There is very subtle hints of irony within this novella, and it is hard to find specific passages in the book that shows irony because the evidence is all spread out in the novella(there isn't much irony anyway).But here are some passages that represent some of the irony that I found:
"He stopped for a moment and looked back and saw in the reflection from the street light the great tail of the fish standing up well behind the skiff's stern. He saw the white naked line of his backbone and the dark mass of the head with the projecting bill and all the nakedness between."
It took him three days and so much pain to catch the fish and he had even planned out how he's going to sell it, then it just gets eaten by sharks within a day and night. This thought is just full of irony.
"...he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which was the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week."
He had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish and lost his best friend and apprentice, the boy. Then when he sets out to sea, he soon catches this eighteen feet long marlin that many fisherman might never see in their whole lifetime. But not soon after he catches the marlin, it gets completely eaten by sharks. This back and forth change from unlucky to lucky then back to unlucky is just plain ironic.
I chose Dorothy, the tin-man, the lion, and the scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz" to relate to my character because they both went on fruitless trip to "search" for something and to find they have gained what they were looking for in the end. The old man needed to catch a fish to earn back the respect of his fellow fisherman and to prove he can still catch fish and is not salao. So he sailed further than anyone else had and caught the marlin after three days. Even though the marlin was eaten by the sharks soon after it was caught, it still earned him the respect of the village and fellow fisherman. Dorothy and her crew went looking for the Wizard of Oz (who later turned out to be a fraud) for a way home, a brain, a heart, and courage. They found out in the end of the story that they had gained those things during the course of their journey.
I chose this painting of Joan of Arc because there are similarities between her and the old man. The old man might be old in the body, but he still has his pride; his pride made him not give up after eighty-four days without catching a single fish, his pride made him sail further than any other fisherman, and his pride sustained him and helped him to endure the cuts on his hands and his aching back. Joan of Arc was proud to be female and it did not stop her from fighting for her country and for what she believed in. She led her country into battles and to victory. She also met her death bravely and composed, showing that she was proud of what she did to help her people.
I chose this stormy-grayish for one of the two colors because it is a very strong and steely color. It represents the strong will of the old man when he is following the fish and killing it because the fish is so much bigger than he is and he have gone so many days with only little sips of water and raw fish, yet he still persisted. It also represents the old man physically, gray is a color you can relate to old people, so it represents the old man's age.
The black color represents the endurance of the old man as he struggles with the marlin and the destruction of his trophy by the sharks. The bright burst in the middle represents how he seizes triumph and renewed life from this "defeat" and how the boy will make use of his teachings even after he has died, extending his life after his death.
What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger By: Kelly Clarkson
You know the bed feels warmer
Sleeping here alone
You know I dream in color
And do the things I want
You think you got the best of me
Think you've had the last laugh
Bet you think that everything good is gone
Think you left me broken down
Think that I'd come running back
Baby you don't know me, cause you're dead wrong
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
You heard that I was starting over with someone new
They told you I was moving on, over you
You didn't think that I'd come back
I'd come back swinging
You try to break me, but you see
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
Thanks to you I got a new thing started
Thanks to you I'm not the broken-hearted
Thanks to you I'm finally thinking about me
You know in the end the day you left was just my beginning
In the end...
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone
[2x]
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
This whole song relates to The Old Man and the Sea. First, in the beginning of the book, the old man have gone eighty-four days without catching anything, but he is still confident, just like when the novella said "Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated". Then when he has followed the fish for days and is running out of water and food, he still does not surrender. When he is trying to harpoon the fish, he almost fainted, but he kept himself awake and caught the biggest fish the people from his village had ever seen. He says to himself out loud and inside his head that his hand is bad and his back hurts, but that he must carry on and be strong because he is sure the marlin is tiring and can be caught soon. Also, when the sharks were attacking, he fought them off with only a club and broken tiller in a tiny skiff. All these events didn't kill him, so it made him stronger and earned him the respect of the people in the village. He is a fighter that is strong on the inside and outside even though he is an old man.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought— So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! and through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back.
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
fromThrough the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There(1872).
The poem Jabberwocky relates to The Old Man and the Sea because both are talking about killing a "monster". The hero in the Jabberwocky waited patiently for the Jabberwocky for a long time and then finally killed it. The old man in The Old Man and the Sea caught the marlin and sailed with it for days, patiently waiting for the fish to tire so that he could bring it in then he killed it with a harpoon. The characters from the poem and the book were both patient and carefull in the catching and killing of their "prey".
