The Old Man and The Sea- Independent Study and Seminar Preparation
1. What is the hardest thing you have ever done?
2. Imagine you have played several years under a coach who has taught you everything you know. This season, however, is a losing season; in fact, you haven’t won even a single game. People are upset because the athletes on your team are extremely talented. Your parents are convinced that you should try for an opening on a different team. What would you do? Would you leave your coach?
3. Who is someone you look up to or idolize?
Characters
Santiago
Marlin
Joe DiMaggio
Manolin
Sharks
Villagers
Conflict
Person-against-self - an internal conflict of feelings.
Person-against-person - the typical protagonist vs. antagonist scenario.
Person-against-society - the protagonist battles against the larger organizations of society (or a system of beliefs held by society).
Person-against-nature - the protagonist is threatened by a component of nature.
Themes
The Hero Archetype
Pride and Honor
Struggle and Determination
Defeat, Death, and Resurrection
Defeat/Victory
Man and Nature
Prayer/Relationship with God
Friendship, Love, and Devotion
Love/Community
Good/Evil
Suffering
Loneliness
Justice/Injustice
Old Age
Others?
Symbols, Imagery, Allegory & Motifs
The Marlin and Sharks
DiMaggio and the Bone Spur
Christianity/Crucifiction Imagery
Death and Renewel
Lions on the Beach
The Sea
The Mast
The Lost Harpoon
Important Quotes
Quote: Then the fish came alive, with his death in him, and rose high out of the water showing all his great length and width and all his power and his beauty. He seemed to hang in the air above the old man in the skiff. Then he fell into the water with a crash that sent spray over the old man and over all of the skiff.
Quote: Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.
Quote: Anyone can be a fisherman in May.
Quote: I wish I had the boy.
Quote: My choice was to go there and find him beyond all people. Beyond all people in the world. Now we are joined together and have been since noon. And no one to help either of us.
Quote: But I must have the confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel.
Quote: Fish, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends.
Questions
1. Why are there so many references to time and numbers in the first part of the story?
2. Describe the relationship between the old man and the boy.
3. What sports do the old man and the boy talk about and what is the importance of all the references to sports? Why is Joe DiMaggio so important?
4. What are the old man’s recurring dreams, and what do they mean?
5. Why does the old man row so far out, what consequences does that decision finally have, and how does the old man view his actions?
6. List some details that point to the old man’s precision and care as a fisherman. Explain what he means when he says, “It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact.”
7. Tell how each of the following reveals some aspect of the conflict between the man and the fish: the old man’s physical condition, his feelings, his memories, and his dreams.
8. Compare the description of the first shark with the description of the marlin and the old man’s attitudes toward the two fish.
9. How does the old man first view the fish and what changes come over his view as the story progresses?
10. When and why does the old man keep wishing the boy were there with him? Is he just feeling weak and inadequate or is something more involved, and if so, what?
11. What physical and mental resources does the old man summon to deal with the repeated attacks of the sharks?
12. In the beginning, the old man is hoping for a big fish that will bring him a lot of money. What is he hoping for at the end?
13. At the end of the story, the reader learns the reactions of the old man, the boy, the proprietor of the Terrace, and the two tourists. What is Hemingway’s purpose in presenting these reactions?
14. Why does the story end with the old man dreaming about the lions?
15. What is the difference between humiliation and humility? Which characterizes the old man at the end? Why?