Setting

The setting of the old man in the sea is pretty simple. The novel takes place in Cuba, somewhere near Havana, taking place time wise sometime during the 1940's. But most of the novel takes place out at sea (mostly the waters of the Gulf of Mexico), hence the very fitting title of The Old Man and the Sea. The important part of the novel does not take place in the fishing village or in the old man's hut, but out at sea while the old man has the fishing battle of his life with the giant purple marlin.

During the novel the old man does not just battle the big marlin fish, though, he also has mini battles with the elements of the environment while he is out at sea. The bright sun hurts his eyes, and the sharp, bitter chill of the night air is too cold for comfort. The old man is also very in tune with certain parts of his environment. He tends to interact with the environment around him, commenting on and admiring the sun and the moon and the stars during the night. The old man appreciates things like the stars and moon and sun while he is out at sea, even though the sun continues to hurt his eyes and the moon is sometimes too bright for his liking.

Santiago spends the majority of his time and most of the novel sitting in his little skiff out at sea fishing. The old man feels comfortable there- he is used to fishing and was once an extremely great fishermen. Although his mind and body have both aged, the old man still has those fishing skills somewhere inside of them, and a part of the sea brings out the younger side of him. The old man is not as comfortable on land, because I think that over his many years of fishing, the sea kind of became a part of him.