The Old Man And The Sea Essay
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Only God Knows Why
Earnest Hemingway's classic novella The Old Man and the Sea is centered around an old
man, a Cuban fisherman named Santiago, who endures the menacing sea to catch a fish; a fish that
plagued his mind and undoubtedly became his heart's focus. Throughout his encounter with the
marlin, the old man faced various difficulties, difficulties of the mind that wrestled with his aged
body. As in the old man's struggle, Kid Rock explains in the lyrics to Only God Knows Why, of
the battles that evolve in the mind and heart that find the strength to go on. His song paralleled
Hemingway’s novel by harnessing the listener and reader to understand that a man can be
destroyed but not defeated.
The novel begins with Santiago and a boy; a boy that becomes a son figure who brings
him strength. This young boy helps keep Santiago's spirits up when he has nothing, and even the
thought of him makes Santiago smile. Hemingway shows this when he writes that the old man is
out on the water for days, all alone, trying to catch the giant marlin. He continuously thinks of
the boy as the one who gets him through the hardest times, "The boy keeps me alive"
(Hemingway 106). The strength of Santiago through the boy happens to parallel a verse in the
song Only God Knows Why, "I watch my youngest son and it helps to pass the time. . ." (Rock
1). This holds true throughout the novel when Santiago thinks of the boy while he is out on his
skiff, tired and hungry; thoughts of the boy help to give him strength and "pass the time" (Rock
1).
Shortly after Santiago catches the fish, he realizes how far he has gone out, and how much
work it is going to take him to get home. He says, "I shouldn't have gone out so far"
(Hemingway 110). Again, a parallel can be made with another line from Only God Knows Why.
Rock sings, "It's been so long since I've been home, I've been gone, I've been gone for way too
long. ..." (Rock 1). Both of these passages express how far they are from home, admitting that
they both have gone out too far, and been away from home for too long.
At the end of the story, it is clear to the reader that the old man has been defeated, but not
destroyed. He may have not obtained what he wanted but he will let nothing destroy him, he will
go on with his head held high. One of the many ways Hemingway shows the reader this is by
writing, "That was the last shark of the pack that came. There was nothing more for them to eat.
. . He [Santiago] knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy and he went back to the
stern and found the jagged end of the tiller would fit in the slot of the rudder well enough for him
to steer" (Hemingway 119). Santiago, after being defeated by the sharks, still goes on, he does
not give up on himself or his mission, he just continues...
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