The old man and the sea

My dad's lit book.
Oft quotes a line from there
Water water everywhere not a drop to drink
Except that...
When I read it I never came across the line. Literally read the book for that line
It wasn't there
Now raise it's from rime of the ancient mariner by coleridge!
But no matter I shall read that next
I am on a sea faring voyage in books right now. That will be third such text.
And I love it.

This book. ..
So it talks about man's struggle with and against nature the elements. The thrill and challenge of pitching oneself against the elements. This is an ancient preoccupation of wanting to prove ones worth against the elements. It's prevalent today too. It's why that Singaporean man challenged himself to scale a mountain and got blown off it in Wales on new years day!
It's the theme in real life accounts like in the heart of the sea too.
Man against nature fighting to survive. Talking to oneself.  Brink of madness. The unthinkable becomes the daily realities. 

What lessons from old man and the sea.
He says he just went too far.
True. He didn't want to give up . His esteem couldn't take it that he was defeated by the fish.  Great respect for the fish . In the end both got beaten by the scavengers. The sharks.  Only then did he accept he'd been beaten.

Why does the boy cry?
The physical and mental sufferings of the old man. Empathy and love. For his dream not realised.

Just watched a video that says the fish bone at the end and the fish itself is a symbol of his victory . Maybe.
I saw it as a symbol of the futility of his struggle against the elements. Wouldn't it have been kinder if he had let the fish go? He would have other smaller fish and actually brought home his catch and still been respected. 

I didn't see the sharks as symbolising the other fishermen.  I saw them as parasites. The ones who benefit when two strong figures fight. With mutual respect the tow strong figures would have won and scavengers lost

How different are we from.despicable sharks when we too jst wait for fisherman to catch and we pay to eat?
We don't fight the fish to death witness it fight to survive. That panic when they know they are cornered and dead.