• The Old Man And the Sea, Ernest Hemingway

• Introduction
• Short Summary
• Detailed Summary
• The Old Man And the Sea-Part-I
• The Old Man And the Sea-Part-II
• The Old Man And the Sea-Part-III
• The Old Man And the Sea- Part-IV
• The Old Man And the Sea- Part-V
• The Old Man And the Sea- Part-VI
• Characters: "The Old Man And the Sea"
• Character of Santiago
• Character Manolin
• Themes & Topics
• University Questions & Answers
• Importance of DiMaggio
• Santiago's Fight with Marlin
• Struggle with the Sharks
• Santiago's Handmatch with Negro
• Character of the sea as a symbol
• The novel as a tragedy
• Theme of the novel
• Top 10 Quotes: The Old Man And the Sea
• Best Quotes from The Old Man And the Sea

Detailed Summary of The Old Man And the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Part I

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Santiago is an old fisherman that fishes alone in a skiff. He has "gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish". There was a boy, Manolin that came to learn to fish, with him for first forty days but upon Santiago's being unable to catch a fish, they ordered him to accompany another fisherman. The old man is thin with "wrinkles in the back of his neck". His hands had deep scars of rolling cords. "Everything about him was old except his eyes". Santiago has taught him to fish and "the boy loved him". The boy wishes to be with the old man again but Santiago asks him to stay with the lucky boat.

The boy still helps the old man with his offshore work like handling cords and cares a lot about him but his parent don't want him to go with the old man. On the shore, other fishermen make fun of Santiago while the old ones feel sad for him. The old man has been discussing of his past with the boy. It appears the boy has been attached to him since his childhood. The boy gives him sardines. Santiago declares of going "Far out" in search of some good fish.

Then the old man and the boy talk of the good eye sight of Santiago which is still good while other fishermen have weak eyesight. Then the boy helps the old man by carrying his essentials of his sea trade back to his hut. The poverty of the old man is clearly visible because he has nothing in the hut except a couple of old things. The old man offers the boy yellow rice and the boy seeks permission for the cast net. In fact, there is neither but they are just repeating this "fiction" every day. The old man claims of reading yesterday's newspaper which may be fiction as well.

The boy shows full care to the old man. He brings supper for him in the evening and when Santiago refuses, he replies: "You'll not fish without eating while I'm alive." The old man tells him of baseball and his favourite team i.e. Yankees. He likes DiMaggio in the team. Then the old man expresses his wish of taking DiMaggio to fishing with him. He also talks about having gone to the shores of Africa and seeing lions there. The boy considers him "the best fisherman". Then the old man sleeps and promises to wake the boy.