Death, Swimming, FlyFishing

The American Man is a person how dose what he wants but may not always like what he dose, he shows kindness and compaction for everyone, and doesn’t complain about what his life is like. He my not care how people see or treat him but he never treats them any differently. He takes no help and/or money from anybody. He may be a rancher or farmer, an old time carpenter, or a blacksmith but I see him working alone and living alone. He looks ruff my go weeks without a shower, he wears some sort of jeans it may be pants, overalls, or coveralls with a flannel plaid long sleeve shirt. He may live in the mountains or plains in a small town in Montana, Wyoming or the Dakotas. Has a dog most definitely, and goes to church on a regularly. The most important thing is that is him and the land. 

When the class finished the book there basically two reactions; wow that was dumb or wow.  The people that thought it was dumb opinions were; he just cut it off like he got bored with writing it, he stopped describing at the end like he had at the beginning, there wasn’t a conclusion, and/or the whole book was dumb and a waste of time. The others how thought it was a good book opinions were; it ended at a good time there wasn’t anything left to say, it was a meaningful or symbolic, it was thought provoking, and/or it gave you all the information you needed.

My thoughts were that it was a good book it was thought provoking, he just cut it off at the end but I don’t know if it needed a conclusion, he had seed all that was needed, he had caught the fish of his life, survived and now had to teach the boy. He didn’t really need to describe the end of the book because your mind did more for the image he was trying to give than his words ever could.

I feel that the book is more symbolic then anything. I see it giving a sense of encouragement in that he never gave up, he may have lost some of the force that keeps him going but he’s to keep on going. This book has shown that everyone should be more like the old man. In the end everyone showed him there remorse and sympathy when he returned for the way they treated him in the past. 

These are questions that the class had concerning the book.

Why does the old man keep contradicting himself? I think the reason he contradicting him self is that he cant talk to anyone for advice so he talks to himself. it gives him away to think of different solutions to a problem he encounters.

Why does he wish he’d never caught the fish? By catching the fish and the sharks eaten it he has insulted the fishes honor. Since the sharks have eaten the fish he thinks of him self of less of a man because he has killed such a great fish which deserve respect.

Why did he not bring some way to drain or blot up the blood? The reason why he doesn’t blot up the blood is that he hasn’t caught a fish this size before so he would normally put the fish in the boat. 

Why is he obsessed with bone spurs? I don’t think that he is obsessed about the bone spurs he just wants to know if he has the same pains as ”The great DiMaggio.” if the knows the pain of DiMaggio and compare it to him self he can tell if he is as strong as him. 

What is the boy to him? The boy is what gives the old man strength and courage to carry on, he always knows that the boy is going to care for him when no one ells will, so if it weren’t for the boy he probably wouldn’t have mad it. I think the only reason he didn’t die at sea is that he new the boy still needed him.

Why does he feel that killing the shark might be a sin? I think because the sharks are just being sharks. So it would be like the sharks killing him for fishing, the sharks are just making a living not doing anything wrong.

The old man and the fish are the  greatest symbols in the book. I think the biggest symbol in the book is the old man talking and contradicting himself but also the boy. It shows that the old man is truly alone on the sea.

He did not remember when he had first started to talk aloud when he was by himself. He had sung when he was by him self in the old days and he had sung at night sometimes… He had probably started to talk aloud, when alone, when the boy had left… But now he said his thoughts aloud many times since there was no one to annoy…

It also shows that the old man isn’t crazy, he only talks to him self to break the silence. I think that when the old man talks and contradicts himself it keeps him form going crazy. It gives a symbol of the sanity of the old man and his determination.