New Ending
25 Questions
1. What makes the Old Man’s relationship with the boy so unique?
2. As the book begins, what is the Old Man’s fishing career like?
3. What does the Old Man’s dream mean?
4. What is the difference between la mar and el mar?
5. How would the Old Man using the man-of-war bird to help his fishing?
6. What does he think of the Portuguese man-of-war?
7. How does he go about hooking the marlin?
8. How does the marlin respond to being hooked? What happens to the old man during the afternoon and night as a result?
9. “The boy was sad too and we begged her pardon and butchered her promptly.” What does it tell you about the old man and his relationship with his natural surroundings?
10. What are the Old Man’s preparations (i.e., how he gets extra line) for the battle with the marlin?
11. What does the old man eat to replenish his strength? Describe the process by which he prepares his food.
12. Describe the fish as the old man sees it when it first jumps.
13. At this point in the story, what seems to be the old man’s attitude toward the fish? How does he feel about the marlin?
14. What happened in the arm wrestling match the old man thinks of as the sunsets?
15. What is the old man’s next meal? How does he obtain it, and how does he prepare it?
16. Why doesn’t the old man just tie the line with the marlin on the end to his boat for a while so that he can get some sleep?
17. When the marlin starts jumping again and running, what happens to the old man as a result?
18. Describe the process by which the old man lands the marlin.
19. How does the old man attach the marlin to the skiff for the journey home? Why doesn’t he just toss the fish in the boat?
20. Describe the first encounter with a shark. What is the result?
21. On page 105, about the marlin, the old man thinks to himself, “If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?” What does he mean? What do you think about the question?
22. Describe the second shark encounter, this time with the shovel-nosed sharks. After it is over, the old man says to himself, “It makes everything wrong.”
23. By the end of the story, what has the old man lost? What has he won?
24. Why, do you think, this book is titled The Old Man and the Sea, as opposed to, say, The Old Man and the Boy, or the Old Man and the Really Big Fish, or The Old Man and the Sharks?
25. In what way(s) is the old man in a conflict with nature? In what way(s) is he in harmony with nature?