The Old Man and the Sea: Question 3: Part 3: Friendship

One of the most noticeable themes in Old Man and the Sea was friendship. The old man would constantly say that he wish the boy was with him and it was obvious that the boy and the old man had a very close relationship.

Thanks to the simplistic writing style that Hemingway uses, it is made clear early on why the old man and the boy have such a close relationship. On page 14, Hemingway says, “The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.” The friendship blossoms out of the old man teaching the boy to become a good fisherman, and it has grown ever since.

Another seemingly unimportant line is “’Santiago’ the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up. ‘I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.’” (Hemingway 14) The reason why it is an important line is because it is one of the few times that the old man’s actual name comes up. The boy says it later that page, and the narrator says it in passing when the old man was remembering the time he arm wrestled someone for over 24 hours (Hemingway 55). I think that it is significant that the boy was the only one to call the old man by his real name besides the old man himself was that it showed how close their relationship is and that the boy knows the old man in a way that most people do not.

Another thing that the boy says, “I remember everything from when we first went together” shows how much of an impact that the old man has had on the boys life. Following that, it says “The old man looked at him with his sun-burned, confident loving eyes” which shows that not only does the boy love the old man, the old man loves the boy in return (Hemingway 15) And of course, there is the fact that the old man wishes the boy was with him (Hemingway 37,41,43,44,46)

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1980. Kindle. Web. 21 June 2011.