Once again, I only presented one point in my last blog, even though I chastised myself at the beginning of said post about doing the same thing the post before, so this time I promise I will present a bunch of random points as the title claims I will do
One point is that the book seems to have a religious undertone in it. One reason that I say this is because of the time that the old man said that he would say prayers if he could just catch this fish. In one instance, he said that he would “say a hundred Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys,” and very shortly after that, the fish started to circle and the old man gained much line and then he got the fish to the surface (Hemingway 66). This seems like the two events were too close together to be merely coincidental.
Another religious occurrence could be when the old man was carrying the mast back to his shack after this three day long battle with an 18 foot fish. He was carrying the mast on his shoulders and he fell down on the ground from exhaustion and he just sat there until he was strong enough to get up again. He had to stop 5 more times before he got to his shack and soon collapsed on his bed (Hemmingway 88). I think that this is referring to the story of how Jesus had to carry his cross and he was exhausted and kept stumbling and falling.
One more random point about The Old Man and the Sea would be that the title in and of itself tells its own point. It could have easily been “The Old Man and the Fish” or something along those lines, or it could even have been just “The Old Man.” Instead Hemingway chose to make the title this because, I think, he is saying that even when you’re on a boat in the middle of the ocean by yourself, you’re not really alone. The old man even says “and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea.” (Hemingway 50)
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1980. Kindle. Web. 21 June 2011.
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