On occasions, I’ve been broadly wrong in my attempt to paraphrase a book that I have read. And on many an instance, I have been broadly right as well. Although, in both the cases, I never have been precisely right. The Old Man and the Sea is one such book which I have read numerous times, to perceive its hidden depths which have so far eluded me. I, thus, intend to reveal the scripture as I see it and be prepared to be held in contempt of being precisely wrong. The chance which I am willing to take.
The Old Man and the Sea is a metaphorical depiction of the Old Man’s quest for survival with dignity in the midst of brutality and savagery. The story is a short one but “every word tells and there is not a word too many” as reviewed by Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange Fame). The tale involves an Old Man and a little boy with the ocean predators and the overseeing sea as a backdrop.
Shorter gist of the short story – Old Man’s quest
The Old Man is a fisherman and has gone without trapping a fish for 84 days straight. He is thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. His hands are scarred from handling heavy fish on the cords but none of them are fresh. The Old Man has taken the little boy under his tutelage but the boy’s family is averse to the Old Man’s presence in the boy’s life. They claim that he is Unlucky and their son would be better off without him. The Old Man’s name is Santiago and there are a few instances where his name is addressed, while most of the times the author refers to him as the Old Man. Despite his liking towards the Old Man, the boy abides by his parents will and leaves his side. He continues to fish with the other fisherman and even manages to catch a good bounty.
The Old Man readies himself for the next day with no companion and leaves during the wee hours. The boat is equipped with the necessary arsenal for fishing. The Old Man loves the flying fish and considers them as ideal companion in sea. He spots a big dolphin and is excited with the lead which is bought about by the birds circling in the sky. Soon, the dolphin is lost out of sight. The Old Man talks to himself and wishes for companionship. He misses the boy dearly. He ventures far into the heart of the ocean and with a spirited high to return home not empty handed.
Old Man hooks a mighty Fish
Eventually, the Old Man hooks a huge fish. The fish is described vividly without revealing its true features or name (Ernest Hemingway at his best here!). The fish caught in the fishing hook, to the astonishment of the Old Man, is capable of capsizing his meager boat but for some unknown reason does not roll the boat over. The Old Man lets the Fish (Old Man and the Fish are capitalized for acute differentiation among other mortals) steer the boat in the direction it wishes to swim. The Old Man is willing to play the patient game and awaits the Fish to tire at some point before pulling in the rope.
The Fish and the Old Man are sewed by destiny through the fishing hook for 4 days during which upheavals are witnessed and endured by the Old Man. The Fish does not upturn the boat and the Old Man patiently waits for it to de-energize. Over the 4 days of chess like patience by both the players, the Old Man begins to respect the Fish with all its beauty and massiveness. He calls the Fish his friend and states they both are alike in many ways. He speaks to the Fish with reverence and love but continues with his efforts to bring down the foe with all dutifulness. In the process of the silent and sometimes violent battle, the Old Man injures his hand and struggles with the deprivation of food. As fortune would have had it, the final brawl leads to the end game in which the Fish relinquishes its mighty defense and awards the Old Man a well fought victory. Around the last breath of the Fish, it reveals its beautiful head, spine and mostly its entire (soon to be carcass) body leaving the Old Man in awe and despair at the same time. He addresses the Fish as he longed friend again. The Old Man had conquered a Marlin in an epic battle.
Old Man’s return journey
The Old Man proceeds with his long journey back to the shore of his hometown. He calculates in his head the money that he would receive against the Fish he slaughtered before realizing that he would be requiring a pencil to work it out. He being an experienced hunter of the sea, understands the hazards of travelling far into the sea but he is content with the reward that he is returning back with. The remains of the huge Fish towed by the Old Man’s vessel leaves a trail of blood remains in the water, picked up by the deadliest scavengers of the sea – “The Sharks”. The first to smell the corpse of the Marlin turns out to be a Mako shark with elongated jaws and head like a bulldozer. The Old Man picks himself for the battle again and sets up a violent encounter with the M-Shark (Hemingway surpasses his best while describing the scenes of bloody conquest). Santiago emerges winner again (He kills the Mako Shark) but not before losing a chunk of flesh of his dead friend – The Marlin
The Old Man curses himself for having ventured out so deep into the ocean and apologizes to the slayed Fish (Marlin) whose dead remains he cannot protect. He questions the worthiness of the people who will be devouring the Marlin and concluding that none would be worthy! He repeatedly seeks the nobility and the strange way the Marlin fought him and perished. Before more thoughts arrive to his mind, he is approached by couple more sharks attacking from different directions as if hunting in pairs. The Old Man readies himself for one more contest with the ocean predators (Hemingway beautifies violence here) and eventually kills one shark while viciously injuring the other. The pair of sharks eat up more than a quarter of the Marlin’s carcass leaving the Old Man wondering if it’s a dream.
The attacks on the Marlin leave a stench of blood in the ocean and attract many more sharks along the way. The sharks swim towards the towed Marlin like torpedoes one after the other and every time the Old Man battles his heart out for preserving the Marlin’s leftovers. Each battle leaves the Old Man crestfallen and heartbroken while the sharks keep eating away the fresh flesh of the Marlin’s dead body. But in every battle, the Old Man either murders the sharks or wounds them beyond repair. Finally, the Old Man’s weary eyes look at the lights as his sea vessel approaches the shore. The boat anchors along the shore and the Old Man picks his exhausted and worn out self and reaches his shack and crashes in his bed. The boy sits beside the Old Man while he is sleeping and arranges for snacks and milk and crying all the while.
Culmination
Meanwhile, at the shore the fishermen have pulled the remains of the Marlin which the Old Man had vanquished. The skeletal of the Marlin lay in the sand with his head and dead eyes intact. The fishermen measure the Fish in length and are astounded at its sheer size. Their respect for the Old Man rekindles but they pity his plight.
That afternoon at a party of tourists on the terrace and looking down in the water among the empty beer cans a woman sees a great long white spine with a huge tail at the end. The woman enquires with the waiter about the wondrous long spine. The waiter begins with “Shark” meaning to explain what had happened. And the woman interrupts and states that she didn’t know that sharks had such handsome, beautifully formed tails which is seconded by her male companion. Unaware of all this, the Old Man is sleeping in his shack and dreaming about lions.
Decoding the Allegory
The Old Man resembles each one of us. The protagonist in his or her life. The Marlin is the conquest that everyone has set himself/ herself for. In the pursuance of the goal, the adversity will be ginormous but it is important to remain patient and function with the duty bound attitude (Akin the Old Man).
Respect the adversity since it will teach and empower you with wisdom to handle dire situations that will hold you in good stead. Despite the achievement of your set goals (Slaying the Marlin) there could be many other adversities (Sharks devouring the Marlin) awaiting to test you further before you relish your victory. Stay guarded and approach them with the same amount of grit and zeal.
There will be times when despite being winner the success may not taste as sweet (The Old Man had won the battle but was still left dejected) so rediscover yourself and reinvent your attitude each time. People will miss the relevance of your struggles and will concoct the story (Woman assuming that the long spine belonged to the Shark) while it’s just you and the all witnessing life that knows the truth (The Old Man and the Sea)
Life will not be kind but it will not be unkind every time. But before anything, keep dreaming about the lions, the majestic conqueror within you who one day shall trounce all adversities.
This is the core message that I received from the book The Old Man and the Sea. It is a great read and I strongly recommend you to read it.
Thanks for reading.
