“The Old Man and the Sea” written by Ernest Hemingway is a strange story. There is no mystery, no revenge, no romance. The only action is the sea battle of an old man with a big fish and against flocks of sharks in the sea. Yet, it has remained one of the greatest literature of all time. Following the publication of “The Old Man and the Sea”, Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

First published in 1951, “The Old Man and the Sea” tells the story of an old Cuban fisherman, Santiago, who has gone eighty-four days without taking a fish. He has no money to buy food or bait for catching fish. Luckily he has a little apprentice Manolin who used to go fishing with Santiago and learn from him the fishing skills, but is now forced by his parents to leave the ‘unlucky’ old man for another boat. Manolin is sad to see Santiago come in each day empty-handed and he is always there to help. He sees to the needs of Santiago and brings him food and fresh baits. During the long seafaring battle, Santiago has wished time and again the boy was there to experience what he was experiencing and battle with him. While for Manolin, near the end of the story, with one look at Santiago’s deeply hurt hands, he knows what Santiago has experienced and suffered, and he cries. The mentor-disciple relationship is quiet, subtle but profoundly touching.

Back to the sea battle. Although Santiago has gone eighty-four days without taking a fish, he has never lost faith and confidence. In the 3-day battle with the fish which turns out to be a large marlin of 18 feet long, Santiago has to apply his long years of skills to keep the fishing line steady. Finally Santiago kills the marlin. But the battle doesn’t end there. Santiago knows better that the wounds of the marlin will draw sharks to trace them. “But man is not made for defeat,” he said. ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” First comes the Mako shark, then the galanos, the shovelnose, the galanos again, and finally, a pack of sharks. Each shark attack gets a part of the large marlin devoured. The sharks have destroyed Santiago’s marlin, but he is not defeated by the sharks which he took down one by one with an oar, short club and tiller. Finally and sadly, the marlin leaves only the head, tail and the skeleton. But this life trophy has marked the greatness of Santiago.

The old man’s sea battle with the marlin and the sharks is so touching. One needs to have faith and cultivate his skills to attain his goal. With patience and skills, the goal will draw near even though there is so much toil, labour and disappointments during the course. The turbulent sea is like a life journey. In face of adversities like bad weather, always remember “A man can be destroyed but not defeated”, and keep the faith and courage to move on. Light is ahead, despite the stormy bad weather, as in William Turner’s “Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth” painted in 1842.