The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: A Review

Setting is an important element in every novel. It creates a sense of where it is, when it happens and sets the mood of the audience. In the novel, “The Old Man and the Sea”, by Ernest Hemingway demonstrates many ways of how he uses setting to create a mood of the audience towards the characters and their ideas and attitudes. To begin with, as he goes out to sea, “In the dark the old man could feel the morning coming and as he rowed he heard he trembling sound as flying fish left the water and the hissing that their stiff set wings made as they soared away in the darkness.” This setting describes how the old man is eager for the morning rise to come to see and capture as many good fish as he can. It also expresses his passion of fishing by being fond of the flying fish he hears. Another example of setting is when, “he was rowing steadily and it was no effort for him since he kept well within his speed and the surface of the ocean was flat expect for the occasional swirls of the current.” This setting shows how he grew a bit lazy because of the no effort he had put into rowing his boat. It also shows that instead he let the occasional swirls move him and he was somewhere further than he had hoped for. In addition, “the sun was brighter and the glare came on the water and then, as it rose clear, the flat sea sent it back at his eyes so that it hurt sharply and he rowed without looking into it”. This setting shows that no matter how the weather would affect the old man he chooses to stick it through the end and does not give up on looking out into the sea. It also shows that he is very strong willed man who does what he wants to do in order to catch good fish. Another example is when he felt the weight of the small tuna, “the shivering increased as he pulled in and he could see the blue back of the fish in the water and the gold of sides before he swung him over the side and into the boat”. This setting describes how exciting it is when it comes to actually