The Old Man and the Sea - Why did Hemingway write the tourists at the end?

[Indian Boy]

I just finished "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway. This is probably one of my favorite books, if not my favorite.

At the end of the story, Santiago has returned to his village in Havana, with the great marlin all but decimated by the sharks. And so all that is left is the great head, tail, and the huge spine.

Hemingway writes very briefly about the tourists that see the marlin's skeleton the next morning. The tourists believe it is the skeleton of a shark. After reading this I began to wonder why Hemingway even wrote these tourists into the story. It seemed out of place in a way.

Then I began to think. I believe the tourists are an important addition to the story because they represent an outside perspective/understanding, i.e. a non-fisherman perspective, of the ordeal that Santiago has just endured out at sea.

The tourists are clearly not fisherman, and so are not savy to the incredible hardships that true fisherman endure on a daily basis. As the tourists sit on the terrace sipping their cocktails, enjoying the sea breeze and sunshine of Havanna, they know not what it is to battle a great fish like a marlin, they know not the pains and endurance it takes. This lack of knowledge and understanding is evident in the ignorant statements of the tourists which refer to the great tail and spine of the marlin, as that of a shark.

Therefore, I believe Hemingway added the tourists as a way of highlighting this point - For one to truly appreciate the hard life and sacrifices of a fisherman, one must be or have been a fisherman.

Anyone agree?

[Jono]

This seems a logical explanation. As luck would have it my housemate has just returned me my copy and I reread the last couple of pages. I think you point about "ignorance" is particularly true, the fact that the tourist couldn't care less about the plight of the fisherman and care more about the beauty of the skeleton highlights the isolation of the Old Man; the book describes the seemingly unendurable hardship that this one fisherman has gone through, and you are right that the tourists do not understand this, but I think Hemingway is going further: the fisherman's struggle is a personal one that only he can truly comprehend, and the "outsiders" remind us that these plights are going on, in one shape or form, all around us, but we are all ignorant to them, they belong to the sufferer and to them alone. Hence the title "The Old Man and The Sea". Perhaps...

[Indian Boy]

Jono, so if I'm understanding you correctly, what you're saying is that the individual who personally endured the struggle is the only person who is capable of truly comprehending the hardship and struggle involved in the experience.

I'd have to say I concur with that opinion. Nobody, not even the other fishermen, have any true notion of Santiago's difficult struggles out at sea throughout this ordeal.

I'd have to say that if that is true, then by adding the tourists at the end of the story, Hemingway did a wonderful job in creating three distinct categories of perspectives of such an ordeal as Santiago's. First, you have the individual himself, here Santiago. He is the only person who will ever know personally what it felt like to endure such an ordeal out at sea for three days and nights, battling a great marlin, then to have to fight off sharks, etc. Second, there is the perspective of fishermen, who can appreciate Santiago's ordeal. After all, they themselves know what it is to work long days out at sea, to battle with fish, and the skill and endurance it requires. But as you mentioned, although they can appreciate Santiago's struggle, they themselves did not personnaly experience the struggle, and so are somewhat distanced from a full comprehension. Then there is a third category, the perspective from the naive tourist, i.e. non-fishermen. These people have no idea whatsoever of the hardships Santiago endured out at sea for all those days. Not only are they incapable of understanding but, as they sip their drinks on the terrace, probably do not even care or think much about it.