Bicycling the Blue Ridge

Luray Caverns and Skyline Drive: Growing up in Northern VA, I have many memories of trips to Luray Caverns… I’ve…

Introduction of the Author
Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 — July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as “the Lost Generation”. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea, and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.Hemingway's distinctive writing style is characterized by economy and understatement, and had a significant influence on the development of twentieth-century fiction writing.
After the war, Hemingway returned to Oak Park, and moved to an apartment on 1599 Bathurst Street. During his stay, he found a job with the Toronto Star newspaper. He worked as a freelancer, staff writer, and foreign correspondent. Hemingway befriended fellow Star reporter Morley Callaghan. Callaghan had begun writing short stories at this time; he showed them to Hemingway, who praised them as fine work. They would later be reunited in Paris.
One time on a safari, he was seriously injured in two successive plane crashes; he sprained his right shoulder, arm, and left leg, had a grave concussion, temporarily lost vision in his left eye and the hearing in his left ear. Hemingway possibly suffered from manic depression, and was subsequently treated with electroshock therapy at the Mayo Clinic.[39] He later blamed his memory loss, which he cited as a reason for not wanting to live. The pain left him in prolonged anguish, and he was unable to travel to Stockholm to accept his Nobel Prize. Hemingway attempted suicide in the spring of 1961, and received ECT treatment again. On the morning of July 2, 1961, some three weeks short of his 62nd birthday.

Main plot of the novel

The Old Man and the Sea recounts an epic battle between an old, experienced fisherman and a giant marlin said to be the largest catch of his life. It opens by explaining that the fisherman, who is named Santiago, has gone 84 days without catching any fish at all. He is apparently so unlucky that his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man and been ordered to fish with more successful fishermen.

Still dedicated to the old man, however, the boy visits Santiago's shack each night, hauling back his fishing gear, feeding him and discussing American baseball — most notably Santiago's idol. Santiago tells Manolin that on the next day, he will venture far out into the Gulf to fish, confident that his unlucky streak is near its end.

Thus on the eighty-fifth day, Santiago sets out alone, taking his skiff far into the Gulf. He sets his lines and, by noon of the first day, a big fish that he is sure is a marlin takes his bait. Unable to pull in the great marlin, Santiago instead finds the fish pulling his skiff. Two days and two nights pass in this manner, during which the old man bears the tension of the line with his body. Though he is wounded by the struggle and in pain, Santiago expresses a compassionate appreciation for his adversary, often referring to him as a brother. He also determines that because of the fish's great dignity, no one will be worthy of eating the marlin.

On the third day of the ordeal, the fish begins to circle the skiff, indicating his tiredness to the old man. Santiago, now completely worn out and almost in delirium, uses all the strength he has left in him to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon, thereby ending the long battle between the old man and the tenacious fish.

Santiago straps the marlin to his skiff and heads home, thinking about the high price the fish will bring him at the market and how many people he will feed.

While Santiago continues his journey back to the shore, sharks are attracted to the trail of blood left by the marlin in the water. Firstly, a great mako shark, Santiago kills with his harpoon, losing that weapon in the process. He makes a new harpoon by strapping his knife to the end of an oar to help ward off the next line of sharks; in total, five sharks are slain and many others are driven away. But by night, the sharks have almost devoured the marlin's entire carcass, leaving a skeleton consisting mostly of its backbone, its tail and its head, the latter still bearing the giant spear. The old man castigates himself for sacrificing the marlin. Finally reaching the shore before dawn on the next day, he struggles on the way to his shack, carrying the heavy mast on his shoulder. Once home, he slumps onto his bed and enters a very deep sleep.

A group of fishermen gather the next day around the boat where the fish's skeleton is still attached. One of the fishermen measures it to be eighteen feet from nose to tail. Tourists at the nearby café mistakenly take it for a shark. Manolin, worried during the old man's endeavor, cries upon finding him safe asleep. The boy brings him newspapers and coffee. When the old man wakes, they promise to fish together once again. Upon his return to sleep, Santiago dreams of lions on the African beach.

Personal reflection:

The reason I choose this novel is that I learn some precious lesson from the main character- Santiago (the fisher). We can fail in something sometimes instead of complaining once being defeating. The same meaning as our body can be tormented but the soul is hard to be invaded.
He is the man who had gone through the war, in addition, he had studied many books about “Theory of Evolution “so he was affected deeply. Hemingway describe the battle between a lonely old man, the sea, and the shark in order to compliment and admire the greatness of ordinary people that people usually ignore. Although the plot of the story is quite simple, it shows the courage and respect people have. I think this is a very good fable about real life.
In our life, the process of things sometimes are important than the result. When we encounter the hardship, all we can do is just to face it rather than avoid. That way the success will come soon.
Source of Reference

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_and_the_sea#Plot_summary

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France. She did. I kid you not.

Interesting that you mention Bush and the plastic turkey. That one must still rankle, eh? But I wouldn't mention it: it is irrelevant. I try to stick to the point.]]>

There is one more spot you may be interested around D.C area. This is Shenandoah National Park which has skyline drive. I have driven thru skyline drive which is a beautiful spot especially during fall. This is very close to Luray Caverns. For more info. please do look into these Regards,Deepa]]>

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I am familiar with the use of tribe vs. nation. In this case I was referring to the artificial tribal membership process created and recognized by the Federal government. (The effects of recognition by the Federal Government on Native American nations… encouraging the loss of culture and language… is another conversation.)Looking foward to seeing you at Throop, Clyde. Perhaps I'll get a chance to attend a service on a Sunday – if I'm not working!]]>

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