Earnest Hemingway's classic novella The Old Man and the Sea is centered around an old man, a Cuban fisherman named Santiago, who endures the menacing sea to catch a fish; a fish that plagued his mind and undoubtedly became his heart's focus. Throughout his encounter with themarlin, the old man faced various difficulties, difficulties of the mind that wrestled with his agedbody. As in the old man's struggle, Kid Rock explains in the lyrics to Only God Knows Why, ofthe battles that evolve in the mind and heart that find the strength to go on. His song paralleledHemingway’s novel by harnessing the listener and reader to understand that a man can bedestroyed but not defeated. The novel begins with Santiago and a boy; a boy that becomes a son figure who bringshim strength. This young boy helps keep Santiago's spirits up when he has nothing, and even thethought of him makes Santiago smile. Hemingway shows this when he writes that the old man isout on the water for days, all alone, trying to catch the giant marlin. He continuously thinks ofthe boy as the one who gets him through the hardest times, "The boy keeps me alive"(Hemingway 106). The strength of Santiago through the boy happens to parallel a verse in thesong Only God Knows Why, "I watch my youngest son and it helps to pass the time. . ." (Rock1). This holds true throughout the novel when Santiago thinks of the boy while he is out on hisskiff, tired and hungry; thoughts of the boy help to give him strength and "pass the time" (Rock1). Shortly after Santiago catches the fish, he realizes how far he has gone out, and how muchwork it is going to take him to get home. He says, "I shouldn't have gone out so far"(Hemingway 110). Again, a parallel can be made with another line from Only God Knows Why. Rock sings, "It's been so long since I've been home, I've been gone, I've been gone for way toolong. ..." (Rock 1). Both of these passages express how far they are from home, ...
