Classic English Literature Notes

Q: Give a brief account of Santiago’s return home and the reaction of people to his adventure?

OR

Describe briefly the feelings of the old man about the great fish caught by him and lost. How did Manolin console him?

             Santiago was an old and experienced Cuban fisherman. He was a man of exceptional physical strength, power of endurance and fishing skill. These qualities of his character, besides his nobility, endeared him to the young boy Manolin who worked as an apprentice with him. But the other fishermen considered him an unlucky person because of his failure to catch any fish for eighty four days continously. His helper boy had also been taken away from him. But the old man did not lose heart and remained hopeful of proving his worth some day. At last he took his small boat and rowed far away into the deep sea. At noon he succeeded in hooking a big marlin at a depth of hundered and towing his boat after it in the sea for two days and nights. He could kill and fish only when it felt exhausted and came to the surface. When he was returning home after tying his huge fish with his boat, it was attacked b furious sharks one after the other. He gried his best to defend his marlin but the beastly invaders tore away its whole meat and left behind the bare skeleton of the majestic fish.

                 The old man returned home with mixed feelings of pride and despair. He thought that perhaps he had committed a sin by going beyon the limits of the common fishing area. He had excited the wrath of Nature in the form of sharks that deprived him of his booty. But he felt elated to think that he had succeeded in hooking the biggest fish in the history of fishing without the aid of anybody else. He was not certain of the reaction of other fishermen to his achievement. When he entered the harbour it was still dark and all the lights were out. He knew that everybody would be lying in bed. He tied his boat with a rock along with the skeleton of the huge marlin. He took down the sail and the masts and beagan to walk to the sandy shore. Only then he realised how dead-tired and exhausted he was. His legs failed to support him and he had to sit down for rest five times before reaching his shack. He placed the mast against the wall and took a draught or two of water. Then he dropped himself on his bed for sleep with his face truned downwards and his arms spread out with palms turned upwards. He looked like Christ crucified.

                It was the young boy Manolin who first peeped through the cottage of the old man and dsicovered him first of all. He had deep love for the great fisherman and felt much perturbed at his mysterious absence. In fact the whole fishing community felt deeply concerned when the old man failed to turn up on the first ngiht. The coastal guards had sent some baots in search of him but of no avail. The fishermen who went to the sea early in the mornign recognized Santiago’s boat. They were wonder-struck to see the skeleton of the incredibly large marlin tied to its side. When measured it came out to be eighteen feet long. None of them had seen such a big monster in his whole life. All of them guessed what had happened to the brave old man at the sea. They marvelled at his splendid achievement but despaired at his ill luck.

             Manolin was the one who was most deeply affected by the old man’s hard luck. He could not control his tears to see his hero lying in a wretched condition with his lacerated hands. He went to a hotel and brought hot coffee for the old man. In the meantime the old man also woke up from his deep slumber. He admitted to his boy-friend that he had been beaten and that his abortive adventure might strengthen the belief of the people that he was an unlucky fisherman. But Manolin tried to console him by saying that it was not the marlin that had defeated him. He asked the old man not to care a fig for the public opinion or the prejudice spread against him. He assured the old man that as soon as his injuries got healed up he himself would accompany him to his future fishing errands. Santiago was deeply moved by the sentiments and views of Manolin and told him how he missed him badly during his struggle with the big marlin. Manolin requested the old man to take complete rest and get recovered as early as possible for making more splendid catches. He went out to get some food for santiago and the newspapers he had missed to know the results of league game in base-ball. He closed the door after him and the old man went to bed dreaming of lions playing on the African beach.