OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Homework - Read pages 9-20 and complete the following tasks using the comment feature:
On page 9, pick 5-7 words that Hemingway uses to describe the old man. Then look at this quote from page 10:
“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.”
In your own words describe Santiago (the old man) in both appearance and spirit.
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The old man is thin, gaunt, deep wrinkles, brown blotches, benevolent skin cancer.
Comment by Joshua Sisto — May 26, 2010 @ 2:56 pm
-What I can take from the story is that the old man, Santiago, Is a competitor to the sea who has not yet given up. He follows a pattern day after day of going out and trying to fish, but just cannot quite get his fair catch. The boy who so enjoys fishing with Santiago is almost a sort of care taker. When he gets him his food after watching the old man fall asleep, gives almost a sort of caring overwatching feel. There are also times where the old man is senial. His never ending acceptance of his situation is such an example.
Comment by Ethan — May 26, 2010 @ 3:04 pm
He says the man is old, Salao (worst then unlucky), thin, gaunt, with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The man is old and looks like he does not have much straight left but in his eyes there still is a man that knows what he wants and will do it no matter what someone says about him. He likes what he does and you can see that in how hard he works and how his body may be getting a like week but he still is going to do what he has to. He is not going to give up the things he loves.
Comment by Jennifer — May 27, 2010 @ 12:22 pm
General: The man is described as being unlucky, thin, gaunt, old, and wrinkled. This would normally suggest that a person is feeble and forced to live an inactive life due to physical predisposition, but this is not the case with Santiago. He continues to take his boat out everyday, doing all the fishing , maintenance, and work on his own, not living the happiest life, but not discontent with his situation either. Santiago is not a person who has actively decided to make the most of the rest of his life, but rather a person whose thought processes have made continuing his career a simultaneously passive and resolved choice.
@ Ethan: I do not think Santiago is senile, despite the fact that he and the boy have an identical conversation everyday about objects that no longer exist in their lives. I would also argue against senility because he may accept his situation because he has lived the same way for so long that he does not know any other options. Differences of opinion aside, I must agree that the boy is a caretaker, though it seems to be a bit more than that. Santiago and the boy seem to have a codependent relationship; Santiago takes the role of a father figure and a mentor in the boy’s life, and the boy is both caretaker and companion to Santiago. As for being a competitor of the sea, his speech does not reveal any strong opinion about the water, whether as an adversary, or as some sort of omniscient presence, as we have seen in other books we have read this year.
Comment by Ryan — May 27, 2010 @ 2:07 pm
The old man is described in the book as thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles and brown blotches of skin cancer. I would describe him as an old man who loves the sea and fishing .He seems to caring and he will not give up.
Comment by Kim — May 28, 2010 @ 3:04 pm