Hemingway reading reaction pp. 27-31

• What is one emotion you felt while reading today?  Describe how you felt and the specific section of the reading that inspired you to feel that way. 

Having worked for the whole afternoon, the whole night and now the whole morning, the old man is suffering a failure of strength. What's worse, his left hand is now cramping. Plus, he is feeling lonely (pp. 30). No man, especially in his age, should be alone, especially on the sea. Here, I feel lonely, too, for him and for myself, because I am like the old man fishing on the sea, exhausted and helpless, but still wouldn't let go of the great fish which I think is hooked.

Then when the fish finally comes up to show how big he is, the old man is seized by raptures!!! True, who wouldn't be excited at the spoil-soon-to-be that is way beyond one's expectation? But wait, the prey is not yet his spoil. At the end of his wit, the old man, though not religious, begins to say "Our Father and Hail Mary", even adding a promise "to make a pilgrimage to the Virgin of Cobre" if he catches the fish. He said his prayers several times just to make himself feel a little bit better, only for a short while (pp. 31). Reading between these lines, I am full of complicated feelings. On one hand, we human beings would like to rely on ourselves more than external powers; on the other, we feel we are badly in need of help to overcome the challenges we are facing, don't we?

So much for today.