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The old man and the sea is the story of an
old Cuban man named Santiago. He has been a fisherman all his life
but now his luck seems to have deserted him, even though at one time
he was a successful fisherman, and he has gone eighty- four days
without catching a single fish. He has a devoted apprentice in a
young boy named Manolin whose parents have forced him to leave the
old man and go out in a different boat. But he loves the old man and
still continues to bring him food and beer. He takes him to the cafe
where the other fishermen make fun of the old man but he doesn’t
mind. The boy and the old man remember the good times when they went
fishing together. The boy insists on providing the old man with
fresh bait and the old man decides that he will go farther out than
usual. The boy helps him to haul the gear to the old man’s shack.
The old man lives in dire poverty. There is neither any food nor any
water in the shack. The boy gets him food, which has been provided
by a kind cafe owner, and they discuss baseball as they eat dinner.
Then he goes to sleep and has pleasant dreams. He wakes up early in
the morning and goes to Manolin's house to wake him up. Manolin
helps him to take his gear to his boat and then they have a cup of
coffee at a cafe before the old man departs. He sees his old
friends, the flying fish and contemplates on the hard life that the
delicate birds have to live. As the sun gets brighter he observes
things around him. He is old but his eyesight is still good. He sees
a school of flying fish pursued by dolphins, observes the sea birds
and expresses distaste for the purple Portuguese man- of- war that
had often stung him and caused him great discomfort. At noon he
feels the hundred fathom line dip sharply. The old man knows from
experience that it is probably a Marlin and a big one too. The fish
keeps playing with the bait and then finally takes the bait. But the
old man is unable to pull him in. On the contrary the fish begins to
tow the boat with him. He keeps moving Northwards and the old man
decides that he will not let go. He now wishes he had the boy with
him to help him. The fish pulls the boat all night and the next
morning as well. The old man has no choice but to hold on. He sees a
bird land on his boat and welcomes its company. Just then the Merlin
suddenly dives and the line cuts into the old man’s hand and makes
it bleed. The old man eats the Tuna he has caught earlier in order
to preserve his strength. His hand, which has been cut now, gets a
cramp and tightens into a claw under the added strain. When the fish
leaps up into the air the old man sees that it is two feet longer
than his boat. He is now even more keen to catch it and even though
he is not a religious man he prays to God that if he catches the
fish he will make a pilgrimage to the Virgin of Cobre. He puts out
some more bait so that he can have some more fish in case he is
still at sea the next day too. Sure enough the fish continues
pulling the next day as well. That evening a Dolphin takes the other
bait and he hauls it over and keeps some of the meat to be eaten the
next day. He begins to feel sorry for the Marlin as he now considers
him as his friend and is sad that he is going to kill it. He looks
at the stars that are also his friends and declares that he is glad
that people do not have to kill them as well.
The night falls and he cleans and eats a
quarter of the dolphin with one hand while still holding on to the
line with the other. Then he finds a way to transfer some of the
strain of the line from his hand onto the skiff so that he can nap
for a while. He dreams of pleasant things once again but the fish
rudely disturbs his sleep. The man brakes against the line with all
his strength. At last he notices thankfully that the fish is going
East with the current. The old man is worried that he will get light
headed and so eats some more of the fish meat. As the sun begins to
rise the fish begins to circle. This goes on for hours and the old
man keeps struggling as he slowly begins to pull it in. Each time he
thinks he has the fish close enough it pulls away again. At last it
comes close enough to him and he plunges the harpoon into its heart
and kills it. The old man ties the fish to the side of the skiff and
heads back for the island.
A big fish takes the boat to a 100 fathoms.
The fisherman knows it’s a Marlin and a big one so he expertly hooks
it but is unable to pull it in and instead the fish starts to pull
the boat. The old man bears the strain of the line with his
shoulders, back and hands because he is afraid the fish will snap
the line if it is tied to the boat. The fish keeps pulling the boat
for two days and swims northwards. Whenever the fish dives deeper
down the cord cuts into his body but the old man bears all the pain.
He feels a respect and admiration for the Marlin and draws a
parallel between the fish and himself. On the third day the fish
finally tires and he is able to harpoon it. He sees that it is the
biggest Marlin that he has ever seen. But it is too big and heavy to
put into his little boat so he ties it to the side of the boat and
raising his patched mast heads for home. The Marlin leaves a trail
of blood in the water and this attracts sharks. He kills the first
shark by thrusting a harpoon into it but the shark thrashes about
and the rope breaks so that he looses his harpoon. He knows now that
the blood of the Marlin will attract more sharks. He feels only
contempt for the sharks that come unlike the Marlin for whom he had
a good regard. He manages to kill them both but they mutilate the
body of the Marlin. This upsets the old man who now begins to look
upon the whole experience as an ordeal. He kills another shark that
comes along but looses his knife in the process. Two more follow and
he has only his club left to chase them away. They retreat but not
before they have mauled the body of the Marlin. He is very tired and
weary. He hopes he does not have to fight off any more sharks but
his wish is not fulfilled. More sharks arrive at midnight. He cannot
see well but does his best to fight them off. In the process he also
looses his club, the last weapon he has with him. He breaks off the
tiller of his boat and continues fighting till there is no meat left
on the Marlin. Then the last shark tries to tear at the head of the
fish. This infuriates him so much that he clubs it with the tiller
till it splinters and then plunges the sharp edge into its flesh
until it lets go. Then he heads back home happy with the thought
that nothing had defeated him.
When he reaches the harbor everything is
dark and everyone is asleep. He begins to carry the mast of his ship
up to his shack. He is so tired that he has to rest five times
before he can reach his shack. Then he falls soundly asleep. Some
fisherman sees the carcass and when it is measured it is found to be
eighteen feet long. When Manolin goes to see the old man he sees
that he is fast asleep. When he sees his ravaged hands he almost
weeps. He fetches him coffee and they talk. The boy decides that he
will work with the old man again no matter what his parents say.
They discuss further plans and then the old man goes to sleep again.
That afternoon two tourists mistake the carcass of the Marlin for
that of a shark. The old man is still asleep and dreaming pleasant
dreams while the boy watches over him. |
