《老人与海》故事的背景是在二十世纪中叶的古巴。主人公是一位名叫圣地亚哥的老渔夫，配角是一个叫马诺林的小孩。风烛残年的老渔夫一连八十四天都没有钓到一条鱼，但他仍不肯认输，而是充满着奋斗的精神，终于在第八十五天钓到一条身长十八尺，体重一千五百磅的大马林鱼。大鱼拖着船往海里走，老人依然死拉着不放，即使没有水，没有食物，没有武器，没有助手，左手抽筋，他也丝毫不灰心。经过两天两夜之后，他终于杀死大鱼，把它拴在船边。但许多鲨鱼立刻前来抢夺他的战利品。他一一地杀死它们，到最后只剩下一支折断的.舵柄作为武器。结果，大鱼仍难逃被吃光的命运，最终，老人筋疲力尽地拖回一副鱼骨头。他回到家躺在床上，只好从梦中去寻回那往日美好的岁月，以忘却残酷的现实。
英文版：
The background of the story of the old man and the sea is in the middle of the twentieth Century. The hero is an old fisherman named Santiago, supporting role is a child called Ma Nuolin. An ailing old fisherman 84 days in a row are not caught a fish, but he still refused to admit defeat, but full of fighting spirit, finally in the 85th day fishing to a height of 18 feet, one thousand five hundred pound marlin. The big fish was dragging the boat into the sea, and the old man still had to die, even though he had no water, no food, no arms, no arms, no assistants, and left hand cramps. He did not lose heart. After two days and two nights, he finally killed the big fish, tied it to the boat. But many sharks come to snatch his loot at once. He killed one one of them, in the end only a broken tiller as a weapon. The big fish, still can not escape the fate of being eaten, eventually, be tired out towed back to an old man fish bones. He returned home in bed, but from a dream to find the good old days, to forget the harsh reality.