An Analysis of the Story of The Old Man and the Sea/Plotline/Summary of the Novel/Story/Plot

 

There are a preface and an epilogue of the main story of Santiago’s memorable fishing. As the novel opens, we get acquainted with an aged man named Santiago who has failed to catch, for about 84 days, a fish of noteworthiness. Manolin’s parents ordered him to work with a lucky fisherman. Nevertheless, Manolin, the boy, unhappy with his new master, returns to Santiago and offers to give his company to Santiago for the next day’s fishing. The old man somehow dissuades telling him to work with Martin, who was the owner of the terrace. Anyway, both Santiago and Manolin, in spite of the difference of their age, are fond of baseball games. Both support the Americans in this regard. Their hero is DiMaggio. Thereafter, we see that the boy brings some food and two beers to the old man’s poor hovel. Apart from that, he thinks how to obtain clothes, blanket, soap and towel for his dear master. While taking food, they talk of baseball, of the players and managers. They gossip that the managers had visited Cuba. In their discourse, the boy emphasises that Santiago is the best fisherman he has ever found. The old man disagrees with the view. But he says that he is determined and knows many tricks of the trade, that is, of fishing. Then Manolin promises to wake Santiago up next morning and he departs. In his sound sleep, Santiago has a dream of the adventures of his youth. He finds himself watching lions on the beach of Africa. The next morning, the single voyage of Santiago commences out of the harbour when it is still dark. He can listen to voices from some other fishing boats. Besides, he comes to hear the trembling sound of flying fish which he is so fond of. To the previous self of Santiago, the ocean was a woman, la mar, because of her whimsical moods. But some of the young fishermen respect the sea as el mar, a masculine term.

 

Santiago, with his hoy that is obedient to the current, takes out his baits. His preparatory practice is precise. This is so because each part of his hook may be “sweet smelling and good tasting”. He would give his best efforts. However, his luck may not favour him. He sees a bird circling after somewhat a couple of hours. That hints him at fishes nearby. Santiago rows his vessel gently accordingly. Flying fish break the surface of water. It is symptomatic of the chase by a dolphin. The bird has a very rare chance of catching the speedy flying fish. Then the dolphin is about to succeed in eating some of them. The movement of the dolphin suggests the old man of the other dolphins present there. Now he is too distant from the shoreline. The old man Santiago observes the marine water and his fishing rod on it with confidence and contentment. Since he once suffered from the poison of its beak, he looks at the deadly Portuguese man-of-war bird with great scorn. The iridescent bubbles and foams seem to be “the falsest thing in the sea” to him. He loves the big turtles that eat poisonous fish and reveres the elegance and swiftness of the turtles. However, he hates their absurdity. As he puts his head up, Santiago sees the man-of-war bird circling once again. As he watches, a small tuna, a kind of a fish, leaps up. Some other fishes also come into visibility. Those other fishes seem to be chasing the tuna and betraying their fear of the bird. All of a sudden, a bite turns the line tight under Santiago’s foot. He hauls an albacore on the board. He utters loudly in delight, ‘a beautiful bait’. Then he speaks to himself that it is not the right moment to think of baseball. It is rather the time only of that which matters most in his life. The shoal of tuna has suggested the presence of a big fish. In the scorching sun, he just drifts on. He is almost feeling sleepy, but determined ‘to fish the day well’. Then there appears the fish that serves as the significant indication of a big catch. One of the lines that were dropped much deep jolts him. He comes to see that a marlin is eating the sardines from the hook. After nibbling at the bait twice, the fish eats it up the very third time much securely. Anyway, the old man is full of the knowledge that he has hooked a big marlin. He prays with utmost sincerity that it would swallow the hook to pierce his heart. Right then he pulls on the line, but he has the feeling that the fish is too heavy to be moved. Santiago calms down the tension on the line to allow the fish to move faster. He thinks that the stress would kill it. Nonetheless, even after a duration of about four hours, the fish is competent to drag the boat out to sea. It is able to further away from the land whose margin is no longer in sight. All through the night, the fish moves in the same direction. It keeps on towing the boat with it. Thereafter, Santiago squeezes a sack between the line and his shoulders for a bit of respite to his body. It was a deadlock situation: neither the fish nor the fisher was gaining any advantage. Santiago wishes that Manolin were aboard to help him. He also starts to have compassion upon the great fish. He has never hooked such a robust and capricious fish before. The fish moves swiftly and fearlessly. The bait was taken as if it was a male. It is pulling on like a male. Santiago recalls how once he had hooked one of a couple of marlins. The feeding female was caught first. She was pulled aboard. The male had lingered while his mate was struggling. He finally leapt above the marine water as if to know her plight, right before plunging into depths. The entire episode was a matter of sorrow to both Santiago and Manolin. Santiago reflects that he and the great fish are harmonised by their choice. The latter’s choice is to stay in deep water, while Santiago’s choice is to go and find him. Now none can accompany either of them. Abruptly, the fish gives a motion; Santiago is inelegantly pulled down and gets a cut on his fish. But he is not annoyed with the fish. Rather, he just wonders why the fish lurches so abruptly. Then he wonders if the fish’s back is as painted as his own.

 

On the next morning, Santiago discovers that the fish is swimming tirelessly, though not at inordinate depth. He is incapable to upsurge the tension of the line. There is a comfortable diversion, as a small bird roosts on Santiago’s line. He speaks to the bird for keeping his mind off the pain in his back resulting from the stress of holding the line. Unexpectedly, the fish heaves, the bird flies off, and Santiago hurts his right hand by cutting it on the rope. Instead of afflicting the fish, Santiago understands that it must also be suffering significantly. Again and again, he desires that the boy were there to support him and he feels angry that he has carelessly hurt his working hand. Strong-minded to be concentrating on his work, he eats up the tuna that he had caught previously to keep up his strength. He prepares his food with much problem and trouble. Right then, he notices that his left hand has been cramped. At the time of eating, he wishes that he could feed that marlin as well, because it was his brother. However, he must slay it because of his mission. Santiago tries to sort out the problem of the pain of his left hand. Thereafter, he abruptly realises his complete solitude. The invisibility and such a forlorn condition of the land instil panic in the minds of most of the fishermen. But he solaces himself with the fact that the weather is good. In spite of all these things, he keeps on recalling that what is good for mankind is bad for fishes. Unexpectedly, the line slowly lifting upwards, the fish came to the surface. The old man can fully see its size that is actually much bigger than he imagined or had ever seen. Within a pretty short span of time, the fish swiftly enters the water once again. It commences to pull on calmly. Santiago feels grateful to God for lessening the intelligence of the fish than men who slaughter them.

 

During noontime, the pain of Santiago’s left hand is healed. He commences praying, though he is not at all religious by nature. Anyway, he feels much better mentally after prayer. He is resolute to slaughter the fish, despite his admiring its greatness and glory. Apart from that, he needs to prove his superiority to other fishermen to Manolin. When it was afternoon, the painstakingly weary old man ponders over the baseball games. He is resolute to be competent according to his model, the great DiMaggio. Time gets hard. Santiago glances at an airplane passing with a noisy sound. He desires to see the sea from that height. He also yearns to appreciate the purple backs and purple spots of the dolphin.

In the meantime, the drive of the large fish slows down considerably. Santiago thinks that in comparison with the fish’s state, he is in a far better condition. The pain in his left hand was gone. Though he perceives that some sleep is essential to keep his brain clear, he is frightened to surrender to the temptation so that the fish could not make any unexpected movement. Thereafter, the old man Santiago is gripped to dream, which is disturbed by the unexpected leaping of the fish. Santiago notices the change of the fish’s direction. It is swimming towards the east straight the current. This designates that it is exhausting and will arise to circle pretty early. Then it does so. The old man gradually drags in the line. He succeeds and makes it slither in proximity with the boat. The tragedy in his victory gradually starts darkening. He endeavours to invigorate himself. He eats small shrimps and drinks some water.

 

After the passage of an hour, the first shark takes its bite of the fish. The old man slays the shark with his harpoon. He takes the scar of the fish as a great damage to himself. Nevertheless, the desperate contest with sharks only just initiates. By when it became midnight, more sharks appear. Leaving all ponderings, he automatically transports the boat to the harbour with the huge skeleton of the fish as the only vestige of his adventure. The remaining part of the story may be known as an epilogue. Santiago comes back to the shoreline when it is still murk in the night. A number of fishermen gather in the harbour to examine the skeleton of the great fish. The boy comes back to the old man. After Santiago gets up, the boy asks him to lie quiet. In that very afternoon, a lady from a group of travellers looks at the carcass of the marlin. She gets surprised to think what kind of huge creature it was. She wonders of the good-looking tails of the previous fish. In Santiago’s hut, the old man is seen sleeping and dreaming about lions. Simultaneously, the boy protects him by sitting by his side.