Old Man and the Sea- Imagery

In the Old Man and the Sea, they author uses a lot of imagery. I think the author uses imagery the most when the old man sees the marlin for the first time. The author describes the fish in such great detail that the book comes to life and becomes so much more interesting. The author uses words that describe the color, texture, and even the smell throughout the three day struggle the old man had with the marlin. The narrator says "He was bright in the sun and his head and back were dark purple and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed white and a light lavender. " In this quote the narrator is describing the marlin the old man has caught. The author also uses imagery to describe the shack the old man is living in. The narrator tells us that there are only a few things in his shack, a table, a chair, a table, and a bed. The narrator also tells us that there are two pictures in the old mans shack, one of the Sacred Hear of Jesus, and one of the Virgin of Cobre. The narrator also tells us he took down the picture of his wife because it makes him feel to lonely. Another part in this book when imagery is used is when the author describes the way the old man's hands looked after he returned home from his trip. The narrator says his hands are so cut up that they looked like raw meat. I think that imagery in a book is very important because it can help readers get a better understanding of the situation the characters may be in. I also think imagery is important because without imagery this book would be so boring. Ernest Hemmingway does a really good with the imagery in this book because at some points in this book I felt like I could vividly see the fish because he described it in such good detail. I think that if an author does a good enough job with imagery, it can turn a boring book into something more like a picture book because you can see things so clearly.

Bibliography

Hemmingway, Ernest. Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner. 1996. Print.