“The Old Man and The Sea” Celebrates Life and Humanity”-Discuss. 

Answer

“The Old Man and The Sea” celebrates life and humanity”-Discuss. 

“The Old Man and the Sea” is a 1952 novella written by the American author Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). The novella tells the story of Santiago, an aging fisherman, and his long struggle to catch a giant marlin fish.

Essentially, Hemingway celebrates life and humanity with Santiago’s story in his Pulitzer Prize-winning (1953) novella “The Old Man and the Sea”. Santiago’s struggle encapsulates the human spirit’s resilience, the beauty of simplicity, and the interconnectedness of humans and nature.

Tribute to Human Spirit: The story follows Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman, and his struggle to catch a great marlin deep into the sea. Santiago is old and a skilled fisherman. However, he is without luck for 84 days, unable to make a catch. Nonetheless, he is confident and determined. He takes great pride in his work and himself.

Santiago fights for three days and three nights to finally kill the giant 18-foot marlin. After that, he fights with the sharks till the very end to save his catch. Santiago refuses to yield to despair or defeat. Despite the limitations of his old age, weary body, and cramped hands, he fights valiantly. Santiago dreams of the lions of the coast of Africa, which he saw on a voyage in his youthful days. The lions are the symbols of his youthful energy and pride.

He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach.

He also remembers the time when he defeated a great negro in arm wrestling, which continued for a day and a night, and everybody called him “the champion.” Santiago also draws inspiration from his role model, DiMaggio, a baseball champion.

But I must have the confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel.

Through Santiago’s struggle to catch the marlin and fight off the sharks, Hemingway celebrates human endurance,