The Old Man and the Sea is the work of Hemingway, an American writer, who won the Nobel Prize for literature.
I saw several versions of the book “The Old Man and the Sea” on the Internet. Although they are Hemingway’s works, the covers of each book are different. After appreciating the style of each family, the covers of this version we read now are very interesting to me. There are the old man, the sea, the boat, and the animals that the old man is fishing. The color of the picture is very simple, the gray level, the title of the book in Chinese and English, the author’s English name, and the transliteration of the Chinese name, Theme: “A tough old man who never gives up, deduces an extraordinary brave battle”. The cover is carved like the picture of the animated film “The Old Man and the Sea” I have seen.
This novelette was written by Ernest Hemingway according to the real story. After the end of the First World War, Hemingway met an old fisherman in Cuba. The fisherman caught a big fish out of the sea. The fish was too big. He dragged it for a long time at sea, but was attacked by sharks on the way back. When he came back, there was only one fish skeleton left.
After the First World War, many people’s lives fell into a dilemma. The old fisherman’s livelihood was difficult. He caught fish and had hope, but he also encountered sharks. The struggle between man and fish was a manifestation of man’s fearlessness and unyielding to fate. Although the end seemed to be the fisherman’s failure, he was a successful loser and a tough man in the bar.
Santiago, the old man in The Old Man and the Sea, is such a tough guy. Fate doesn’t seem to care for him. He hasn’t caught a fish for 84 days. It is conceivable that the old man must be starving. But his friend, the boy named Manolin, helped him. In the place where the old man lived, many people did not understand him. He did not catch fish for 84 days, saying that he was suffering from blood mold. But Manolin has always been with the old man. He once learned to fish with the old man.
On the eighty-fifth day, the old man went to sea alone. In addition to the beginning of the article, the background of the old man and the boy’s life was explained, and the scenery of their living place was described, as well as some exchanges and dialogues between them. Later, the content described in detail the situation of the old man going to the sea alone and fishing for three days and three nights, not catching fish at the beginning. There was a long description of the old man’s psychology, and he regarded the sea as his relatives, and the creatures in the sea as his brotherly feelings. But in order to survive and prove himself, the old man perseveres. “Success is reserved for those who are prepared.” The old man can catch marlin first because he is familiar with the sea and knows what kind of fish will be in which sea areas. In addition, he will observe the surrounding seabirds and fish to determine what kind of fish will be in here. The most important thing is that he is good at fishing skills. The marlin is several times larger than the old man’s fishing boat. It is difficult to bring such a big fish home, but the old man does not give up. Many people say that the old fisherman described by Hemingway is like Hemingway himself. Hemingway is a tough man in the literary world. During World War I, he joined the military despite the opposition of his family. Later, he also became a war reporter. It is conceivable that he was in the danger of being in the midst of gunfire. His experience is not like that of Santiago alone in the open sea, except for fish, no food, no fresh water, only rough waves and those sharks that may defeat him at any time.
In the sea, the old man and the shark are described vividly and meticulously, which makes the reader deeply sweat for the old man as the story develops. In dangerous situations, the key to man’s victory over nature and destiny is faith. Although the old man is old and down, he still has the spirit and perseverance. This is what Hemingway wants to convey to us: face bravely and overcome bravely! “A person is not born for failure. A person can be destroyed, but cannot be defeated.” We were moved by the spirit of the old man after reading the book. And Manolin said to the old man, “I still have a lot to learn from you.” This is the hope of the future, inheriting the old man’s perseverance and the spirit of invincibility.
