The Old Man and the Sea Questions and Answers
by Ernest Hemingway

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, what do you see as Santiago's main character trait? Ultimately, does this help or hurt him?
  Perseverance is Santiago's greatest character trait. He endures the aches and pains of old age, as well as the demands of his job, without complaint. He respects nature, and although his job is to...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How is nature depicted in The Old Man and the Sea?
  In Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, nature is presented as bigger than man. Santiago is just about dwarfed by the power of the ocean, which is presented as a morally neutral force. Like Stephen...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Explain the relationship between Santiago and his fate in "The Old Man and the Sea."
  The answer to this question is subjective. The text doesn't use the word "fate," so it is going to largely be up to the reader's opinion. Furthermore, the question doesn't specify a specific fate....

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Analyze how Santiago tries to defy his defeat?
  When the sharks attack his giant marlin, Santiago more or less knows that he is fighting a losing battle, but he continues to fight them off as hard as he can for as long as he can. He harpoons the...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, is Santiago afraid of death?
  The answer to this question is definitely debatable. Personally, I would argue that Santiago is not afraid of death. He has lived a full life through harrowing circumstances, and he fully...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Which particular episode in The Old Man and the Sea do you remember the most?
  Ernest Hemingway's novella has many memorable moments. Santiago engages in an epic existential battle with the giant fish and, by extension, with the forces of nature in general. Within the story's...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What is the conclusion of the story "The Old Man and the Sea"?
  The Old Man and the Sea ends with Santiago asleep, dreaming of lions on the beaches of Africa, having just renewed his partnership with Manolin (which gives him the opportunity for a fresh start...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, narrate Santiago's epic struggles, his triumph, and his loss.
  The short novel The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway tells of an elderly fisherman named Santiago who has not caught a fish for many days and is considered unlucky. He finally brings in a...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Describe Santiago's physical appearance.
  Santiago is a very old man, but he has eyes like the sea. The main physical description given of Santiago is that he is old in every way except for his eyes. His skin is browned from a lifetime of...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What is an example of a book report on The Old Man and the Sea with plot summary, introduction/setting, and opinion/recommendation?
  The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway. It was first published in 1952. It is set in Cuba and deals with Santiago, the old man referred to in the title, and his quest to...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How did Santiago know that the fish was a marlin when it first began to nibble on the line?
  It's a burning hot day as Santiago puts his fishing lines deep into the dark blue water. From his vantage point on board his little boat the old man can see shoals of tuna feeding in the ocean....

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  The classic The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, with its use of sparse, almost elementary-level writing, may on the surface seem like a simple story about a fisherman and the big one that got away. However, we must keep in mind that...
  One indication of Ernest Hemingway’s central focus is the title, which presents the opposition between a human being and a natural element rather than another creature. Although Santiago, the...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Write an analysis essay about The Old Man and the Sea that includes the setting of the story, the symbol of the story, and citations.  
  Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954 for his novella The Old Man and the Sea. The book might be analyzed from a variety of perspectives and while the...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In what specific ways does the Old Man from The Old Man and the Sea struggle with his profession? Why or how can this be personally meaningful?
  One way that the old man (Santiago) struggles with his profession is that fishing can be a feast or famine line of work: some days or seasons can be great and others can be catastrophically...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, what larger message does Hemingway convey to the reader through the unusual relationship between Santiago and Manolin?
  Through the relationship between the old man, Santiago, and the boy, Manolin, in The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway conveys to the reader the message that real friendship is about faith,...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In the relationship between and the old man and the boy in The Old Man and the Sea, what does each give to the other, why does each value the relationship above all sets?
  The Old Man and the Sea presents the relationship between Santiago and his apprentice, Manolin, as similar to that between grandfather and grandson, because Santiago is so much older than the boy....

