Literary Criticism: The Old Man & The Sea
This story is set in the water of Cuba. The main characters are an old man, Santiago, a young boy Manolin, a marlin and four sharks. The themes are perseverance, respect for the fishes the fight between human and nature and how a defeat can shape, and how a defeat can improve his self-consideration in himself, to show to the boy that to obtain something it is necessary to believe in something. Santiago considers the marlin as a friend, there isn't a substantial difference between the two. He thought that the differences can be intelligence and the tools to fish. The sea is a metaphor to think about his past life, where there is a close bond with the sea, to the point that he is only capable of being a fisherman. He obeys the laws of nature; in the sea you can eat fish to be eaten. To have fished the biggest marlin ever hasn't changed his personality, he remains a humble fisherman, who wants to teach the young boy the laws of the sea.
