The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1953
         A few weeks ago a student asked me why all of the good writers kill themselves. At first I really didn't know what to say, since, of course, there are a lot of reasons, all of them deeply personal, why someone would take their own life. I told him (and I don't know if this was the best answer), that it is not true that ALL the good writers kill themselves, or even most, but that people tend to be morbidly curious about the ones who do, since their final act is one that seems to prove the presence of an inner demon that we as readers hope to see and understand in their work. I'm pretty sure this accounts for some of Hemingway's readership. I remember reading a few of his novels when I was in college. At the time I was only vaguely aware of how he died, but when someone brought it up in conversation one day, cementing the reality that he had killed himself, it made a certain amount of grim sense. His novels were populated by incredibly broken people, and even though they tried to hide their damage by living adventurous lives, the manner in which they lost themselves in what they did suggested a severe nihilism.
         This is my roundabout way of saying that this is a pretty bleak book. I guess. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, I barely remember it. I had to read it in high school at some point, and it has faded a little bit. I briefly considered reading it again this week, but that just didn't happen. I already have four books on my night stand that I'm actively going through, and, even as slim as TOMATS is, I'm sure a fifth would have made it collapse. What I do remember is that the story itself is incredibly basic. A man goes out to sea to fish, he catches a giant fish after an incredible battle, and as he brings it back to shore, the fish is eaten by sharks. Now, this is all from memory, so my apologies to Mr. Smith (my 12th grade English teacher) if I screw some of this up. The metaphor of a man alone seems like a safe thing for me to suggest, right? The struggle with the fish, or to achieve, is also a metaphor, to bring something up from the depths of the soul, maybe? Would the sharks be the world, critics, haters? I don't know. I remember that the ending of this novel reminded me of the central character of To Have and Have Not, who ended the novel by saying that "a man doesn't stand a chance." (Or something close to that...I think there may have been a swear word in there somewhere.) That idea seemed to be Hemingway's theme, the main idea that he played variations of his entire career.
           I probably won't ever read this book again, or if I do, it won't be for a long time. While it is not a long or taxing book, it is probably my least favorite Hemingway. When I think about this book winning the Pulitzer, I'm reminded of Martin Scorsese finally winning his Oscar for The Departed. Don't get me wrong, The Departed was a fine movie, but looking back on his career it would have made more sense for him to get it for Goodfellas or Raging Bull. Hemingway had written the books that he would be remembered for (by me anyway) years before he won the Pulitzer. I interpret his winning this as an award for his body of work, and this novel clearly distills the same ideas he had been working with for years.

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