The Old Man and the Sea was first published in 1952. A lot was happening back then. Dwight Eisenhower was elected to be our 34th president, the Olympics were hosted in Helsinki, and my mom was born! Shout out to my mom! Unless these useless pieces of information were not already in my noggin then I could not have told you any of that based on the things we learn throughout the story. Santiago is stuck out in the middle of the ocean with no connection to the real world. It is him, his thoughts, and open oceans and skies as far as the eye can see. (Side note; How did he not get a sunburn while he was out there?!) One thing that makes it clear that the book is set in the 50's is that there are no fisher(wo)men. Back then there were still 'men' and 'women' jobs. The women were expected to cook and clean, take care of the children, and maybe be a telephone operator or secretary if she was feeling ambitious. If someone were to tell a women that was her place in life today all hell would break loose! Sixty years ago life was much different than it is today.
Another one of the very important parts of the novel is the reference to Joe DiMaggio. The old man speaks highly of him and the New York Yankees. Joe DiMaggio is definitely considered to be one of the best baseball players of all time and the old man admires him greatly. At one point in his career DiMaggio had a bum foot but played through it to become the best that he could be. The old man is similar to him in the way that his body and especially his hand gave out during his three day journey and he never complained once. But neither of them gave up and that is what truly matters in the end!
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment