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Ernest HemingwayA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.”
The author introduces Santiago the fisherman as old, poor, and unlucky. But Hemingway also describes his eyes in a way that suggests bottomless reserves of spirit and good humor, even in the face of defeat. This is a man who faces challenges, even hopeless ones, with determination and bravado.
“He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility. But he knew he had attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride.”
The old man has experienced much in his long life. The shame of failing for weeks to catch a big fish to sell no longer haunts him. He knows luck can turn in both directions, and there is no one to blame. Mostly, he greets the vagaries of life as challenges rather than misfortunes.
“‘When I come back you can tell me about the baseball.’ ‘The Yankees cannot lose.’ ‘But I fear the Indians of Cleveland.’ ‘Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great DiMaggio.’ ‘I fear both the Tigers of Detroit and the Indians of Cleveland.’ ‘Be careful or you will fear even the Reds of Cincinnati and the White Sox of Chicago.’”
This back-and-forth between the boy and Santiago is part of a long and affectionate tradition between them. Santiago loves baseball, and the boy worries about the teams, even those that do poorly, that might threaten Santiago’s beloved Yankees. The boy feels very protective of the old man; he wants no setback, not even a trifling loss in a baseball game, to trouble Santiago.
By Ernest Hemingway
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
Ernest Hemingway
Across the River and into the Trees
Across the River and into the Trees
Ernest Hemingway
A Day's Wait
A Day's Wait
Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway
A Moveable Feast
A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway
A Very Short Story
A Very Short Story
Ernest Hemingway
Big Two-Hearted River
Big Two-Hearted River
Ernest Hemingway
Cat in the Rain
Cat in the Rain
Ernest Hemingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ernest Hemingway
Green Hills of Africa
Green Hills of Africa
Ernest Hemingway
Hills Like White Elephants
Hills Like White Elephants
Ernest Hemingway
In Another Country
In Another Country
Ernest Hemingway
Indian Camp
Indian Camp
Ernest Hemingway
In Our Time
In Our Time
Ernest Hemingway
Old Man at the Bridge
Old Man at the Bridge
Ernest Hemingway
Soldier's Home
Soldier's Home
Ernest Hemingway
Solider's Home
Solider's Home
Ernest Hemingway
Ten Indians
Ten Indians
Ernest Hemingway
The Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden
Ernest Hemingway
The Killers
The Killers
Ernest Hemingway