1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,160 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: show that flips through the pages of history to deliver 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: old news in a new way. I'm Gabe Lucier, and 5 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: in this episode we're talking about The Old Man and 6 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: the Sea, the swan song of one of the greatest 7 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: American writers of the twentieth century, and a gripping story 8 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: of struggle, loss and acceptance that demands to be read 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: in a single city. As a warning, today's episode features 10 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 1: a brief mention of suicide, which some listeners may find disturbing. 11 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: The day was March fourth, nineteen fifty two. American writer 12 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: Ernest Hemingway finished the manuscript for his classic novella The 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: Old Man and the Sea. He sent a letter to 14 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,639 Speaker 1: his editor that same day informing him that he'd completed 15 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: the book and that it was the best thing he'd 16 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: ever written. Many critics agreed with that assessment, and in 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three, the book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize 18 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,279 Speaker 1: for Fiction. The public embraced the novel as well, making 19 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: it one of the best selling and most enduring works 20 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: of the author's formidable career. But Sadly, it would also 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,479 Speaker 1: be his last, as Ernest Hemingway would take his own 22 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,520 Speaker 1: life just nine years later. The Story of the Old 23 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,839 Speaker 1: Man and the Sea is a simple, yet powerful tale 24 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: of survival. It centers on an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago, 25 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:41,919 Speaker 1: who hasn't been able to catch a fish for eighty 26 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: four days and is now viewed as unlucky by everyone 27 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: in his village. In a last ditch effort to restore 28 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: his dignity, Santiago ventures far into the Gulf Stream and 29 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: engages in an agonizing struggle to catch a giant marlin 30 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: and return it safely to shore. Proposing the old Man 31 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: in his quest are all the dangers of the open ocean, 32 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: including hungry sharks attracted by the marlin's blood, which threatened 33 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: to devour his prize and leave him with nothing. The 34 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: genesis of the story is thought to have been one 35 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: of Hemingway's own fishing expeditions, which he detailed in a 36 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: letter to the Miami Herald way back in nineteen thirty five. 37 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: According to the author, he hooked a seven hundred to 38 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: nine hundred pound blue marlin off the coast of Bimini, 39 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: but by the time he managed to reel in the 40 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: great fish, a shark had attacked it and stripped away 41 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: hundreds of pounds of its meat. The novel's other inspiration 42 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 1: was an anecdote told by Hemingway's Cuban friend, Carlos Gutierrez. 43 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: In a nineteen thirty six essay for Esquire, Hemingway related 44 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: what Carlos had told him about an old man fishing 45 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: alone in a skiff out of Cabanas who hooked a 46 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: great marlin that pulled the skiff out to the sea. 47 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: The man was said to have been dragged eastward by 48 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: the fish for two whole days, and when he finally 49 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,639 Speaker 1: managed to kill it, he then had to fend off 50 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: the sharks attracted by its blood. The old man was 51 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: still in one piece when a group of fishermen found 52 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:18,959 Speaker 1: him adrift, but his prize catch wasn't so lucky, as 53 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: Hemingway put it quote, the head and forward part of 54 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: the marlin was lashed alongside the skiff. What was left 55 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: of the fish less than half, weighed eight hundred pounds. 56 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: Two years later, Hemingway started writing his own fictional take 57 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: on that fisherman's ordeal, but then he got distracted by 58 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: other story ideas and wound up writing for Whom the 59 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: Bell Tolls instead. The author wouldn't return to the Sideline 60 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: story until nineteen fifty one, at a point in his 61 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: career when many people thought his best writing was behind him. 62 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: Hemingway was fifty two when he finished The Old Man 63 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: in the Sea, and he hadn't released a successful book 64 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: in more than a day. The last one had been 65 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: For Whom the Bell Tooles in nineteen forty, and while 66 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: he did publish again after World War II, releasing Across 67 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: the River and Into the Trees in nineteen fifty, the 68 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: novel was panned by critics and sold poorly. The Old 69 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: Man in the Sea was to be Hemingway's comeback, a 70 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: way to prove to his critics, the public, and to 71 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,679 Speaker 1: himself that he was still at the top of his game. 72 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: Written in the concise, deliberately simple style he was known for, 73 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: the Old Man in the Sea reads almost like a fable, 74 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: a sense that's reinforced by the story's use of archetypes, 75 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: including age, old themes like man's relationship with nature and 76 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: the endurance of the human spirit in the face of adversity. 