Old Man and the Sea

If I could change anything about Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway, I would add a little fiction to it. A little imagination would perk this story up! If I were to rewrite the story, I would use key things that Ernest Hemingway used and give them a little twist. The little boy who helps take care of the old man could be his long, lost son who he had to put up for adoption. The boy obviously would not be aware of this fact, but that would be the reason why they had so much in common and were so close. The old man would also have a history in baseball. He and the boy are very into baseball, and it has a small but significant role in the story. Why not make it an even more significant part? It would definitely add to the conversations between the boy and the old man! Another thing that I would change would be the journey out into the sea as the huge fish is dragging him. The old man frequently talked about his dreams of the lions on the beach of Africa. What if the fish took him clear across the Atlantic Ocean and that was what he came across? Once the marlin would begin to tire, the old man would feel that something was different about this particular fish; it would not be because of his outrageous size, either. One day, when the old man was getting ready to try to reel the fish in closer so he could kill it, the marlin would swim up to the side of the boat...and begin talking. The talking marlin would totally add some imagination to the story! The fish and man would become friends. Because the marlin had taken him all the way to Africa, he agreed to pull the man back to Mexico where he came from. The old man would be so excited to show all of the doubters that he had caught this magical marlin. On the way to the shore, though, the same sharks in the story would come. The giant marlin was fierce, but not fierce enough. Only his carcass would remain, and the old man would have no proof of this amazing journey he had been on.

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