The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea

  

by Ernest Hemingway

Discussion & Essay Questions

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Sample of Discussion & Essay Questions


  1. Toward the end of the novel, the old man reflects on the nature of his actions, especially the killing of the marlin, and wonders about the rightness of his actions.  Is the old man right to kill the marlin?  Why or why not? Analyze the old man's justifications for killing the marlin and devise an argument about the rightness or wrongness of the old man's actions.