The Young Woman and the Marlin

She was a young woman who cooked in a kitchen in the Oak House and she had gone nearly four weeks now without cooking a marlin. She buys marlins when Ito Yokado sells them in the half price. “Then,” she thought. “I’ll simmer them with cut tomatoes.” It was one of her best dish. The young woman cut marlins into 9 pieces and sprinkled flour all over the slices. “It’s good,” she said. “Good marlins.”

The young woman took a deep flying pan and started heating. Hot olive oil turned the slices of marlins into beautiful brown with a nice smell. The young woman was in an apron with a pattern of horizontal stripes. She thought the colors, off white and red, were like the ones of the fish and tomatoes.

“Konomi,” another girl asked. “What are you cooking tonight?” “Grilled marlin with tomato sauce,” the young woman answered, pouring some paste of tomatoes into the pan. The tomato paste with consommé became like a red ocean while floating several white boats of marlins.

The young woman ate the dish for her dinner, thinking of the novel she read the other day. “A fisher,” she muttered. “A fisher named Santiago struggles against a marlin.”

 

I actually cooked this on the last Friday. And then I will discuss one of the themes of “The Old Man and the Sea.”

 

“No living thing can escape the inevitable struggle that will lead to death.” Yes, that is true, unfortunately. The fisher tries hard to catch the marlin, but he is nothing from the view of large nature. We have to live and work hard although we are aware of our uselessness. And we have to obey the rule; “eternal, unchangeable law: they must kill or be killed.” The old man loves fishes. He calls them “my brothers.” But he have to kill them to eat or to sell. In this novel, eating means supporting our lives and killing other lives at the same time. I think that one of the most important theme of this book is life.