In the Afterword of The Young Man and the Sea, Rodman Philbrick explains the title of the novel was originally going to be Lobster Boy (which ended up being the title of the UK version). However, due to the novel’s similarities to Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952), Philbrick’s editor started referring to Lobster Boy as “the young man and the sea book.” This led to a title change, to acknowledge Hemingway’s influence on the story.

The Old Man and the Sea features a similar plot to The Young Man and the Sea, though there are differences in intended audience and themes. The Old Man and the Sea also features a fisherman protagonist, but he’s elderly, and his conflict is with a giant marlin rather than a tuna. Like Skiff in The Young Man and the Sea, Santiago successfully catches his quarry. However, unlike Skiff, Santiago does not get his quarry home, because sharks eat it. Thus, The Old Man and the Sea details a failed, hard-fought journey, while The Young Man and the Sea emphasizes the pay-off of resilience. The Young Man and the Sea challenges Skiff, but ends on a promising note for him and his father.