Old Man and the Sea Essay

People often have to face different kinds of struggles and obstacles in life. They are not always easy and sometimes you don’t achieve what you were trying to. In the novella Old Man and the Sea, the character Santiago, has a face numerous obstacles while he is out at sea. The old man has to take on a thousand pound marlin, cope with a cramped hand, and encounter sharks that are attempting to attack the his prized fish.

For many days the old man, Santiago, is struggling to catch a thousand pound marlin. He is very determined, “Fish, I will stay with you until I am dead.” (Hemingway 52). Santiago wants to catch the marlin so badly that he is willing to risk his life while he does it. This was a huge struggle for Santiago because the fish did not give up and it was a very difficult task for Santiago to do by himself. It shows that his determination was incredible and he was not going to give up no matter what.

Santiago was not a young fisherman; he did not fish with anyone else, and when he got a cramp in his hand, he knew that it would be nothing except a dilemma when catching the fish. Since Santiago was fishing on his own he would talk to himself in order to not be lonely. When he felt his hand cramp up he began talking aloud, “God help me to have the cramp go away, because I do not know what the fish is going to do.”(Hemingway 60). He never gives up even though he has to deal with the pain and he also talks to his hand and says that it is an embarrassment to his body if he gets a cramp. He was aware that since his hand had a cramp he would have to work even harder to catch the marlin and he also decides that in order to make the cramp go away he has to eat lots of food to strengthen him self.

Being out in the ocean alone can be a scary experience. Something that makes it worse is when sharks attack. Santiago eventually killed the marlin and it was enormous. Since it would not fit into his skiff he tied the marlin to the side of the boat. “When the old man saw him coming he knew that this was a shark that had no fear at all and would do exactly what he wished.”(Hemingway 101). The sharks did in fact do exactly what they wanted just as Santiago had guessed. They wanted the marlin and Santiago was going to try everything to stop them. He used his spears and knifes and even his fists to punch the sharks, but the sharks would not refrain and by the time that the old man reached the shore all that was left to his prized marlin, was its skeleton. After all of the struggles that Santiago dealt with, and achieved, he lost what he had wanted all along, the marlin.

Although Santiago was frustrated and disappointed after his marlin was eaten by sharks, he never gave up. In the novella The Old Man and The Sea the protagonist, Santiago has to face problems just like people in everyday life. It is a good thing to know that sometimes you will not always succeed. That is not a bad thing either. It just means that you can not give up and you have to try again. Santiago was a terrible fisherman, he never caught any fish and the other fisherman didn’t see him as a real threat, they also found him to be very different. This never stopped Santiago from doing what he loved.