Old Man and the Sea

My favorite part about the novel Old Man and the Sea was the characters. This is probably literally my fifth blog post about how much I liked the characters in this book. I guess when I really like something, then I have no problem saying it more than once. Anyway, the old man in this book was the most adorable person ever. He is definitely not outgoing, but he does not care what anyone says about him. The little boy asks him if he questions his luck because he had not caught any fish in a long time. The boy tells him that the other fishermen in the area are talking about him. The old man only raises his head higher and says that his luck will come sooner or later. Instead of looking on the negative side, the side where he is making absolutely no money and is being gossiped about, he looks on the positive side, the side that is patient and believes his luck is waiting for something amazing. He does not let anything negative affect him, which is a quality that people could very much benefit from. Though the old man is a very wise and experienced fisherman, he does not let this get to his head. He makes a point to remind himself to focus on what he is doing. He has confidence that he will do the right mechanics when he catches a fish, but he is never cocky. As the old man is being taken away from the safety of the shore, he still keeps the calm state of mind. He pictures how grand the fish pulling him must be, and does not worry about how long the fish will pull him. The old man could have easily freaked out and panicked, hurting himself or the fish, but he goes with the flow and I love that about him. I think I liked seeing the way the old man handled himself because in the back of my mind I was thinking about how differently I expected him to operate.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995.