Why do we still read The Old Man and the Sea? What can we learn from this book?

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is still read today because of the important lessons it teaches the readers. The primary lesson of this book is the struggle for life. This struggle is important and relevant because in nature something survives off another's demise. Not just animals participate in this battle, but humans as well. This can be seen through Santiago's fight with the marlin. Santiago is a fisherman and has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish (Hemingway 9). He needs to catch a fish, so he can earn money and food to survive. When Santiago catches the marlin he embarks on a long struggle to bring the fish to the surface without breaking his fishing line (Hemingway 44). As Santiago waits out the fish he begins to admire and even love him (Hemingway 55). The fish is a worthy adversary for the old man, and Santiago grows to think of the fish as a brother (Hemingway 95). Even though Santiago loves the fish he still kills him in the end (Hemingway 94). This shows the struggle between lives. To live Santiago has to kill the fish even though he regrets it. Santiago will now be able to survive for longer.

The struggle for life is shown in another way in this story as well. This is shown when the sharks attack the marlin's body against the boat (Hemingway 100). The sharks must also eat to survive like Santiago, but by taking the marlin's meat they are not participating in the same struggle that Santiago and the marlin fought in. Their attack of the marlin is not as noble as Santiago's. Unlike Santiago, the sharks do not understand the fair match between the marlin and Santiago. They take away the marlin's dignity because they feed off him when he was already dead. The marlin did not have the chance to defend himself against the sharks like he did against Santiago. Nor do they love and respect the marlin as Santiago did. They simply will kill until the day themselves would be the ones killed.

Bibliography: Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. 2003 ed. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.