Wednesday, January 2, 2013

What are the moral lessons of The Old Man and the Sea?

Morality is a funny word here, it seems to me.  It implies the rightness and wrongness of things rather than observations about the character of things. 


Pereseverence in the face of adversity is clearly evident in this novella; however, I'm not so sure that's a moral quality.  Certainly moral people can demonstrate perseverence, but so can immoral people.


The same is probably true for this issue, as well, but it's all I can envision to fit the word moral. I'd have to go to the catching of the fish for any moral perspective from the story.  Santiago is respectful of his environment.  He only takes the bait he needs, and he isn't wasteful--as he only keeps the tuna because he will eat it.  He is respectful of his opponent, his brother, the great fish.  He understands this is a battle, but Santiago does fight like a gentleman and respects his foe. 


Respect for others and one's surroundings (as demonstrated by Manolin's respect for Santiago, as well) is one of the only real "moral" issues I find in this work. 

No comments:

Post a Comment