The Old Man and the Sea book club questions

1. 1.

   Santiago says 'a man can be destroyed but not defeated.' The sharks destroy his catch — is he defeated? Does the novel agree with its own line?

2. 2.

   The marlin is enormous, worthy, beautiful — and Santiago kills it anyway. How does Hemingway navigate the tension between admiration and killing? Does he resolve it?

3. 3.

   Santiago talks to himself, to the fish, to his hand. Is this portrayed as a symptom of his isolation, a survival strategy, or something else?

4. 4.

   Manolin is ordered away by his parents but remains devoted to Santiago. What does the novel say about loyalty that exceeds usefulness?

5. 5.

   The novel won Hemingway the Pulitzer and helped secure the Nobel. Some critics think it is lesser Hemingway — too neat, too allegorical. Do you agree?

6. 6.

   The tourists at the end mistake the skeleton for a shark. Is that moment bitter, ironic, resigned, or something else? Does it undercut the novel's message?

7. 7.

   Compare Santiago to the narrator of The Sun Also Rises or Frederic Henry in A Farewell to Arms. Is the code hero more convincing when he's old?

8. 8.

   The sea in this novel is both beautiful and killing. Does Hemingway romanticize it, or does he maintain an honest reckoning with its indifference?

9. 9.

   Santiago thinks about Joe DiMaggio repeatedly. What does DiMaggio represent for him? Is the novel nostalgic about American achievement in a way that dates it?

10. 10.

    At what point in your life did you feel most like Santiago — doing something difficult, alone, with the outcome uncertain? Does the novel speak to that?

11. 11.

    The novella is 127 pages. Does brevity serve it or limit it? Would it be a different — better or worse — book at three times the length?

12. 12.

    Is The Old Man and the Sea primarily a story about fishing, or is the fishing purely allegorical? Does it matter?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.