the old Man and the Sea Question 5

To answer this question, you must first ask what is the time period and setting of the story? The answer to that is in the 1940s in a small cuban fishing village. I would have to say that this novel reflects history very well. I have no proof, so you'll just have to take my word for it. The book makes almost no mention of anything outside the village, so I can assume that nothing happened during this time period. So that may mean that the book did not reflect history very well at all. Well I'm undecided so lets just assume maybe. As for the book reflecting the behavior during the time period, I would also say maybe. I have never lived in the 40's and I don't know much about said date. With the very little mention of other people in the book, I would say it might have captured the behavior properly. Considering Hemingway died in 1961 I will assume he knows what he's talking about. Also when the other people in the village saw the dead fish they seemed amazed. "Many Fisherman were around the skiff looking at what was lashed beside it and one was in the water, his trousers rolled up, measuring the skeleton with a length of line." (Hemingway 122) This seems like a normal response when you see the biggest fish you've ever seen. So I deem that he accurately reflected the behavior of the time period. The book didn't mention any social issues so I deem that it reflected these horribly. Although some might consider baseball a social issue, but I don't. They do talk about baseball a lot, so it could be a social issue, but as I said, I don't count it as one. Social issues weren't really needed to have been addressed in the book so I will say that it was well enough. It could also have not been done correctly at all depending on how it is viewed.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.