Hemingway went to Havana, Cuba in 1944, where he got his idea for "The Old Man and the Sea". There he met a man by the name of Gregorio Fuentes, who for more than twenty years was the captain of Hemingway's fishing boat "Pilar". Navarro in her article says, "he claims to have inspired "The Old Man and the Sea". Navarro tells "but it was Mr. Fuentes's own exploits that were immortalized in The Old Man and the Sea, Mr. Fuentes".The story of "The Old Man and the Sea" is about a old man named Santiago who has to overcome the great forces of nature. Things seem to always go wrong for him because originally he started out going to fish for some dinner. Then he caught the biggest marlin ever, and it pulled him out in the bay of Cuba even more than he was. After pulled out, he hurt his hands and couldn't risk going to sleep because of sharks. When the sharks finally attacked, he lost the marlin, which had become a great part of him because he knew that no one would believe him when he told them the size of the marlin.Hemingway believes that in life everyone must find their own niche and uses the metaphor of the ocean and the boats on it to demonstrate this....most of the boats were silent except for the dip of the oars.They spread apart after they were out of the mouth of the harbor and each one headed for the part of the ocean where he hoped to find fish. The old man knew he was going far out...(page 22)The boats are the people in life, and most of the boats are silent. They paddle within the areas they know to be safe and always are cautious not to upset the life that they have established for themselves. Hemingway is explaining that most people don't raise a commotion, they just allow life to happen to them. The old man is testing his limits, he is challenging the ocean, and rowing where he wants to go, not where the ocean wants to take him "Santiago shares many traits with the best of Hemingway's heroes, Jake Barnes and Robert Jo...
