Summary of "The Old Man and the Sea"

In The Old Man and the Sea, the book starts off with the Old Man coming home after a fruitless day out at sea. He goes to a bar, where he sees a Boy that he taught how to fish. The Boy takes him home and they rest there for a while, after which they eat supper and the Boy leaves so the Old Man can sleep. The next morning, the Old Man gets up bright and early, and the Boy meets him at his house, so the Boy can help the Old Man carry his things out to his boat. They make it to the boat, the Boy says goodbye, and the Old Man heads out to sea. 120 Soon, the Old Man is far enough out that he sets up his lines and waits. He does not get much, so he keeps moving and eventually sees a fish tugging on one of his lines. He realizes that it is a big one, so he sets himself up and does not let go. The fish, a marlin, just starts swimming and never looks back. The marlin takes the Old Man farther and farther out to sea. He goes all through the night and shows no sign of stopping. After about a full day of being dragged, the Old Man realizes that he will need food soon, so he catches a little fish, cleans it, slices it, and eats it all with one hand. After another day, he brings the marlin in after a long battle, lashes it to the ship and heads back to shore with the help of the wind. The marlin leaves a trail of blood in the water, so sharks start coming to attack and eat it. The Old Man fights some of them off, but soon he runs out of things to use as weapons, so he must sit and watch helplessly as the sharks strip all the meat off the marlin. He eventually, after close to a day, brings the marlin back in to shore, but as soon as he gets off his boat he collapses. The Boy takes him back to his house and tells him all about how the villagers said they had never seen anything that big and how they had put their faith into him again, but the Old Man is quickly asleep, unconscious of anything happening. The Old Man and the Sea is an extraordinary book that should be read by all.