Monday, April 28, 2014
The First Half of Old Man . . .
Please write down your reactions to the first half of The Old Man and the Sea in the comments section below. Pay particular attention to objects or actions in the text that could have symbolic meaning, given their contexts. For instance, what can you make of the lions, the beach, the contests of strength, etc.?
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As very simple as it may seem, this book is quite interesting and fascinating. The fact that it uses such original language, and such few complex words, makes everything much more easier and simpler to take meaning. The Old Man and The Sea, is those types of histories that you would expect your parents to read to you.. Because it's so simple and understandable. That symbol of representing simpleness and normality bring all it's best aspects together. The tranquility of the ocean, connected with the affection from the old man and the little boy, is a great way to compare their relationships and find meaning behind it. The beach is the heart of the book, the calm breeze, the water and the waves, brings the whole meaning of the book and how the author wants us to connect to it. This book is quite interesting, because for some people it may seem boring or even not interesting because it has nothing major. However, if you look deeply inside the text, you can see the real meaning of the book and how the plot can affect you and affect how the author sees your interpretation. I've been liking the first half because of such good meanings and simplicity. It's there and it's understandable; and being able to read things that come easy through your mind and make you pay better attention, is always great to relax your mind and realize all the good things this book has to offer.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the language in the book is simple makes me like reading it more. Your mind can kind of wander into the meaning while you read the pages and you wont have to worry about missing anything. The symbolism in some parts i do not even understand or see how it connects at all, but some of them i think i see. Also there are some that i am not sure about. The number at which the old man keeps the bait at when fishing, he doesnt let them fluctuate at all. The numbers could mean something to him but i am not sure how. The battles of strength between the man and the fish i took as a simple and short way to show the perseverance through life. Getting through the tough situations no matter your age. This book is an easy read but gets you thinking a lot which is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI like the book The Old Man and the Sea.It is very boring to read, but if you think about it in a symbolic way it is a beautiful story. His dreams are a strong representation of his past experiences in life. the language is simple and anyone could read it, but only some people can see the deeper meaning. It shows how the ocean can be compared to a woman and how beautiful a fisherman's life can be. Though the man is lonely as the boy is no longer with him, he makes the best of it. He struggles, but his overall pride makes him get the fish anyway. I think that he wants to catch the fish so bad because it could be his last fish he ever catches. He tries very hard and it pays off in the end.
ReplyDeleteThe Old Man in the Sea is a book that tells a story with no attitude and little emotion. The story relies on symbolic meaning in the story and by doing so lets the readers mind wander. The Old man has a friendly relationship with the boy and the Old man’s thoughts when in solitude all have symbolic meaning. The comparison of the ocean and its behavior relates to its associated gender. Peaceful and tranquil sometimes like a woman. Other times harsh and unforgiving like a man. The Objective style in The Old Man in the sea is full of symbolism.
ReplyDeleteThe Old Man and the Sea is a book that contradicts itself with such simple writing mechanics but deeper meanings and symbolism that helps to intrigue the reader. Hemingway uses this technique throughout Old Man as a method for the reader to interpret the story in their own way, each story being different depending on the reader. As for symbolism, Old Man is certainly is full of varied meanings. From my perspective the most symbolic object would be the sun and how it relates to the grittiness filled lives of the fishermen. In Old Man, many turtle fishermen had lost their sight from staring into the ocean water while hunting turtles because of the reflection of the sun off the water. In a deeper meaning the sun represents life, and how even though that life (the sun) had been beating down on the Old Man he still survived and preserved (maintained a healthy vision) throughout his life.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this books simplicity makes i more symbolic because there are more places for your mind to make connections. Some of the symbols in the book are very apparent to me and others i have to look more closely to understand. Some of the symbols such as the newspapers and the baseball seem to have deeper meaning to the old man but they take longer for people to figure out their significance, and this is what i like about the book, its simple elegance.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I thought that this book was going to be a little boring I found myself actually enjoying it. My problem at the beginning of this book was that I wasn't trying to find the meaning of the small things. When I started to try and find the meaning of these small things that didn't seem to have any meaning I started to understand the book and enjoy it. Most symbols in the book have a way to relate back to old age and youth. The way I interpreted it the strength that the Old Man shows is his drive to forget about his age and just try and bring back his strength that he had as a young man. Almost everything that shows up in this is some sort of symbol that has a deeper meaning.
