Blog #3: The Old Man and the Sea

I believe that the universal idea, or theme, in this book is the struggle against death and defeat. In the first paragraph, Santiago is revealed as someone struggling against defeat. The old man has gone eighty four days with out catching a fish and he is quickly approaching his record of eighty-seven days (Hemingway 1). Also in the first paragraph, the narrator describes the old man's sail as a "flag of permanent defeat"because it was "patched with flour sacks and furled" (Hemingway 1). Despite the fact that he has a bad sail, Santiago is determined to go out into the deepest waters of the Gulf or Mexico where the biggest and best fish are waiting to be caught. He catches the marlin, and struggles with it for three days before actually reeling in the great fish. He continues to battle as he tries to keep the sharks from eating his great catch, even though I think Santiago knows that he has no chance against the team of sharks.

Hemingway illustrates the fact that the strongest force does not always win the battle. I think that Santiago battled death and defeat very well throughout the story. By warding off the sharks and having the will to survive in the harsh conditions that he faced on the boat, Santiago overcame the situation and prevailed. I believe that this is another universal idea because i would compare it to professional sports. Even though one team might be a whole lot stronger or better than their opposing team, sometimes they just cannot pull out of the game or match with a win. Again in the sport of golf, an individual sport, it is clear that every once in a while the best golfer in the tournament may not even finish in the top five or ten people. This goes to show that it is human nature for the worse team to give one hundred percent effort and overcome the power of the stronger opposing force.

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