The End

The ending to The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway held gravity and had a message, but it was not clear as to what the significance about it was. The basic ending to the novel was that Santiago was finally able to catch his great prize fish, although during his return to shore sharks eat it and he is left with only the mere bones of the great fish. I took away from the conclusion of the novel the feeling of having a prize so close to you before it is taken away and you cannot do anything about it. The ending leaves you asking the question what is the true prize: reputation or money? If reputation is the true prize, then Santiago is the victor because everyone knows he was able to catch an eighteen foot fish by himself, which is an amazing accomplishment. If money the true prize, then Santiago did not succeed because even though he was able to catch a massive fish no one will be willing to buy a massive fish carcass, the meat is what is important. In the novel, clearly reputation is the true prize, especially for Santiago, who is so old that he does not need to worry about money and he was finally able to mark his place in history with his amazing catch. Although, in the material world we live in today money is always the true prize; therefore, if you are looking at the situation from this perspective it would be easy to see that Santiago is the loser because even though he was able to catch the massive fish he will have nothing to show for it because he will not be able to make any money from it. Clearly having the bones to show he caught such a great fish is significant because it bolsters his reputation, but in the real world this is meaningless because the real reward is money and obviously no one is going to pay good money for the carcass of a fish. The fact that he was able to end his life as fisherman by making the catch of a lifetime, proving the other fisherman wrong, is a truly satisfying ending. You as a reader are at peace because you realize that Santiago will end his life in peace because of his final catch.