The Old Man and the Marlin

            In the novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Satiago decided to sail his boat farther out than he usually goes.  He thought going farther may bring him some luck.  After eighty-four days, he needed some help.  Santiago did his usual routine of casting his line and making sure to keep it straight so it would not drift.  During his first day out on the water, he ended his bad luck streak by catching a fish.  “He saw one of the projecting green sticks dip sharply” (Hemingway 41).  Santiago did not know what kind of fish that he had seized until it jumped out of the water.  It was a “dark purple” marlin with “stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender” (Hemingway 62).  “He’s over fifteen hundred pounds the way he is” (Hemingway 97) and "eighteen feet from nose to tail" (Hemingway 122). 

            I live on a small lake where we are able to fish.  When we go out on our lake and fish, it is a lot of work to pull in a one to three pound fish let alone a fifteen hundred pound fish.  Sometimes the line even snaps if the fish is too heavy for the line.  Santiago did have heavy duty fishing line used especially for large fish.  This seems a little unrealistic because he does not have any equipment except the fishing line and his body.  We have fishing poles and nets.  The boats that go deep sea fishing are usually twenty-six to one hundred feet.  The old man’s skiff is around sixteen feet. (Oliver)   He is also by himself, whereas other boats have a crew of two or more people.  The deep sea fishing boats have humongous hooks to catch fifty to a hundred and fifty pound fish.  I think Ernest Hemingway exaggerated just a little bit on the size and weight of the marlin.  That is almost impossible to have.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.

Oliver, Charles M. "The Old Man and the Sea." Critical Companion to Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.