Ernest Hemingway: The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

Part Four

In this extract there is a battle between the old man and the shark. We can noticed that like the old man the shark is determined. Between both the fight appear us very hard and long.

In this extract we can see that the author use words and expressions to refer to the two characters : 

About the Shark there are: " not an accident " l 6 / " fast and hard " l 12 / " He " l 12 which imply therefore that the shark is personify / " very big " l 12 / " as fast as the fastest fish " l 13 /  " beautiful except his jaws " l 13-14 / " as blue as a sword fish's "" his belly was silver ''l 14.

About the old man there are : " the old man " l 1 / " he " l 29

We see the author would like to show that it was possible that the old man lost the fight. Indeed, unlike to the description of the old man there are plenty of information to describe the shark. A lot of expressions are used in order to show us that it is really stronger.

During the read of this passage we can understand that this battle was won by the old man although we could thought the contrary. Indeed, this one has succeed to kill it: " he rammed the harpoon down onto the shark's head " l 37.
In fact, even though the fish was built to feed on all the fishes in the sea, it wasn't able to foil the harpoon's old man.

We can say that the end of this novel arrive quite quickly. Therefore, we can conclude that this battle between both characters is short but well detailed. And I strongly believe that maybe the author didn' t want to passe too much time on this episode for not bored the readers.

At the end of the extract the old man express certains regrets. For example, it's possible to see at line 51 " now my fish bleeds again...". Here, we can discern a feeling of sadness at the old man. He seems like almost in connexion with the big fish l 52 " When the fish had been hit it was as though he himself were hit ".

From my point of view the old man has now entered " the nightmare stage " because his life isn't no longer in danger and he might come back without the shark because this one is ate by the fish.

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                                          Ernest Hemingway:  The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

                                                                      Part Three

About this Third part we could say that it correspond to the " frustration stage ". Indeed, we can notice that the old man feels in dificulty but also like oppressed...

Thanks to severals elements present in the extract we are able to to maintain that:

               Firstly, the old man it's keep away from the coast but without to take conscientious " Patiently, the old man waits for it to get tired, and the boats slowly drifts far away from the coast..." As a consequence he is alone, so there is nobody around him. He see only the horizon.

                After, the main character does an allusion aloud about the young boy " I wish I had the boy. To help me and see this ". Here, we understand that the old man isn't reassured. He resent the solitude and he is enough frightened because he asks for help. Somehow, he would like that the young boy to be with him.

                 Then, the old man understand that it's a strong fish. That's why he expresses several possibilities. For example: " Perhaps he is too wise to jump. He could ruin me by jumping or by a wild rush ". 

                  Afterwards, the old man remembers of his past: " He remembered the time he had hooked one of a pair of marlin...which was sharp as a scythe and almost of that size and shape ". At that moment, he appears troubled " he would cut the line with his tail ".

To conclude, we can say that this part could be the "frustration stage" of the novel by Ernest Hemingway.

Read it: Here and here

                                         Ernest Hemingway:  The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

                                                                      Part Two

This second part of The Old Man ans the Sea is enough strange. Indeed, we can notice that several things haven't a real significance. That's why we have to study this part as if we were child ! To analyse this extract we have to put some questions.

Few examples :    - How come the old man knows Africa ?

                               Africa may have attracked him for a long time

                              - How come the old man dreamed of the lions on the beach ?                                                                                                                                            

                                He may have seen the lions on the beach when he was younger

                              - How come the old man went to wake the boy ?

                                 The boy may have asked him to do it

                                - How come the boy followed the old man ?

                                  He may have wanted to fish with him again                                                           

Conclusion:

We can say that this 2nd part correspond to the " Dream Stage ". 

The old man doesn't feel disconcerted on the sea since he considers her as a woman but also a friend. In reality, the old man doesn't consider the sea as his enemy ! He's not in the dreamstage where everything is new because he has a deep knowledge of the ocean.

We can see that it's only at the end of the passage that the old man enters in the dream stage. Indeed, the current has pushed him far away. So, he hasn't got everything on the control anymore " He was letting the current do a third of the work and as it started to be light he saw he was already further out than hoped to be at this hour ".

Read it : Here and here

                              " The old Man and the Sea " : Comparison Book / Film

Comparing the opening scene of the novel to the beginning of John Sturges's movie ( 1958 ).

I/    Firstly, we can noticed that many words, sentences of movie are stick to the text.
       For example: l 1 " He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish "  /  l 10 " The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck "
The text is respected in general, although several sentences aren't used in the same order. So, we can see a willingness to film maker of create a sort of tale !
 

Indeed, thanks to that process the spectator is as bewitched:
- The first image of the movie is the waves of the sea = so, it's an atmosphere almost imaginary. We are transported into another world, a wonderful world...
- Then, the voice of the narrator which is enough slow and serious = Therefore that strange voice surprise the spectator

The narrative occupe the first part of movie and then the dialogue betweend Santiago and the boy begins.

II/    From my point of view, the choice of the actors isn't judicious. I believe that is not a good decision because of the age of the characters. Notably, the boy's age. Indeed, this one is to me too much younger: he is about 11 years-old in the movie whereas  we can noticed that in the book  he is about 17 years-old. Therefore, by this process the film maker remove of the density of the relationship betwwen the old man and the boy.

We can ramarked that the old man seems like youger too, but the difference with the novel is much less impressive. There are some details which catch viewer's attention : For example, in the movie the old man hasn't scars as in the novel...

** Note: The old man's actor = Spencer Tracy was a very famous and excellent actor. At that time, he has a real success to Hollywood.

III/  The viewers can see that the film-maker stress the relationship between the two characters :

- Two moments where the old man and the boy are separated

- The movie is unquestionably slow. Subsequently, this slowness evolve. She gives a feeling of unreality, we aren't in the real life. It tells a fable. We can discern many malancholy and  sadness on the face of the old man.

- When the young boy left the hut = he launched a loving gaze to the old man

Conclusion:

This opening scene correspond to the "Anticipation stage" Christopher's book describes. Indeed, although the old man hasn't caught a fish for 84 days now he still believe he manage to catch a fish and a big one. He's ready for a new journey and he fills time has come. He is all the more confident than the boy trusts him.