This document provides information about Ernest Hemingway's novella "The Old Man and the Sea" and Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick". It summarizes the plots, characters, and existential themes in both works. It also analyzes similarities between the works, such as their focus on fishing struggles and central protagonists obsessed with killing a specific fish. Differences are also examined, including the different beginnings and attitudes towards nature expressed by Ahab and the old man.
Comparetive study of 'Old man and the sea' and Moby-Dick'
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3. About the author
•Born – 1899 and died in 1961.
•He was an American novelist, short story writer,
and journalist.
•He had a strong influence on 20th century fiction
•Hemingway produced most of his work between
the mid – 1920s and 1950s , and won the Nobel
prize in Literature in 1954.
•He published seven novels, six short story
collections, and two non-fiction works.
Ernest
Hemingwa
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5. Plot of novella The old man and the sea:
•‘The old man and the sea’ is short novella written
by Ernest Hemingway and it was published in
1952.
•Story about old man and his struggle for fishing.
•The old man is a huge loser, because he hasn’t
caught a fish in 84 day which is considered the
worst from of unluckiness.
•He get inspiration from young Manolin, young
apprentice of Santiago.
6. •He promises to Manolin for catch a fish the next day.
•For two days Santiago is yanked about the ocean then he
finally catch fish named marlin.
•But fate can be a bitch, shark was drawn by the smell of blood
from marlin.
•The sharks devour almost all of his fish and by the time
Santiago return to shore, only the skeleton of the marlin
remains.
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8. About the author
•Born in 1819 and died in 1891
•Herman Melville was an American novelist,
short story writer and poet of the American
renaissance period.
•His best known work include Typee, and Moby-
Dick.
•His writing draws on his experience at sea as a
common sailor, and engagement in the
contradictions of American society in period of
rapid change.
10. Plot of Novel Moby - Dick
•Written by Herman Melville and publish in 1851
during the period of the American Renaissance.
•Moby –Dick is book with several lyres of
meaning and read at different levels. At one level
it is an exciting tale of adventure.
•Sailor Ishmael tells the story of the obsessive
quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler ship named
‘Pequod’.
• He won’t to tack revenge with Moby dick, who
on the previous whaling voyage bit off Ahab’s leg
at the knee.
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•In entire novel show struggle of captain
Ahab with white whale Moby dick.
•At the end of the story Moby – dick kill
captain Ahab and destroyed entire ship and
crew member of that ship.
12. Similarity in both the novel
•Both books centre on the joys of fishing. In
‘The old man an the sea’ novel Marlin fish is
there and in ‘Moby – Dick’ whale is there.
•Both of these animal are symbol of the
struggle.
•Ahab and Old man both are the central
character in both the novel. Ahab is young man
and Santiago is aged and very weak person.
•They both wont to kill specific fish. Ahab wont
to kill ‘Moby – Dick’ and Old man want to kill
‘Shark’.
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•Both man will be unable to conquer the forces of the
universe against them.
•Santiago gains a measure of peace and understanding
about existence from his struggle, while Ahab leave the
existence as he found it without any greater insight.
•At the end of the novel both are died. But one is dying
after completed his goal and one cannot.
•Narrator of both the novel are unknown.
14. Difference in both the novel
•Begging of both the novel are different.
•In ‘The old man and the sea’ is third person narration and
novel began with old man’s descriptions while in Moby-
dick Ishmael is the narrator and story began with his life.
•At the begging of the novel Ishmael says that ;
“Call me Ishmael”
“That is not my real name, but what name could be better?”
•Moby Dick and Shark both are symbol of nature. Old man
has very deep love in nature, While Ahab heat nature.
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“Fish he said I love you and respect you very much. But I
will kill you dead before this day end”.
- Old man
“Please do not refuse captain Ahab the othe man begged.
My son is in that boat. Please help me find him”.
“I am sorry” Ahab replied roughly.
But I have no time. I must sail on.
•After long time waiting for Moby – Dick captain Ahab is
loss his confidence and passion. He say’s his friend that
“Do I look old?”
16. Existentialism
Existentialism as a way of understanding the
human experience.
Existentialism is talks about Individualism.
Existentialist sees that the word is absurd
because of the incongruity between the chaotic
nature of the universe into which man is thrown
and the functioning of man’s moral imagination.
In other way existentialism is about
philosophical suicide or actually living without
hope.
17. Existentialism in “The old man and the sea”
Hemingway says that man was most able to prove
himself worthy in isolation.
Existentialism makes its appearance when Santiago
chooses to pursue the marlin, stay with it the entire
way, fight tooth and nail at the end.
He mentions how he was born to be a fisherman, and
by chasing marlin, he will give his life the meaning for
existence.
Santiago also insists on staying with the until one of
them is dead, which exemplifies his will to fulfill his
goals in life.
18. Existentialism in “Moby-Dick”
The masterpiece ‘Moby-Dick’ contains
actual suicide. It was same like what Albert
Camus say in his work ‘Myth of Sisyphus’,
“There is but one truly serious
philosophical problem and that is suicide”.
He believes that ‘ he would die than
submit to any force beyond his own ego.
Ahab has ego that’s way he defeated at
the end of the novel.
19. Conclusion
•If we compare both the novels we can see that one is
represented evilness of human being and one is
showing will power of human.
•We can also says that age is not limitation for doing
something. In The old man and the sea novel we see
that old man has bright hope for catch the fish at the
age of sixty.