77 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: But according to the author himself, the story wasn't meant 78 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: to be an allegory, and there's no deep symbolism to decipher. 79 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: As he explained to critic Bernard Barrenson, quote, the sea 80 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: is the sea. The old Man is an old man. 81 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: The sharks are all sharks, no better and no worse. 82 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes 83 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: beyond is what you see beyond when you know. To 84 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: put it another way, Hemingway wrote the story to be 85 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: open to interpretation. There's no secret key to unlocking its 86 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: true meaning, because it doesn't have one. His aim was 87 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: to portray the old Man, the fish, and the sea 88 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: as realistically as possible, knowing that if he did his 89 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: job well enough, they would mean many things to different readers. 90 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: Despite this defiant lack of symbolism, Hemingway still thought The 91 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: Old Man in the Sea was his finest work to date. 92 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: When he finished the manuscript on March fourth, nineteen fifty two, 93 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: he wrote a letter to his editor saying quote, I 94 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: know that it is the best I can write ever 95 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: for all of my life, I think, and that it 96 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: destroys good and able work by being placed alongside of it. 97 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: He then added that he hoped the book would quote 98 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: get rid of the school fool of criticism that I 99 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: am through as a writer. It did that and far 100 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: more too. The Old Man in the Sea was initially 101 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: published in the September nineteen fifty two issue of Life magazine, 102 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: and all five point three million copies of it sold 103 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: out in just two days. Then, when the book was 104 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: later released as a standalone volume, it stayed on the 105 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: bestseller list for a full six months. Not only did 106 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: the novel make Hemingway a fortune, it also cemented his 107 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: standing as a giant of the literary world. Many had 108 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: doubted the author could ever match the early successes that 109 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: had made his career books like The Sun Also Rises 110 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 1: and A Farewell to Arms, So when he proved them 111 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: wrong with The Old Man and the Sea, critics finally 112 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,239 Speaker 1: came to view him not only as a respectable writer, 113 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 1: but as a true master of his craft. The book 114 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: won Hemingway the nineteen fifty three Pulitzer Prize in Fiction 115 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: and also contributed to his receiver the Nobel Prize for 116 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: Literature in nineteen fifty four. The Old Man in the 117 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: Sea was even praised by the author's longtime literary rival, 118 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: William Faulkner. In a one paragraph review, Faulkner said, quote, 119 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: his best time may show it to be the best 120 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: single piece of any of us, I mean his and 121 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: my contemporaries. This time he discovered God a creator. Until 122 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: now his men and women had made themselves, shaped themselves 123 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: out of their own clay. Their victories and defeats were 124 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: at the hands of each other, just to prove to 125 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: themselves or one another how tough they could be. But 126 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: this time he wrote about pity, about something somewhere that 127 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: made them all. The old man who had to catch 128 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: the fish and then lose it, the fish that had 129 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 1: to be caught and then lost, the sharks which had 130 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: to rob the old man of his fish, made them all, 131 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: and loved them all and pitied them all. It's all right. 132 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: Praise God that whatever maid and loves and pities Hemingway 133 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: and me kept him from touching it any further. Hemingway 134 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 1: probably appreciated the sentiment, but I'll bet he wins just 135 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: a little at how many words it took Faulkner to 136 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: express it. So I'll close today by sharing Hemingway's own, modest, 137 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: much briefer assessment of his literary achievement. Sometimes I have 138 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: good luck and write better than I can for I'm 139 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little more 140 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. You can learn 141 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 142 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 143 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: any feedback you'd like to share, feel free to pass 144 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: it along by writing to this day at iHeartMedia dot com. 145 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,560 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks 146 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:02,959 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 147 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in history class.