The Old Man and the Sea - If I wrote it

If I wrote the story or even edited The Old Man and the Sea there are a lot of things that I would change. First off I would definitely give the story more of a conclusion. Such as Santiago dying, or something. Anything with more closure than him just falling asleep. In all the books I read I like closure. Next I would definitely shorten up the whole I am going to reel this fish in for five days thing. Way to much of the book was focused on it. Perhaps cut it in half and add some more information about what happens when he finally gets home. Maybe how he feels and what not. Another thing I would change is Manolin would go fishing with him.. This would have a huge impact on the story. As Manolin could help him pull it in as well as get it to shore then everyone would have been able to live happily ever after. That one thing would probably be the first and foremost change I would make. I really feel that the author did not go in depth as much as he could have in the case of Manolin. Manolin could be a massively complex character rather than a sort of lame duck one that is sort of just there to move the story a long. Something that would have made the story more interesting would have been a little more information about Santiago's past. Some thing like that would help give background on the character and add more depth to Santiago. Another change that would be huge would bet he oh so simple act of adding more characters! There is a grand total of like four characters. I understand all these things would take away from the mysterious aspect of the book but I think it would make it a much more fun read over all. My book probably would not have become an American Classic so what do I know though.