The old man and the sea is about an old fisherman and the day when he catches a wonderful fish called marlin . The fishermen lives in Cuba which is famous for the many fish in its sea . The marlin is one of the biggest and fastest fish which is very difficult to catch . It can be about five metres long and it lives far out in the ocean . Hemingway loved fishing for marlin in Cuba . He went fishing there many times . He knew alot about the fishermen and the marlin. Life for many fishermen at that time was hard. They had small boats and they didn't have much money . It was dangerous to catch a big like the marlin with a small boat .