The Old Man and The Sea

Author: Ernest Hemingway
Lexile: 1370
Pages: 127
Genre: Fiction
Awards: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1952)
Rating: 5/ 5 Stars

This book is a powerful realistic fiction book with a great meaning. This book takes place in Cuba, 1940. The story is strongly affected by the setting because the old man fishes on the Gulf Stream. The old man is a kind character along with the boy,the old man’s best friend. They always fish together and spend whole days out at sea, even though they don’t come back with lots of fish they still have lots of fun. But the boys parents do not agree with this because they want him to catch fish and make a living off of it. The boy is forced to go fish with a crew while the old man is left fishing alone. Even though the old man is sad about the boy having to leave he still continues to do what he loves. After  working hard day and night to catch a fish he finally hooks a big one. He fights with the fish day and night and is determined to bring this one in. After suffering hand cramps, cuts, and exhaustion he got it! “yes i finally brought him in after working day and night”. On his way back to shore he see’s black fins popping out of the water, trailing the blood of the fish on the side of the boat. this worries the old man and he grabs a wooden paddle and is ready for a fight. The sharks keep taking pieces off of the big marlin as the old man hits them in the head repeatedly. after having fought the sharks for a long time he gets back to shore where he is greeted by many people and the boy. everyone feels bad but knows how hard he has worked. the old man goes back to his home and falls asleep dreaming about loins. the theme of the book is the honor in struggle. the reason for this is because the old man has worked so hard to catch a good fish and achieves his goal while overcoming many challenges. something i like about this book is all of the fishing terms. but something i don't like about the book is some things were not the best explained and put into great detail. i think people who like fishing or people who like a book with a deep meaning would like this book. i would give this book five stars because it was a well written entertaining book.

Contributed by Henry Murphy