Old Man And The Sea Quotes

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In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago goes far out into the sea where he catches a magnificent marlin. Near the end of the book, the marlin is slaughtered by a pack of sharks and the Old Man returns with nothing but the skeleton of the great fish. It is debatable whether or not the Old Man was right to go out that far to catch the fish. In theory, the Old Man was right to go out that far into the sea because he did what was necessary to prove to himself that he could still be independent and to regain confidence in being a fisherman.
After killing the massive creature, Santiago thinks, “You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman” (Hemingway 105). This quote is an excellent example of expressing the idea
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‘It is what a man must do’” (Hemingway 26). In this quote, Manolin is explaining that waking up early and going to work is what a must must do. However, this key phrase also foreshadows the fact that Santiago’s upcoming journey is something he must do for his own good will. The author leaves this clue in an attempt to suggest to the reader that catching the fish is something Santiago must do. Likewise, after the sharks took nearly the entire Marlin away in their jaws, Santiago declared, “‘I wish it were a dream and that I had never hooked him. I am sorry about it, fish. It makes everything wrong’” (Hemingway 110). This quote represents the old man’s sorrow after bringing destruction upon the Marlin, for he wishes it never happened and understands it was wrong to do so out of greed and personal interests. In other words, he goes from seeing the fish as something he must catch as a way of fulfillment to seeing his motives before the journey as ridiculous. Therefore, it required the long, painstaking voyage for Santiago to realize his flawed ways of viewing the