History-Old Man and the Sea

The Old man and the Sea shows a great deal of history behind it. Throughout the book the old man keeps repeating while on the skiff, I wonder how Joe DiMaggio did today? In this instance the old man was by himself with the fish thinking about Joe DiMaggio, "Do you believe the great DiMaggio would stay with a fish as long as I will stay with this one" (Hemingway 68). The old man was comparing the great baseball legend to himself with catching this huge fish. Joe DiMaggio is a huge inspiration for this old man because Joe DiMaggio was this big, strong man, and I think every time the old man would talk about him, he would gain strength and confidence with catching this fish. The author shows the differences between human nature and man. When Hemingway says, "Fish, he said softly, aloud, I'll stay with you until I am dead. He'll stay with me too, I suppose, the old man thought and he waited for it to be light. It was cold now in the time before daylight and he pushed against the wood to be warm" (Hemingway 53), he is showing that he will stay with the fish until he is dead and he will not stop. This shows the battle between human nature and man. The old man has to survive in the weather he has while waiting for the fish to be killed. I think that Joe DiMaggio influenced the author with the making of the old man. The old man sort of portrays of what Joe DiMaggio was like, strong and has a lot of courage. Also, maybe the depression at this time may of influenced him with not catching a fish for a long period of time. These are all possible ideas that the author was influenced by in order to write this story. The Old Man and the Sea portrayed a lot of history in this book and a lot of events were going on at this time that could of jump started the authors thoughts on this book.

Bibliography

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.