Old Man and the Sea: What keeps you reading

The Old Man and the Sea is not very captivating until the old man faces his long fought battle with the marlin.  The beginning is kind of slow and the reader begins to wonder why they have to read it until they get to the good part of the conflict.  However, once the old man starts trying to reel in the fish, things get interesting.  The suspense of not knowing what will happen next keeps the reader glued to the pages.  It is also annoying when the reader reaches this point because the book is not separated into chapters, so you cannot find a good part to stop.  Small set backs during the struggle made it even more suspenseful.  His hand was not cooperating, he needed to eat, and his lack of water all contributed to the suspenseful battle.  Therefore, Hemingway did a wonderful job keeping the readers hooked with the suspense of this battle between man and fish.  When the fight was over, Hemingway still kept readers hooked by having the unfortunate old man's catch get attacked by numerous sharks.  This was another suspenseful section of the book because the reader did not expect that to happen.  Personally, I expected him to go home and gain respect and catch several other fish and live happily ever after.  When the sharks attacked it was a great way to keep the reader interested! Now the reader had to finish out the novel to see how the old man's disappointing journey would end.  

Another suspenseful detail was the way the old man always mentioned the boy.  Numerous times the old man would say something about the boy.  I believe this was another way Hemingway kept readers focused on the book because you must know what will happen with the fate of the old man and the boy.  Either they will meet again and maybe even fish together once more.  Or the more depressing thought that occurred to the reader was that the old man and the boy will never see each other ever again.  That was probably one of the biggest mysteries that the book had was, what will become of the boy?

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.