Random Thoughts For Old Man and the Sea: Part 2

So as it turns out, my last “Random thoughts” post only had one thought in it, so I’ll try to make this one live up to the title.

One theme that I did not notice until now that should have gone with my other theme posts was the theme of pride. The whole story is filled with examples of the old man’s pride. I think that the whole reason that the old man is not letting this fish go, even though it could kill him, is because he wants to prove that he is still a fisherman well able to catch a big fish. Maybe that’s another reason why Hemingway only called him the old man. Maybe it was a way to emphasize how the old man felt, that he was becoming just some average old man who could not do what he was once capable of doing in his youth. Maybe the lions (they just keep popping up don’t they?) in the old man’s dreams show that his youth isn’t completely gone and he still has the capable to bring in this fish.

Even though the man seems to have much pride throughout the book, he was also very humble. The quote “’Thank you,’ the old man said. He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility. But he knew he had attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride.” (Hemingway 14-15) Another example of how the old man is humble is when Martin, the owner of The Terrace, gives the old man some food. The old man says “’I must give him something more than the belly meat then. He is very thoughtful for us.’” (Hemingway 22) This shows that the old man is not too prideful to accept help when it is needed. The story of the old man in the arm wrestling champion and of him being El Campeón also shows that he is trying to earn back the pride that he used to have in the community, and most importantly, pride in himself.

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