老人与海英文读书报告

A Book Report of The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway, an American novelist.The story is set in the 20th century after World War II, which is based on the novel written true story Hemingway himself has experienced.

Exactly, it’s a story of an epic struggle between an old, seasoned fisherman and the greatest catch of his life. Leading character Santiago, an aged Cuban fisherman, has set out to sea and returned empty-handed. At first 84 days, he did not even fish one fish. He did not have enough food, and many locals to doubt his fishing technique. Some even laugh at him. So, He decided to go to the sea to fish food and proved that he is a skilled fisherman. On the eight-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago does as promised, sailing his skiff far beyond the island’s shallow coastal waters and venturing into the Gulf Stream. At noon, a big fish, marlin, take the bait that Santiago has placed before. Although the old man expertly hooks the fish, but he cannot pull it in. Instead, the fish begins to pull the boat. He knows perfectly well very difficult to win, but still did not give up. Since then, they began their three-day fighting. The entire time, Santiago, endures constant pain from the fishing line. Eventually, the third day, the fish tires, and Santiago manages to pull the marlin in close enough to kill it with a harpoon thrust. However, things do not go smoothly as he expected. On his way home, he is attacked buy several crowds of shark. Although he kills the sharks in the end, they have devoured the marlin’s precious meat, leaving only skeleton. The old man arrives home before daybreak, and sleeps very deeply. Later on, the old man wakes up and finds the little boy Mandolin staying with him, and decides to go to sea to fish again.

In fact, the story contains many different symbols and themes .By reading this book, I was deeply impressed by the old man and what he said “a man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Santiago, though destroyed at the end of the novella, is never defeated. Instead, he emerges as a hero. Santiago’s struggle does not enable him to change man’s place in the world. But the struggle somehow enables him to meet his most dignified destiny. The old man sets a good example for us. He teachers us that we should fight and never lose faith, never give up. No matter how hard the life is, it’s possible for us to overcome the difficulties.