History Literature / TheOldManAndTheSea

* FaceDeathWithDignity: He manages to get back safely and return home.

* ManlyTears

* LimitedCast: There are only two important (human) characters, the old man and the boy. For most of the story, it's just Santiago out alone at the sea. A few other people briefly appear at the end.

* TaxonomicTermConfusion: A dolphin is repeatedly called a fish.

* NotSoDifferent: Santiago and the marlin, {{Determinator}} vs. {{Determinator}}. Santiago acknowledges throughout the latter half of the story.

* TheMentor: The old man to the boy. Fittingly.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Of a sort. Santiago for the most part is the standard Hemingway protagonist, i.e. [[TheAce a competent]], [[DuelToTheDeath utterly determined]] [[BadassNormal paragon of manliness]]. But he's also an [[BadassGrandpa old man]]. Hemingway was starting to age around the time he wrote Old Man, and it came right after he wrote Across the River and into the Trees[[labelnote:*]] Which Hemingway [[MagnumOpusDissonance actually considered]] his MagnumOpus[[/labelnote]], a book which got significant bad press. In a way, Santiago is probably something of a reflection upon the way Hemingway felt himself.

* BadassGrandpa: Santiago, natch.

* {{Determinator}}: Santiago continuously combated the marlin over the course of two days and two nights without rest, all the while feeling the effects it and age had on his body, including hunger, cramps, and even minor injuries. Even after the fish is caught, Santiago remains determined to protect his catch from sharks, and only stops when he runs out of ways to fight off the sharks (AFTER using a harpoon, a club, and and improvised spear made from a knife tied to an oar) and all but the head of the fish has been taken. Keep in mind that this is AFTER going roughly 96 hours without sleep and only a few morsels of fish as sustenance.
** The marlin as well. That's one badass fish to drag the old man that far out to sea.

Due to the symbolism, relatively easy prose and short length, ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a mainstay of [[AmericanEducationalSystem high school English courses]], and is perhaps one of the most widely-read books in the United States (at least for people under thirty). It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and pretty much sealed the deal on Hemingway's 1954 NobelPrizeInLiterature. It was adapted into a 1958 film with Creator/SpencerTracy and into a 1990 miniseries with Creator/AnthonyQuinn.

Due to the symbolism, relatively easy prose and short length, ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a mainstay of [[AmericanEducationalSystem high school English courses]], and is perhaps one of the most widely-read books in the United States (at least for people under thirty). It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and pretty much sealed the deal on Hemingway's 1954 NobelPrizeInLiterature. It was adapted into a 1958 film with Creator/SpencerTracy and into a 1990 miniseries with AnthonyQuinn.

* EverythingIsEvenWorseWithSharks

* CoolOldGuy: Santiago, of course.

* CoolOldGuy

A 1952 {{novella}} by Creator/ErnestHemingway that tells the story of a poor Cuban fisherman named Santiago who has not caught a fish in several months. He goes out to sea where he hooks a giant marlin, which he fights day and night, eventually catching it. He lashes it to the side of his boat and tries to take it home to sell. Unfortunately, it is eaten by sharks, despite the old man's valiant effort to fight them off. Defeated, the old man walks home and collapses in bed (although it can still be a moral victory, since he's proved that he can still catch fish).

Due to the symbolism, relatively easy prose and short length, ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a mainstay of [[AmericanEducationalSystem high school English courses]], and is perhaps one of the most widely-read books in the United States (at least for people under thirty). It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and pretty much sealed the deal on Hemingway's 1954 NobelPrizeInLiterature.

* DefeatMeansFriendship: The marlin earns Santiago's respect due to its strength and will.

Due to the symbolism, relatively easy prose and short length, ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a mainstay of [[AmericanEducationalSystem high school English courses]], and is perhaps one of the most widely-read books in the United States (at least for people under thirty). It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and pretty much sealed the deal on Hemingway's 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

A 1952 {{novella}} by ErnestHemingway that tells the story of a poor Cuban fisherman named Santiago who has not caught a fish in several months. He goes out to sea where he hooks a giant marlin, which he fights day and night, eventually catching it. He lashes it to the side of his boat and tries to take it home to sell. Unfortunately, it is eaten by sharks, despite the old man's valiant effort to fight them off. Defeated, the old man walks home and collapses in bed (although it can still be a moral victory, since he's proved that he can still catch fish).

* DefeatMeansFriendship: The marlin earns Santiago's respect due to its strength and will.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Santiago muses about how he used to be an extremely strong and muscular sailor.

* Determinator: Santiago continuously combated the marlin over the course of two days and two nights without rest, all the while feeling the effects it and age had on his body, including hunger, cramps, and even minor injuries. Even after the fish is caught, Santiago remains determined to protect his catch from sharks, and only stops when he runs out of ways to fight off the sharks (AFTER using a harpoon, a club, and and improvised spear made from a knife tied to an oar) and all but the head of the fish has been taken. Keep in mind that this is AFTER going roughly 96 hours without sleep and only a few morsels of fish as sustenance.

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Of course, YourMileageMayVary, but, at least, that's what {{Dilbert}} thinks in [[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1997-07-07/ this strip]]:
-->'''Dilbert:''' I hate it when the title of a book gives away the whole plot. Take Hemingway's ''Old Man and the Sea''. Geez, talk about leaving nothing to the imagination.

Due to the symbolism, relatively easy prose and short length, ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a mainstay of [[AmericanEducationalSystem high school English courses]], and is perhaps one of the most widely-read books in the United States (at least for people under thirty).

Due to the symbolism, relatively easy prose and short length, "The Old Man and the Sea" is a mainstay of [[AmericanEducationalSystem high school English courses]], and is perhaps one of the most widely-read books in the United States (at least for people under thirty).

!! "The Old Man and the Sea" provides examples of: