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The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)

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1. What is the genre?

Global — Performance > Profession

Secondary — Status > Admiration

2. What are the conventions and obligatory scenes for the genre?

Conventions

Strong Mentor Figure. Santiago has been the mentor to The Boy, but at this stage in life the roles are reversed and The Boy is taking care of him. When he is home, his mind and body are weak and The Boy reminds him to eat and brings him what he needs. Out on the ocean fighting the fish, Santiago talks to himself using strategies he’d used with The Boy (If the boy were here…) as well as what The Boy has used with him (…you must eat…).

Training. Early in the day, he catches a couple of substantive fish that exercise his skills and quite literally feed him as he continues to pursue The Big Catch. These small catches are a recovery of skills that he relied on The Boy to assist with for years but must execute on his own.

All is Lost Moment. As Santiago battles against sharks on his way back to shore, he loses the fish that he nearly died to bring in.

Mentor recovers moral compass or betrays the Protagonist to act out perceived victimhood. As he plays out the dual role of Mentor/Mentee in his self-coaching conversations, there are moments where both his body and mind betray his mission—his hand cramps up for a significant portion of the day, and late in the battle his mind begins to betray him as well. Santiago’s battle against the ocean cannot be won unless he retains the ability to control himself, body and mind, as he would’ve expected to in his younger years.

The power divide between the antagonist and protagonist is wide and deep. The big fish is his battle, but the ultimate antagonist is the ocean itself, possibly representative of the society he’s part of. Santiago is an old, poor, unwell man, alone in a skiff, being dragged out to sea by a fish at least as big as the boat he’s in. He’s overwhelmingly outmatched in every way.

Ironic, win-but-lose, lose-but-win ending. In spite of the loss of the meat of The Catch, he gains both self-respect and admiration for being a fisherman and not simply a cog in the wheel of fish markets. What remains of the fish admired by The Boy, the fishing community, even the world (represented by tourists).

Obligatory Scenes

Inciting performance opportunity: The Boy offers to come with Santiago against his will, and he refuses—choosing instead to “go out and gamble” again on his own.

Protagonist sidesteps responsibility to perform/ Forced to perform, the protagonist lashes out.: (Initially I looked to the beginning of the story for these scenes, but I think they appear at the end.) The closer Santiago gets to death and either victory or defeat against the fish, the more he has to face what it is he’s doing there. He finds doesn’t care about bringing a fish to market (status), but not until he’s taken it too far and has to bring it in (the performance). His journey home with the fish/battling the sharks is fraught with introspection and a mixture of regret and pride (lashing out as he performs).

Protagonist discovers and understands the antagonist’s object of desire. He plays the wants of The Catch skillfully in order to bring it in, and knows the ocean intimately in order to make it home.

Protagonist, realizing that they must change their approach to salvage some form of honor, reaches an ‘all is lost moment’. Bringing The Catch in allows Santiago to regain his pride, but the shark attacks force him to question the meaning of his existence. Santiago has to admit that he’s not a fisherman by trade but by blood, let go of his need to bring meat to market, and honor his relationship with himself and the ocean in order to make it home.

The Big Event Scene, the central event of the Performance story, when the Protagonist’s gift is expressed. In the beginning, we saw Santiago playing out fictions (dementia-esque) with The Boy, and part of the scene was the stench of sharks in a factory. As Santiago battles the sharks and struggles to get home, he realizes he has to be honest about himself, his place in society, and his place in the ecosystem. He is not independent—The Boy is what keeps him alive—and he and the sharks are not so very different. He can, however, distance himself from the factories. He is not on the ocean because he’s part of a financial ecosystem but because of an environmental one. He belongs on the water even if he cannot make a dime on the streets. He eats some of the fish that’s left from the sharks, enjoys it and regains resolve to battle the sharks, let the meat go, and make it back home to the boy and to fish another day.

Protagonist is rewarded at one or more levels of satisfaction (external, internal, or interpersonal). Now that he has faced who and what he is, he can accept The Boy’s offer to return to his expeditions—and the public respect he gained removes any justification that The Boy’s parents or society had for leaving the old man to die alone.

3. What is the point of view?

Third person with free indirect style

4. What are the objects of desire?

External/conscious: to break his unlucky streak and bring home a big fish in spite of losing his mentee.

Internal/subconscious: to affirm meaning and purpose in his twilight years.

5. What is the controlling idea / theme?

We gain respect when we express our gifts with honesty and integrity, even in the face of harsh realities.

6. What is the beginning hook, middle build and ending payoff?

Beginning Hook

When an old man in a poor fishing community loses his apprentice thanks to an extended losing streak, he has to continue on his own to prove his worth to himself and his community. The Boy offers to go out with him, but Santiago turns him down. Society demands productivity, and Santiago believes he can afford to gamble on a losing streak while The Boy cannot.

Middle Build

After some time in the day and bringing in smaller fish, he hooks The Big Catch, and battle goes on for days alone on the ocean. As both he and the fish wear down, it’s clear that one of them will have to die. Santiago faces his own mortality, ultimately bringing the fish in with reverence and gratitude, lashing it to his skiff—it’s as big as the boat and can’t be brought in—and turns to go home.

Ending Payoff

When sharks come after Santiago and his catch, he is forced to face the reality of his performance in the fishing market and society at large. Santiago realizes the honor is not in bringing fish to market but in being honest with yourself about who you were born to be and who you are now. When the community does see what’s left of the fish, and respects him as a fisherman regardless of social/market status, the Boy now insists he go out with the old man, and the old man is secure in accepting the offer.

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Danielle Kiowski