The old man's dedication to his craft and the emotions that he attaches to the fish and creatures he comes to know are moving, and are such a valiant depiction of what I wish modern fishing (and hunting) would be. Recently, I've personally been conflicted with global trends in overfishing and the questionable practices in the general food industry; what are the consequences of my dietary choices? Who am I to take this food that I did nothing to earn? If fish (and all food) still came from such strenuous work, maybe we wouldn't have lost sight of the value of it. There's honor in the amount of effort the old man puts into his battle with his catch—and though I'm sure this kind of fishing still happens, I wish we could step back to basics a bit more and feel this sort of respect for our food.
Maybe the old man's persistence touches on the human need to prove his superiority to nature, but it certainly didn't feel cocky to me. It's thoughtful and natural and very kind. In fact, pretty much every character in this entire story is innately kind. The boy, obviously, but even the sharks, who come to attack, are not written to be some sort of evil characters as they usually are, but merely as other beings trying to survive just like everyone else. The townspeople, too, are almost unrealistically sympathetic when the old man returns and it doesn't feel as though the adventure happened in vain. After all, the old man still has his life, his dreams, and his community.
No comments:
Post a Comment