6
SEPTEMBER 8�15, 2021
FROM THE SHELF
CHECKING OUT THE
WORLD OF BOOKS
Re-reading ‘The Old
Man and the Sea’
By John Vollinger
Go! Magazine
T
hrough the seemingly
endless waves of the pan-
demic, and in reading about
the effect it’s had on our cul-
ture, my mind has often turned
to the resiliency of the human
spirit, and from where it arises.
In this spirit, I felt compelled
to reread Ernest Hemingway’s
“The Old Man and the Sea” — a
novel I hadn’t read since early
in my high school career, and
one that seemed completely
baffling to me at the time.
This is not to say that I
found the subject matter dif-
ficult to comprehend — in fact,
the writing is quite straightfor-
ward, in keeping with Heming-
way’s style — but there were
certain qualities of the charac-
ters, and their circumstances,
for which I had no reference
point at that age. I believe that
we gain a different perspective
on what it means to show up
and work hard in our lives — or
at least that the reasons why
seem to shift as we get older.
The book itself is not very
long (the copy I read was 127
pages of rather large text) and
the style is quite direct. The
book primarily centers on a
solitary fishing excursion by
an elderly fisherman, Santiago,
who has had a long string of
misfortune, not catching any
fish for 84 days. On this, the
85th day, Santiago grapples
with a fish larger than he has
ever seen (or even heard of,
for that matter), which tests
his experience and endurance
to its very limits. I will refrain
from spoiling his success or
failure at his endeavor, but
through this simple account,
Hemingway makes many com-
ments on the differences, and
similarities between humans
and non-human animals: What
do we have that these latter
creatures do not, and which is
more noble?
Hemingway ultimately leaves
the reader to meditate on San-
tiago’s motivations for fi shing,
and for giving so much in his
pursuit of this particular fi sh,
and whether it was even worth
doing. To this end, we see him
partially through the lens of
Manolin, a young fi sherman
who was mentored by Santia-
go, and who regards the elder
man as perhaps the greatest
fi sherman in the town.
In really trying to understand
this book, I went back to refl ect
on the title. “The Old Man and
the Largest Fish Anybody Had
Ever Seen” (aside from being
less catchy than “The Old Man
and the Sea”) would miss the
point of the book, despite the
entire narrative focusing on the
man and the fi sh. The point,
I believe, boils down to our
individual relationships with the
world, and can help us con-
template the reasons why we,
at times, face such enormous
forces with such bravery.
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John Vollinger/Go! Magazine
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