First discussion topic after finishing The Old Man and the Sea

I finished The Old Man and the Sea and was reflecting on a couple of things. First was the fact that Hemingway shows his values through the old man, Santiago. The old man doesn't give up and endures much pain. In life everyone has to endure suffering and if they choose to overcome it (not giving up) then they become better people. Santiago caught his 'enemy', the marlin, but ended up loving the marlin and the old man was upset when the marlin was ate by the sharks since he "ruined us both" (Hemingway 115). That showed Santiago's change in heart and his ability to show compassion toward his counterpart, the marlin. Hemingway showed ideal characteristics of a brave, persistent man that should be a role model for everyone through the novel's protagonist.

Second was Hemingway's attitude toward the ever present struggle in the balance of life and death. Santiago and Manolin (one young and one old), Santiago catching the marlin (one lives while the other survives [sorry, but had to use the Harry Potter reference, it fit in a weird way]), and the sharks eating the marlin (sustaining life through death). In a Lion King, circle of life, kind of way, Hemingway shows the reader that no matter what happens, life will go on even if it is renewed into something else (like the young man that looks after Santiago or the marlin that is showcased on the skiff becomes a legend after the old man suffers immensely). His attitude toward life is a happy reassuring one because in Hemingway's tale death is not a negative thing and not something to be afraid of.

Hemingway writes from the old man's perspective in the novel. The reader learns of the old man's thoughts, hopes, and dreams for himself and the boy. That kind of mix of a first person and omniscient narrator made the reader feel like they were immersed in the story since they felt what Santiago was feeling and knew not only his thoughts, but physical things about him that the reader might not have known from a first person narration.

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