The Old Man and the Sea Essay

The ocean, the countryside, the fields, the city, the town, the ghetto, and the underworld, these are all places of interest for an audience and or a creator. Be it the author of a book or a writer of a play, they all use settings to make their works more fascinating for the audience. In the novella The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemmingway creates an environment for the protagonist Santiago. Santiago’s surroundings affect him greatly, he has to sleep, feed himself, and protect his catch, the setting affects all of these things.

Santiago’s body and mind need to rest and he knows that. “He is tiring or he’s resting” (Hemmingway 79) needing rest for his body and mind Santiago finds a moment where he can get some. He realizes the marlin is not pulling as vigorously and he takes advantage of the opportunity. The setting affects Santiago’s ability to sleep. If he was at his hut on Cuba he could easily go to sleep but now that he’s out on the ocean with a marlin tugging on a line he has to find a spot where he can rest. Santiago wisely goes to sleep while he’s holding the line so he can battle the marlin another day.

Bringing along only a bottle of water and a few small sardines for fishing, Santiago was vastly ill-equipped for an ambitious multi day battle with a ½ ton marlin that was longer than his skiff. “The stars were bright now and he saw the dolphin clearly…gutted him with his right hand…There were two flying fish inside. They were fresh and hard and he laid them side by side.” (Hemmingway 78) Santiago got the food he needed, but his harsh surroundings hindered his ability to do so. At home in Cuba Santiago could have easily gotten food from either the boy or the market but out on the unpredictable ocean he has to catch food, he was lucky his bad luck didn’t keep up or he would have starved. He uses his skills and catches not only a dolphin but flying fish that are supposedly very tasty raw.

After Santiago catches the marlin he realizes it will be a huge task to take it back to port. Sharks start to feast on the noble marlin as they get a whiff of it’s blood and Santiago is given the task of fighting them off. “He rammed the harpoon down onto the shark’s head.” (Hemmingway 102) Santiago used his harpoon to stop the Mako shark from getting anymore of the marlin. Sharks are abundant in the Caribbean area of the Atlantic Ocean, Santiago has to deal with the shark because they are a part of his surroundings. If Santiago wasn’t in shark infested waters he might have been able to get the Marlin back safely. Perhaps it was Santiago’s bad luck that attracted the sharks or the fact sharks like blood that ultimately made it impossible to know who or what attracted the sharks.

Santiago’s ability to sleep, eat, and protect his catch are affected by his environment. We are all affected by our surroundings one way or another. For instance when we go to school our education is affected by our facilities whether we go to an informal public school, a pretentious private school, or an easygoing home school. In summary, whatever one does be it homework, watching television, studying, driving, talking, or even fishing they will always be affected by their surroundings.