BOOKS: The Old Man and the Sea: Ernest Hemingway

Published 11:00 am Saturday, August 3, 2019

It’s as easy picking apart Ernest Hemingway in the 21st century as it is for the sharks to pick apart the old man’s giant fish strapped to the side of his boat. 

Hemingway, his machismo, his drinking, his fighting, his love for matadors and the bulls of Spain, his going to war, his safaris and trophies, his wives, his mistresses, all of it is a Twitter-storm nightmare in a modern landscape.

His life and lifestyle have not only been denigrated but so has his work in many circles. People write like him, or try to imitate him, in spoof contests. 

Hemingway and his books are anachronisms.

So, they say. So say many who have not read his works. Or imprint their dislike for him on his works.

Of course, some folks could care less about the man and just don’t like the work.

Take “The Old Man and the Sea.”

I recall one mother several years ago who read the book as her son read it for school. “What’s the point?” she asked.

The book is thin. The old man was once a great fisherman. But in his old age, the catches become fewer and fewer, to a point where he hasn’t caught anything for many weeks. The young men of the fishing village make fun of him.

The old man sets out, alone, on his boat. A great fish takes his bait. He battles the fish for a long time. He eventually catches the fish. But on the way home, the fish and his boat are attacked by sharks.

By the time he returns to his village, his catch is nothing but a great monument of bones. The villagers are awed by the bones, by the size of this impressive catch, but there is no money or food for the old man – the meat is all gone.

What’s the point?

Indeed.

What’s the point in doing anything? Because when each life is done, only bones remain.

The point is the striving. The point is what we do with the time we are given. The point is carrying on even when we all face uncertainty on so many levels, with only one certainty for each of us in the end.

The point is having the will to strive mightily, to seek some point, even when all may be lost.

“The Old Man and the Sea.” Ernest Hemingway. Both worth reading. Both worth reconsidering.