He endeavors, hoping against hope that this time on the eighty-fifth day, things will be different. The investment I’d already developed in these characters and their fight against poverty, hunger, and failure, was taken out to sea alongside Santiago. Manolin is connected to Santiago through friendship and mutual interest in fishing and sports. To care for one, and feel tied to his fate, is to care for the other. When the character of Manolin is introduced, the already growing empathy and commitment I felt towards Santiago’s character were expanded. I felt that this, as have critics since it was written, is Hemingway at his best, his most articulate and most engaging. He cares about simple things, fishing first and foremost, but also his young friend Manolin, and baseball, specifically Joe DiMaggio. I felt, almost instantly, an attachment to Santiago and a stake in his day-to-day hardship.Īs The Old Man and the Sea progresses, the reader is treated to a clear look into Santiago’s mind and the purity of his drives. These are features of Hemingway’s main character that endeared him to me. While Santiago’s luck might be down, his ability to look towards the next day and find a reason to keep going is persistent. His character drives the novella, without the incredible character-building Hemingway engaged in, the story would be a shell of itself. In his hope and perseverance: something of the human spirit. In his failure, I felt every impossibility of my own life.

Read The Old Man and the Sea summary here. It is both his passion and the way he makes a living. This hardship, and its reverberating impact, consume Santiago’s life. He’s making his way back to shore after what is his eighty-fourth day without catching a fish.

An old man and the sea