Classic Ernest Hemingway novel hit with woke warning over ‘graphic fishing scenes’

A Scottish university has slapped a woke warning on Ernest Hemingway’s book The Old Man and the Sea because of particular “graphic” scenes.

A classic novel has been slapped with a woke warning over its “graphic” fishing scenes.

Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea tells of an ageing angler’s struggle to land a marlin and his battle with sharks set on eating it.

TV and film adaptations of the 1952 Pulitzer prizewinner have been given U (Universial) and PG (Parental Guidance) certificates.

But the University of the Highlands and Islands based in Inverness, Scotland — an area famous for fishing — has issued a “content warning,” The Sun reports.

Students can skip the book if they think it will upset them.

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The Old Man and the Sea tells of an ageing angler’s struggle to land a marlin.

Mary Dearborn, author of Ernest Hemingway, A Biography, said this was total nonsense.

“It blows my mind,” she said.

“The world is a violent place and it is counter-productive to pretend otherwise. Much of the violence in the story is that rooted in the natural world. It is the law of nature.”

Prof Jeremy Black, at the University of Exeter, added: “Many great works have included references to fishing, whaling, or hunting. Is the university seriously suggesting that all of this literature is ringed with warnings?”

TV and film adaptations of Ernest Hemingway’s book have been given U and PG certificates.

The university has flagged other classic novels such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

The university has also flagged Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein plus Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.

It said: “The content warnings are there to enable the students to make informed choices.

“Our students engage widely with classic works across all levels of the degree.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.