ReplyDeleteI found "The Old Man and the Sea" to be a very different than the previous books in which we have read. The content is so simple, yet the book deals with a lot of symbolism and complex topics. At the beginning of the book I found the author to be very repetitive and somewhat boring but by the end of the book that all changed. This was partially due to the fact that at the beginning of the book I wasn't focusing enough on all the symbolism. For instance, the old man kept repeating "I wish the boy was here." and I didn't really get that other than him being lonely. By the end I realized that he was talking about the boy inside of him. Interpreting things like that helped me understand the meaning of the book and actually changed my feelings towards it. Many of the symbols revolve around the old man being lonely and they bring him back to his days when he was young. The old man wanted show the fish that he could overcome adversity no matter how old he was and it was also something that he wanted to prove to himself. If you dig down deep, this book has great meaning and contains many symbolic things.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, I actually really enjoyed reading The Old Man and the Sea. What amused me was how an author could use so little emotion and feeling to tell a story that should have both of these things. When the story talks it about an old man being old and poor, sleeping on newspaper in a shack, naturally the reader of the story will feel some sympathy towards the character, but the author writes it so that there is absolutely no emotion felt. The old man never comes right out and tells the reader that he's poor, but you can infer that if you pay attention to the details that he does reveal. The author portrays to the reader that the old man is poor by describing where he lives and how he lives without being too obvious. Another reason why I found this book interesting was how symbolism was used. The old man uses fishing as a way to escape. By fishing, I feel that the old man can pretend for a while that he is not poor, and that he likes to fish, not that he needs to to survive. Not only that, but the little boy who is friends with the man represents the mans desperate wish to be young again. In conclusion, the main reason I enjoy this book is because of the unique use of language and symbolism.
ReplyDeleteI have loved every book that we have read in English this year but The Old Man and The Sea isn't one of my favorites. I understand that their is a lot of symbolism and hidden meanings behind everything but their is nothing else. I like a book with a good plot and the Old Man and the Sea is lacking a compelling stroyline. I do like the objective writing style though. I find it amazing that the author can show such emotions with few words. The book will always challenge the reader to thin outside the box and really find the meanings behind the words. When the man remembers the lions on the beach it shows that he values youth when he lived in Africa. Also I think that the story is trying to show that the old man is strong not in his body but in his mind. He talks to his hands as if they are not apart of him when they cramp and show weakness. The story is fun to think about but is a bore to actually read.
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ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, The Old Man and the Sea was a very enjoyable book. I really liked the little emotion in the storytelling, and I found the symbolism to be really interesting, particularly the lions on the beach and the marlin that he is trying to catch. They are both great predators that show different parts of Santiago's life. Lions are very powerful and strong, the way Santiago was when he was young, when he saw them. He then grew old, but continued to dream about them, showing that he was hanging on to youth, and trying to preserve his own abilities, even though the active part of his life should be over. Although the marlin is Santiago's opponent, he respects it very much. They are both just trying to stay alive, and Santiago believes the fish to be very noble, although he is determined to kill it. This shows how he knows that he will also die soon, and respects that, but is also acting in a way that most old people don't. He wants to hang on to life as long as he can, although he knows that he can't do it forever.
ReplyDeleteOld Man and the Sea is definitely not a normal read. Even though it is written in the most bland form of writing, and appears to be easy to understand, I find myself struggling to understand what is happening most of the time because of the lack in emotion. At times, it seems harder to understand than Shakespeare. What makes Old Man and the Sea an interesting book to me is the way Hemingway portrays an old, homeless fisherman, as someone so happy, who doesn't even care that he sleeps outside in newspapers and in shacks. The reason that it may not seem like the old man is depressed is because of the lack of emotion in the writing. I find that reading the book gives an insight to the root of peoples thoughts. Nothing is hidden behind faint sarcasm or any emotion that may disguise the message, everything is said how it is meant to be said. The relationship the old man has with the boy also seems quite confusing in the way they talk to each other. The conversations are so bland that it seems like they could be frustrated and still appear that they are friends because the story makes them out to be friends and the reader wouldn't be able to tell whether there was tension or not. Overall the story is very good, even though it is challenging to get into, it makes sense overtime.
ReplyDeleteThe Old Man and The Sea book is very different from others. The way the author wrote the book is also interesting but not a type of style I would prefer. In the book it frustrates me to a point and also catches my attention in a different way than other books or authors. In some parts of the book, the old man will be explaining every step of what he is doing and for the most part its just him by himself so all it is, is his thoughts and that kind of got boring after a while but it interested me because no book I have ever read would pick a style to write the way he did, and that was risky on his part yet sort of inelegant. The old man I feel is well respected or he should be. He never complains about whatever situation he is in he just goes along with what throws at him. He is very adventurous winch could be dangerous for him at times and it seems he is a "take life by the throat" kind of man and that old age doesn't mean anything. I feel that he feels that just because he's old doesn't mean he can't do what he loves what he wants, be who he is or be who he wants to be. He realizes he doesn't have much time left so he chose to spend it to his abilities and over.
ReplyDeleteI like the story of old man and the ea. At first i didnt really understand its meaning and i though it was boring. But after we were done with the book we started to pull it apart. Compare it to other things that were stated only in a symbolic way throughout the book. It shows how passionate santiago is and determined. He tried his hardest to get his last succes before the end of his days. Honestly people should look up to santiago. He didnt need money to make him happy. he didnt any material thing. he only had one dream. A dream out of everything he could want was a dream about lions on a beach. He didnt just show how a man can survive, but he can triumph.
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