Analysis Of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea

Jin Woo Lee

Ms. Pat Cessna

English 10-2B

27 May 2013

The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea is a famous novel written by Ernest Hemingway in 1950 and it is still widely read today. Over the course of the rest of the story, it is evident that the author’s life had an enormous influence on the novel. In The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway’s early experience as a journalist, his struggle as an author before writing this novel, and his unsuccessful relationships with women have greatly influenced his writing.

To start with, Hemingway’s early experience as a journalist greatly influenced his writing techniques in this novel. Throughout the novel, the readers can easily realize that Hemingway enjoys using clear and simple words or sentences. This particular writing technique was developed when he began writing newspapers for The Kansas City Star after graduating from high school (“Earnest Hemingway”). Since then, Hemingway wrote short sentences and paragraphs to make sure his messages were clear to the readers. This technique used by Hemingway is evident in The Old Man and the Sea as when he writes, “He was barefooted” in the middle of the paragraph (Hemingway 19). In addition, Hemingway uses simple verbs and adjectives in a sentence to make his story clear to the readers, as when he writes, “he was happy”, and “the fish moved steadily” (Hemingway 43, 45). Therefore, by looking at some examples from The Old Man and the Sea, it can be concluded that Hemingway’s early experience of working as a journalist led him to write simple and short sentences.

Furthermore, Hemingway’s struggle as a writer before writing this novel greatly influenced the way he described his main character. After being a very successful writer in th...

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... in his life greatly influenced this book.

In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, author’s life background greatly influenced the way he wrote the novel. Hemingway’s experience as a journalist led him to write simple and short sentences. In addition, his struggle as a writer before writing this novel, and his failed relationships with women greatly influenced him to continue to make connections with Santiago and himself throughout the story. Therefore, it can be safely concluded that this great novel clearly reflects the life of Ernest Hemingway. (756 words)

Works Cited

“Earnest Hemingway.” History. N.p, 15 May 2005. Web. 21 Aug. 2013.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner’s, 1980. Print.

Kalbach, Clint. A Biographical Analysis of The Old Man and the Sea. N.p, Sept. 2007. Web. 23 May 2014.

Works Cited