Week 1

Week 1:  The Old Man and The Sea
by: Ernest Hemingway
Genre:  Parable, Tragedy
-Dylan Hatzenbuhler

    In the book The Old Man and The Sea, their are two main characters an old man named Santiago and a little boy named Manolin.  They both truly care about each other, but everyone doubts the old mans skills.  This story sets in a small fishing village by Havana, Cuba, setting in the late 1940's.
   In the beginning of the story this old man takes the little boy out fishing for the first time, when he was younger.  Manolin loved going fishing ever sense.  Santiago doesn't have a lot of money, nor does anyone else in this village.  But the man loves to fish, but he may not have the greatest luck.
  The boat Santiago uses is a old, wooden paddle boat with a ratty old sail that looked like newspapers sewed together. When taking out the child to the ocean; the man discovers he has hit a wall of bad luck with Manolin.  So the parents of the child send him onto a different boat to fish on. 
 I don't like how everyone makes fun of this man because he cant catch a marlin if his life depends on him.  He's got a heart of gold and never puts himself  down, and even believes in one day he will catch that big one he's been waiting for.  When reading this book I've learned that you don't need every thing you want to make yourself  happy.  The old man uses his fishing to make himself forget about what everyone says about him.
  
   Now that the Santiago fishes by himself he misses talking to the boy, instead of singing and yelling at the ocean about the fish he may have caught. He's now feeling lonely through out the story when fishing in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  When fishing through out the story he doesn't get frustrated for not catching a fish but instead keeps trying and his luck comes back when he finally gets a tuna fish.  That wasn't the type of fish he wanted so he was going to use it for bait, but got hungry while going home one night.

  The main reason why I like this book is that the old man is never selfish and gives up his food and coffee to the boy every morning before going out to catch some food. The boy thinks the man should take it over him, but doesn't want to upset him.  The man never shows that he needs any help to get his things done.  Even though the boy doesn't go with Santiago; he still goes and helps him set up his sail and other things on the boat.

• Given the depth of Santiago--most people will not have the opportunity to catch a fish like that.  The marlin he catches is so big, that the other fisherman were surprised to see a fish this big with him.  And couldn't wait for the story  he had to tell them. 

  At the end of the book Santiago is reunited with Manolin. Manolin want to learn all the techniques and lessons the old man has.  And to live on with what he knew about the ocean and wildlife. Even though he might be died Manolin will carry on his dreams and family traditions.