Old Man and the Sea

Christopher Grundy

T Th - ENG097

Old Man and the Sea

An aging Cuban fisherman, alone in a small skiff. Catches a magnificent marlin and must defy the sea, fighting off sharks and his own fleeting strength to bring home his great catch.

The fisherman's' name is Santiago, his appearance has decreased over the years. He has deep wrinkles in the back of his neck and brown blotches forming on his face and weathered hands from the sun. Everything about him was old, except for his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.

The aging old fisherman has not caught a fish in eighty four days at sea. This is not the first time he has gone this long without catching a fish. The difference between this time and the times before is that the old man had his good luck charm with him; a small boy named Melano. The boy was forced to go with a boat with more kick by his father. The boy loved the old man but had to respect his father's wishes and obey him.

The other fisherman laughed and made fun of Santiago. This did not bother him for he was still confident in his fishing skills. The boy believed in him as well.

The old man loved the sea, he loved the flying fish and the seagull he watched them dive into the water and wondered if they'd come up with anything. He felt like they were his brothers.

The man places his bait out the same way this time as he did time and time before with precision and craftiness. Even after going eighty-four days with out a bite, Santiago was very confident this would be the day he would catch a fish.

After several hours of drifting with the current, Santiago got his first bite. Not to rush the fish, he slowly let out the line and when the time was right, he hooked the fish, however the fish kept traveling out to sea and pulling the skiff. After several hours passed, the old man had still not seen what he had hooked.

Growing very tired, the old man rested his head on his arm trying to get some rest while he could, only to wake up to the line quickly running through his hands. The fish has finally shown himself, he was as big as the skiff!

Now the old man knew what he was up against. Near exhaustion and experiencing frequent dizziness, Santiago made his move to bring in