Book Review: The Old Man and the Sea

Name of the book: The Old Man and The Sea

Author of the book: Ernest Hemingway
Total no. of pages: 112; Price of the book: Rs. 150/-
Publisher: Penguin
Originally published: 1 September 1952
Genre: Literary Fiction

Illustrations:

Introduction: The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel written by the American author Ernest
Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. The original consisted of 127 pages.
In 1953, The Old Man and the Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and it was cited by the
Nobel Committee as contributing to their awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to Hemingway in
1954.
The Old Man and the Sea tells the story of Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman, who alone in his small
boat faces the most difficult fight of his life against an enormous marlin.
In his novella Hemingway has stripped down the basic story of human life to its basic elements. A single
human being, represented by the fisherman Santiago, is blessed with the intelligence to do big things and
to dream of even grander things. The themes apparent in Hemingway's tale are suffering, strength, skill,
perseverance in the face of difficulty, pride, friendship, age and the struggle between man and nature.
The Old Man and the Sea uses the omniscient, or "all-knowing," point of view of the author, who acts
as a hidden narrator. It provides a wider perspective from which to present the thoughts of the old man
and the other characters. Hemingway uses descriptive yet simple language that contributes a vivid
imagery to the story. Conflict is an essential part of his story---conflict between man and nature, and the
conflict within the man {Santiago’s internal conflict}. Hemingway moves the story along at a brisk pace
through the use of crisp and direct dialogue. At the same time, he integrates the direct insight of
internal monologues, that help the reader understand the characters better. Hemingway uses a variety of
literary devices to tell the story--- various instances of Similes, Personification, Alliteration and
Onomatopoeia are scattered throughout the story to give it a vivid nature.

Youth by Joseph Conrad also touches on similar themes of man versus nature, strength, courage and
overcoming difficulties. The book is an autobiographical tale of Conrad's own experiences at sea, ones in
which he struggles against the elements and endures suffering along his journey. There are also themes of
age and maturity played out in a battle between the aged captain and Conrad's youthful independence.

Overall, this magnificent tale is an extraordinary and ageless vision of extreme perseverance in the face of
adversity, courage in the face of defeat and personal triumph won from loss. Hemingway highlights the
struggle to achieve one's dreams, for without dreams, a human remains a mere physical presence in the
universe, with no creative or spiritual dimension.