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What qualities make the old man in The Old Man and the Sea such a great fisherman, and what does the old man mean when he says "anyone can be a fisherman in May." How does this philosophy explain his life's work?
  The one quality, more than any other quality, that makes Santiago such a good fisherman is perseverance. He simply doesn't know how to give up. He has been fishing his entire life, and that in and...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, do you see the Old Man's adventure at sea as a triumph or a defeat, and what message is Hemingway trying to convey to the reader from his great encounter?
  In the story, the old man is a fisherman who hooks a large fish and tries to reel him in. The battle between the two lasts for a long time and creates both physical and spiritual tension for the...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How does the boy react to Santiago's catch in The Old Man and the Sea? Does the boy think the accomplishment is worth the price? How does the boy reassure and comfort the old man, and how does the boy feel within himself?
  To fully understand the boy's reaction to Santiago's catch, it is important to consider it in the context of the relationship between them that the author establishes in the beginning of the...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How do the tourists in The Old Man and the Sea respond to Santiago’s catch? Does their opinion matter? Why or why not?
  In the final pages of The Old Man and the Sea, after Santiago, the aged fisherman, has returned from his epic battle to catch a giant marlin—which was then nearly devoured by sharks—and left the...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What principles does the Old Man from The Old Man and the Sea employ in fishing that can be adapted to the profession you hope to pursue?
  There are a number of character traits and principles of Santiago’s which can be adapted to any career. For the purposes of answering this question, I will discuss three: determination, problem...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How does the old man's defeat impact him both economically and physically in The Old Man and the Sea?
  When Santiago returns to town after his encounter with the fish, he is physically exhausted. Investing all his energy in catching the huge marlin left him spent. Because he was not able to bring...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How do the townspeople respond to Santiago’s catch in The Old Man and the Sea? Does their opinion matter?
  When Santiago returns from his epic adventure at sea, the fellow fisherman who he meets up with on the pier marvel at the size of the skeleton of the fish that he had caught, proclaiming it to be...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Describe the mixed emotions the old man feels about his victory over the great marlin in The Old Man and the Sea. Do you find his reaction believable?
  The thing to note here is that while the old man was victorious over the great marlin in terms of ultimately getting it back to shore, the victory was hollow in that the meat had been eaten by...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In what specific ways does the old man struggle with economic forces in his life in The Old Man And The Sea?    
  From the outset, it's perfectly obvious that Santiago isn't a very successful fisherman. We're told right away that he's gone eighty-four whole days without catching a fish. For someone who makes...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, how does the philosophy that "a man is not made for a defeat ... a man can be destroyed but not defeated" shed light on the entire encounter between the Old Man and the Great Marlin?
  Although the old man, Santiago, loses most of his great marlin—all but the skeleton—to a school of sharks, he is not destroyed or defeated. The old man badly needed a fish catch, as he had not had...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What is the meaning of the passage that begins, "He lay in the stern and steered and watched for the glow to come in the sky," and ends, "He tried to settle more comfortably to steer and from his pain he knew he was not dead" in The Old Man and...
  In this passage, the old man conducts a dialogue with himself, which indicates how lonely he has become. He has nobody else to speak with, and his loneliness is emphasized by the fact that he is,...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How does Santiago relate to the turtles in The Old Man and the Sea?
  Santiago, the old man, thinks about how he loves turtles. He loves the various kinds of them: the elegant green turtles and hawk-bills for their speed and "great value," but also the awkward...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How does Santiago show love, compassion, and respect for other people or creatures in The Old Man and the Sea? Give two examples.
  Santiago shows love for the boy, Manolin, who is his companion as the story opens. He teaches him to fish and shows his affection by talking to him about American baseball. He also wakes him up...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Give three characteristics of Hemingway's code hero (a man who lives correctly, following the ideas of honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic) possessed by Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea. Provide examples of each...
  The short novel The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway tells of an old fisherman named Santiago who goes far out into the Gulf Stream off the Cuban coast, hooks an immense marlin, and then...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How is perseverance shown in The Old Man and the Sea?
  The old man, Santiago, shows many signs of perseverance. First, he continues to go out fishing although it has been eighty-four days since he caught anything. When he does go out on the...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In what specific ways does the old man in The Old Man and the Sea struggle with physical ailments and difficulties? Why or how can this be meaningful to you?
  The classic short novel The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway tells of a very old fisherman named Santiago who goes all alone far out to sea off the coast of Cuba. He hooks a huge marlin and...

