thought happened the very next night. Many sharks came after smelling the fish’s blood. So many sharks came together and he had nothing to fish for. He did not know what to do with the fish. The sharks ate the huge marlin in front of his eyes. The skeleton was left while eating.
The next morning, he dragged such a large Marlin alone to the top of the sea because there was no more meat on Marlin’s body. He returned home with the skeleton. Many people came to see it on the beach.
Everyone was very surprised to see it. They did not understand whether it was actually a fish or a skeleton of a large fish. Because the people of this area have never seen such a big fish before. Even Santiago has never caught such a big fish in his fishing life. Santiago left it ashore, his body looked very tired. The struggle of about three months long. Now he needs a little peace and rest.
About the Writer
Hemingway is one of the 20th century’s most famous American writers. His books include The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to Arms (1929), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Hemingway’s plainspoken no-frills writing style became so famous that it was (and is) frequently parodied.
His dashing machismo was almost as famous as his writing: he lived in Paris, Cuba and Key West, fancied bullfighting and big game hunting and served as a war correspondent in WWII and the Spanish Civil War. He sealed his own notoriety when he killed himself with a shotgun in 1961.
Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Hemingway is sometimes called by his familiar nickname “Papa”. His birthdate is sometimes listed in error as 1898. According to a 1954 article in the New York Times,
“In most reference books and in his own conversation he is one year older because he gave 1898 as his birth date when he tried to enlist in the army early in 1917, and stuck to that date ever since”. Hemingway’s father also committed suicide, shooting himself with a Civil War pistol in 1928.
by Rabby Sharif Ador
Also read: One cannot step twice into the same river Explanation
3 comments on “Old Man and the Sea Summary”