3. I believe that Hemingway addresses several universal themes in this book. He addresses the universal theme of suffering in this book on many separate occasions. When the old man has the fishing line across his back is a good example, or when his hands are cut when he is holding onto the line. Another theme I found in the book was courage. To me the old man was courageous throughout the entire book. When all of the other fishermen stayed close to the shore, he went farther. When the fish pulled him out to sea, he kept his composer and knew he would be able to sail home again. When the old man had to battle the sharks, he fought them with bravery and was not fearful of them. I think that Hemingway understands that since the old man has such bad luck, the reader will take pity on the old man. The reader will hope that the old man can catch a fish and will be rooting for him the whole time. Hemingway knows that if he makes the main character poor, and unlucky there are a lot more people that can relate to the old man. If the old man caught big fish everyday the story would be less interesting. I think another thing Hemingway understands is that if there is a Good Samaritan figure in the story like the boy, the reader is more inclined to enjoy the book. If there is someone to help the poor old man, then there is more enjoyment from the book. I also think that kindness could be a universal theme. Everyone knows what kindness is and everyone can display kindness when they want to. So when the boy displays kindness the old man, the reader can relate because he has been shown kindness and he has shown kindness himself. Knowing these qualities in human nature, Hemingway can effectively capture our attention as readers with these universal themes.
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