  1 Educator Answer

• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, describe the appearance of the great marlin. Describe the human characteristics the old man attributes to the great marlin. Why does the old man do this?
  He took the bait like a male and he pulls like a male and his fight has no panic in it. I wonder if he has any plans or if he is just as desperate as I am? This quote illustrates the masculine...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Why is the baseball player Joe DiMaggio so important in The Old Man and the Sea? Why does the Old Man love and admire him so much? How does Hemingway use Joe DiMaggio to illustrate important life-lessons to the reader? What conclusions do you draw...
  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...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Think about the strength, determination, and courage that Santiago displays in The Old Man and the Sea. Discuss the ways he exhibits these characteristics.
  Hemingway's story The Old Man and the Sea is a story of strength, determination, and courage. Hemingway could have written that story in a variety of ways with a variety of characters and a variety...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Why are sharks so important in The Old Man and the Sea? What do they represent to the old man?
  The famous short novel The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway tells the tale of an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago who has gone many days without catching a fish. He is considered to be...

  1 Educator Answer

• The Old Man and the Sea
  Describe the hardships endured by the old man in The Old Man and the Sea as he fights to catch the marlin. Do you consider the battle between the old man and the marlin to be a fair and equally matched fight? 
  The old fisherman Santiago experiences a lot of hardship, both physical and mental, in his epic battle of wills against the great marlin. For one thing, he's way too old to be participating in what...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How did Hemingway reflect modernism? What are some modernist themes in The Old Man and the Sea?
  Modernism was a movement in art and literature during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was marked by a drive to break with traditional styles and closely linked to the realism movement....

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What does the marlin symbolize in The Old Man and the Sea?
  In The Old Man And The Sea, the marlin symbolizes pride, honor, courage, resourcefulness and endurance. In the story, Santiago relates a time when he caught a female marlin. He states that the male...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, what is Santiago's relationship with the sea?
  Santiago's relationship with the sea is essentially an existential one; he exists because of the sea that provides him with food, as a fisherman, his being is defined by his relationship with the...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  In The Old Man and the Sea, what does Santiago mean when he says that the light brisa will make better weather for him than the fish?
  In this part of The Old Man and the Sea the old man is closely assessing the weather conditions around him. Santiago has analyzed everything from the pattern of the birds flying, to the way that...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  On page 75 of The Old Man and the Sea, what is the meaning of Santiago's words, "I'm glad we do not have to kill the stars"?
  In a deeply metaphysical passage, alone on the sea under the stars, Santiago contemplates his existential condition. As he lies against the worn wood of his bow, the old fisherman looks upward to...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  At the end of Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, what valuable lesson does Santiago learn about the idea of death?
  Santiago is an old man, near to death, when he goes far out in the water fishing. As he defends his marlin unsuccessfully against the attacks of multiple sharks, he learns several things about...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What are the things that the boy does to help Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea?
  At the beginning of the story, the boy, Manolin, helps Santiago by helping to carry his equipment, including his fishing line, his harpoon, and his sail. The boy also tries to help the old man by...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What is the second kind of fish Santiago ate in The Old Man and the Sea?
  The second kind of fish that Santiago eats is a dolphin-fish. These are not to be confused with dolphins, those cute sea mammals that do all kinds of neat tricks at SeaWorld. Having said that,...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Describe the dream Santiago had at night in The Old Man and the Sea.
  Santiago has a recurring dream in which he goes back to his childhood in Africa. No sooner is he asleep than he starts dreaming about the long golden beaches, the white beaches, the high capes, and...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What is the importance of Santiago's dreams in "The Old Man and the Sea"?
  Santiago has a recurrent dream of lions playing on the beaches in Africa. Now that he is old, he doesn't dream of what he used to dream, which was of women, his wife, and "great" occurrences....

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  What does the line "The old man returned to sleep and dreamt his usual dream of lions at play in beaches of Africa" in The Old Man and the Sea mean?
  Similar quotes of Santiago dreaming of lions recur throughout the text, such as: He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  Analyse how Santiago tries to defy his defeat in The Old Man and the Sea.
  Santiago first tries to defy defeat by the sharks by fighting them off. He quickly kills the first shark to attack the marlin, stabbing it through the brain with his knife, but its blood attracts...

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• The Old Man and the Sea
  How does the old man kill the great marlin in The Old Man and the Sea?
  The old man, Santiago, has not caught a fish in 84 days, a long time. He goes out to sea in his boat and drops his baited hooks in the water. A giant marlin nibbles at the sardines arranged around...

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