The Old Man and the Sea 1

The writing in the Old Man and the Sea reveals many of the author’s values and attitudes. The first value I noticed was the author’s interpretation of religion. The old man would talk to god when he needed help or guidance. For example he says, “God knows how much that last one took.” (Hemmingway 110) after he fights off one of the sharks. He is saying he believes God will help him by giving him strength to fight another shark or not giving him any more trouble.  He also talked very highly of god to other people. The author must believe in God and believe God has power or else he would not have included the belief of religion in his characters.

The author, Ernest Hemmingway, has an attitude which says you can be physically weak but mentally strong. He proves age doesn’t matter through the character Santiago El Cameron. The old man fights off sharks and waits eighty-five days to catch one fish. He goes through physical pain to catch one fish. Despite the fact Santiago is physically weak he is able to fight off sharks because he was mentally strong. He told himself and the people of the town he could find and catch a fish. The old man proves that if you tell yourself you can do something you can. The author must have known someone who had been older or had been old himself because his belief of being weak physically and strong mentally is shown throughout the whole book.

The author uses third person omniscient which means the narrator of the story knows the thoughts and feelings of the characters. In the Old Man and the Sea the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of two characters, the boy and the old man. I am glad that Hemmingway used third person omniscient because we got to see the feelings and thoughts of more than one character. I felt more connected to the story because I saw two different viewpoints. Overall I think Hemmingway revealed his values and attitudes throughout the book.  

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