قصة الكتاب :
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel by American author Ernest Hemingway. It was written in Cuba in 1951 and got published in the following year. The book was an instant success and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and led to Hemingway winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. The main characters in the story are an old man, a giant fish and a young boy. The Old Man and the Sea made Hemingway an international celebrity. The story has been adapted for the screen three times and continues to be taught across high schools in America as part of the Literature curriculum.
\r\nThe plot revolves around an aging old man who engages in an epic battle with a giant fish, assumed to be a marlin, in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Havana. The heroism at display in the face of failure and struggles is the highlight of the plot. The old fisherman has gone for 84 days without a catch, but still displays the resolve and the determination to venture out to sea again in the hope of turning his luck around. He represents the aging but undying human spirit that has the power to keep hope alive even in the midst of adversity. The struggles and failure he encounters are representative of life itself.
\r\nSantiago, the old man in Hemingway’s story is a dreamer who refuses to give in to despair. He is a simple man whose existence is defined by fishing and whose struggles are marked by his resilience and endurance. The struggle with the fish does not end well for him either. Despite catching it, he finally ends up witnessing it being devoured by sharks before he can take it to shore. The friendship between the old man and the young boy, Manolin is another highlight of the story. Mandolin has learnt everything he has about fishing from Santiago, who took him under his wing from the tender age of five. The times he has spent with the old man provides him with life lessons that he believes are indispensable. However, after years of being his apprentice, Mandolin is forced to separate ways with Santiago as his parents believe he would benefit learning more from successful others. Mandolin is unconvinced of this and remains in constant touch with the aging old man with the indomitable spirit. The young man believes that sitting through the old man’s apparent ‘failures’ would still teach him considerably more than being a part of anything else.
\r\nThe Old Man and the Sea is a beautiful tale that will resound with every human being. That is because it tells a universal truth – that from the moment we begin our lives till our very last breath, through all of life’s challenges, pitfalls, struggles, despair and complexities, what keeps us going is hope. \r\n