The Old Man and the Sea - Discussion Question 7

Apart from the short and simple style of writing Ernest Hemmingway uses in The Old Man and the Sea (which by the way, I love) as a writing technique, the author also includes suspense and human suffering. Together, these two techniques provide readers the opportunity to bond with the main character on his journey out at sea.

From the very first pages of the novella, up until the last page, readers are immediately drawn in to the main character, Santiago. As for me, I felt as if I were experiencing each and every hardship the old man was enduring because of the outwardly simple, yet inner complex description of his journey in the Gulf. Readers are left in suspense when the old man heads out to sea. Questions of whether or not the wise, old man will catch something big and worth value, or little and imperative fish increase with every page. “Eat it so that the point of the hook goes into your heart and kills you, he though. Come up and easy and let me put the harpoon into you. All right. Are you ready? Have you been long enough at the table,” (Hemmingway 44)? Here the author uses this graphic description of Santiago’s catch. This quote effectively uses suspense because it leaves readers’ heads racing, wondering what will happen next.

Hemmingway’s short and simple sentences also add to the anticipation in the book because it forces anyone reading it to create somewhat of an apprehensive scene in their head. “He was beautiful, and the old man remembered, and he had stayed,” (Hemmingway 50). In this quotation, Santiago reflects back on a memory of another fishing experience. He describes the fish simply beautiful. Uses of these short and straightforward sentences convey complex and creative themes throughout the novella.

As I stated in my previous post, humans often read books with meaning and larger than life characters to allow themselves a chance to escape an unrelenting reality of their own. Hemmingway’s use of human suffering in the story allows readers to emotionally bond with Santiago. The author describes the old man’s suffering with illustrious detail. “It was difficult in the dark and once the fish made a surge that pulled him down on his face and made a cut below his eye. The blood ran down his cheek a little way. But it coagulated and dried before it reached his chin and he worked his way back to the bow and rested against the wood,” (Hemmingway 103). Yet another graphic quote which entices readers. The anguish suffered by Santiago allows readers to relate to him with their own every day distress and pain.

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