After reading this novel, "The Old Man and the Sea," by Ernest Hemingway, I was confused about something the old man kept repeating. During thecourse of the book, the old man, Santiago, refers to having gone out to farto catch the fish. To me, this sounds as though he is making excuses forhimself as to why he could not bring the fish in. On the other hand, he mayhave realized that he should not have gone out so far because it was notworth it for everything he puts himself and the fish through. I reread overthese parts and came to a conclusion about this problem. We know that Santiago sets out on the eighty-fifth day earlier thannormal to get a head start on what he believes to be the day he will catchsomething. He does catch something and it just happens to be the biggestfish he has ever seen in his life. He does everything he can to hook thefish and once hooked; the fish carries him out to sea, moving further andfurther away from land. The man knows he is not prepared for what is tocome but does not let this discourage him and keeps on trying. This tells me that Santiago is courageously devoted to his life of fishing After three days at sea, managing the marlin, and more importantlyhunger, he brings the fish in and attaches it to the side of his boat. Whenthe first of the sharks come, he does everything in order to defend himself,but as unprepared as he was, his actions are almost useless. This is when hefirst says to himself and the marlin beside him, "I shouldn't have gone outso far, fish. Neither for you nor me. I'm sorry fish" (110). The old manhad considered the fish his friend and also a brother the entire time he hadbeen trying to kill it. To me, this asserts a problem. The old man is afisherman. His life is fishing. There should be no reason to feel sorry forthe fish or for himself. Even though the fish he caught is being ripped toshreds by the sharks feeding on it, he caught it and that is what fishin...
