The Old Man and the Sea

Truth be told, Santiago's seen better days as a fisherman. While younger competitors regularly bring their impressive catches into harbor, he's stuck in the middle of a long losing streak that's...

In a novella like The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, the conclusion, also known as the resolution, is the final part of the story, where the writer resolves conflicts and ties up loose...

For Santiago, the sea isn't just a large body of water. It isn't just his place of work, a place where he makes a living. It's so much more than that: it's an extension of his soul. Whereas others...

Ernest Hemingway was both a modernist and a realist and was a leading figure in both movements. His laconic style presents the reader with minimal description and dialogue, eschewing commentary,...

The marlin symbolizes both a dream come true and a massive hurdle that must be overcome. Having not caught any fish in 84 days, Santiago was desperate for his luck to change. With fishing being his...

On page 11, Hemingway writes: But, he thought, I keep them [the fishing lines] with precision. Only I have no luck any more. But who knows? Maybe today. Every day is a new day. It is better to be...

In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, the protagonist, fulfills the definition of the Hemingway code hero since he possesses honor, courage, and endurance in an existence of misfortune, stress,...

Santiago feels a kinship with the turtles because his hands and feet are like theirs, horny and hard. The turtles are tough and impervious to the stings of the treacherous jellyfish, just as...

Santiago describes the ocean as feminine. But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because...

The boy recognizes the courage of the old man becomes fond of him for his spirit; however, this admiration would not be as uncommon in the culture of the boy. Then, through their love of fishing...

While at first it may appear that the type of conflict in this story is strictly man vs. nature, the true conflict is much deeper. Santiago, a lifelong fisherman, is growing old, and feels the need...

The old man in this novella by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago, is defined by his great age. Everything about him is old, readers are told, except for his eyes. Hemingway describes him as being...

This is a powerful quote from this story because of what it does in terms of direct and indirect characterization of Santiago. We are directly told that he is old and his eyes are the same color...

The fish is both a competitor and a companion for the old man, Santiago. The old man, a skilled and knowledgeable fisherman, has been competing all of his life. As a young man, he competed in a...

Santiago dreams about his boyhood, and the time he served on a ship that sailed the coast of Africa. Specifically, he dreams of Africa when he was a boy and the long golden beaches and the white...

Santiago calls the giant marlin "brother" because he realizes that it is a kindred spirit to him, a noble animal who will fight the good fight with everything that it has. He is glad it is not a...

The simile is trying to get us to visualize Santiago's wizened old hands and what they represent. He's an old man, a fisherman who's been out to sea goodness knows how many times over the course of...

The literary devices (elements and techniques) that Ernest Hemingway uses in the novella The Old Man and The Sea include: A distinct protagonist In this story the protagonist is Santiago. He is an...

In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway describes the old man Santiago’s eyes as the only parts of his body that remain young. He writes, Everything about him was old except his eyes and they...

I have had many students interpret this ending as the Santiago dying. By dreaming of the lions, they say, he is being returned to the days of his greatest strength. They argue that the boy is...

The Old Man and the Sea is a short fictional novel. Nowhere in the story does Hemingway tell readers why he wrote it, and thus all critics can do is speculate about his motivations and examine...

Santiago first realizes that he has developed a tendency to speak his thoughts aloud after "the boy" (meaning, Manolin) left. After that, he has not had anybody else to talk to and, as he is poor,...

The Old Man and the Sea is about Santiago, an aged man who has made his living fishing but who now contends with bad luck as he has not caught a fish in 84 days. The story is about his battle with...

In The Old Man and the Sea, there are three levels to the setting: land, air, and sea. The time is in the present (1952). 1. The novella begin begins on land in a fishing village on the island of...

Santiago has always had difficulties with his left hand, which he says has always been a "traitor" to the other. It sometimes cramps at inopportune times. Early in the story, he sustains a mild...

Santiago is not a prideful man, but he is a proud man. The word prideful carries a strong negative connotation of having too high an opinion of oneself and feeling superior to others. Pride can...

In The Old Man and the Sea, catching the marlin is usually discussed in terms of Santiago's success and failure. But there is a significant moment when Santiago does delve into notions about sin...

I think that you could go a variety of directions with this answer. On one hand, you could say that the title is significant because it quite succinctly tells readers what this story is going to be...

The climax of a story is when the action reaches the highest point of tension. In The Old Man and the Sea, the climax occurs when Santiago kills the marlin and ties it to his boat as he heads to...

Santiago’s words “I’m glad we do not have to kill the stars” pertain to the complex relationship between man and nature. Just before he utters the quote, Santiago kills a marlin. As he struggles...

The word is Spanish slang, meaning, in the context of Cuban Spanish, someone who is unlucky, or, perhaps, jinxed. (It is interesting to note than in Spain, the word means something completely...

The Old Man and the Sea takes place in Cuba, likely somewhere off the coast of Havana. Santiago lives in a small fishing village off the coast, though while the novella starts and ends in this...

Age and experience dictates much of the behavior of both the young fishermen in this story and the old fishermen. The young fishermen are making fun of Santiago because they see his 84-day streak...

That he yet dreams of the lions is symbolic that Santiago looks to his past for strength and inspiration, rather than focusing on the future which is, perhaps, bleaker. The lion is often symbolic...

The point of view in The Old Man and the Sea is third-person omniscient. What that means for an analysis of the novel is that the reader need not have the same concerns they might have about...

Hemingway believed that no matter what comes of our efforts, our nobility comes from the way we perform (with honor and dignity) rather than whether we win (achieve whatever it is we set out to...

As Santiago remembers hooking the marlin, he recalls how male marlin always let the female marlin eat first, and so the female marlin had been hooked. The male marlin stayed right by her, and even...

On the 84th day without catching any fish, Santiago sets out once again. He and Manolin, his young friend, walk to the docks to set out separately. Here, in the very beginning of the book, is where...

Santiago's dreams as he lightly sleeps in the bow of his boat having secured his line so that he will awaken if the fish pulls on it. As he sleeps with his weight upon his right hand, Santiago's...

In The Old Man and the Sea, the old fisherman, Santiago, personifies the fish that he catches on his reel, imagining it has human feelings and thoughts, which make the struggle between them seem...

One potential meaning behind the dream of the lions is connected to an idea of the afterlife or heaven. An old man, Santiago no longer dreams of success and strife in life. Instead, he dreams of a...

Joe DiMaggio is always the "great" Joe DiMaggio to Santiago. DiMaggio is the person who, Santiago states, "does all things perfectly." Santiago emulates DiMaggio in also wanting to be the perfect...

Hemingway uses much interior monologue for Santiago as he ventures out alone on the sea to battle the marlin and the sharks. Santiago talks directly to the fish, as if they are brothers, in the...

Santiago is Manolin’s mentor. Manolin idolizes him and pities him at the same time. To Manolin, Santiago is a father-figure. Father-figures and mentors are initially perceived by their admirers as...

In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is considered unlucky because he has failed to catch either the big fish. Part I of the novella is called "The Unlucky Boat" because he has gone 84 days without...

Santiago and the boy live in a world of great poverty, but support each other through participation in shared fantasy. Take, for example, their daily ritual of asking about dinner and the cast...