The Old Man and the Sea-Q.8

Out of all of the discussion topics listed this one has to be the most irrelevant to The Old Man and the Sea. The story is very good for what it is worth, but as for showing us what life was like during the time period of the novel, Ernest Hemingway could have stepped it up a few notches. The only real clue he gives the reader is when Santiago talks about Joe DiMaggio, the greatest baseball player of all time, and the New York Yankees. There are only a few important characters in the book and the two human characters with speaking lines are both male. This gives the reader no idea how people were to treat each other in a normal social setting. The location part of the setting also gives no hint as to what life was like during in Cuba, where the old man lives.

Although we can't tell much about the historical side of this novel, there is one relationship in the book that is very important and says a lot about the characters. Santiago is an old widower who could very well just be a crotchety old man who keeps to himself and only talks to fish and birds, but that is not how Hemingway saw him. The old man has a soft spot for the boy, whose name is Manolin, and takes him under his wing. In return the boy loves Santiago for all he has done and takes care of him when he is sick. It is an important time in the boys life because he is becoming a man who must find a job and support his family. Learning from Santiago should be any fisherman's dream. Santiago is a master at his craft and knows what's up when it comes to fishing. Using my own knowledge of what that time period was like their relationship seems pretty normal. Santiago is the best journeyman Manolin could have asked for.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.