the old man and the sea- why we still read this book

The book 'The Old Man and the Sea' contains a timeless message. The message in this book is that patience is rewarded and that if you really want something, you must work for it. In the book, the old man had to work very hard and be very patient in order to catch his fish. He knew that if he did pull off catching this giant marlin fish, it would be worth it. That is why he was so determined and that is why he was willing to work so hard in order to catch it. He went through a lot of hard work to catch the marlin. He had to endure the heat while he was out on the sea. He also had to deal with his own body betraying him. He became very tired from lack of sleep while he was out on the sea and this lack of sleep made him weaker and weaker. His tiredness threatened the chance of him catching the fish. He also had to endure his hands cramping up and turning into "claws". This made it more difficult for him to catch his fish because he is used to using both of his hands to hold the rope, but when his hand is all cramped up, he cannot use it and so he has to figure out how to hold on to the rope with only one hand. When the old man caught a dolphin, he had to deal with his nausea from the smell of the raw meat. All of these challenges made the old man have to work that much harder, but in the end, it was worth it for him. The old man had to be very patient in this book, but in the end, his patience was rewarded when he caught the eighteen foot long marlin fish. Even though the fish's body was attacked and eaten by sharks, the old man still brought the skeleton home, and this is what made everyone stop mocking him and calling him unlucky. It earned him the respect that he deserved and also the companionship of the young boy, making all the hard work worth it. The message that we can learn from the book 'The Old Man and the Sea' is that patience is rewarded and that if you really want something, you have to work hard for it.


Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. Print.