Everyone makes choices that could have good or bad consequences. In Ernest Hemingway’s novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, the old man, makes many choices that could have turned out much differently had he made other decisions. The biggest mistakes that Santiago made was not bringing the boy, Manolin, along with him, letting the fish drag him too far out to sea, and expecting to much of his good luck.
One big mistake in his choices was to not bring Manolin along with him out to sea. If he did Santiago wouldn’t be tired all the time because of the hassle of trying to hold on to the marlin all day and night. With the boy along with him, Santiago wouldn’t be as tired as he was alone because they could take turns holding the fishing line: “I [Santiago] wish I had the boy. To help me and to see this” (48). I think that with Manolin’s help Santiago could have brought the fish in a lot sooner and he wouldn’t have lost the marlin to the malicious sharks. Or if they couldn’t have brought the fish in in less time then the old man did alone, Manolin still could have helped catch the little fish so that Santiago wouldn’t have had to catch little fish while holding onto the marlin.
Another blunder Santiago made was letting the marlin tow him too far out to sea. Santiago knew what he was getting into by going far out and then having to travel all the way back to land with a dead fish. The chances of hungry sharks after his fish were high after the blood of its killing. After the first shark came he knew right away that “there would be others” (103) and that his chances of getting home with a good amount of tuna were slim.
The biggest mistake Santiago made was having too much confidence. He kept thinking that because he was on an unlucky streak that he would catch a big fish and finally get his luck back to normal. At one point he even got carried away of how much good fortune the fish would bring him: “He’s over fifteen hundred pounds the way he is, he thought. Maybe much more. If he dresses out two-thirds of that at thirty cents a pound? ‘I need a pencil for that,’ he said” (97). And once the first shark came he knew that all his hard work was for nothing.
If Santiago took some different actions throughout the book he probably could have caught the marlin within less time and a lot less effort than it took for him to do it alone. If he brought the boy he could have caught the fish sooner and wouldn’t have been as tired, if he did let the fish drag him out to sea he could have made it back to land before sharks came, and if he didn’t have so much confidence he wouldn’t have been expecting as much from his efforts. Every choice has good or bad consequences and Santiago made some bad choices that caused him a great deal of effort, his marlin, and almost his life.
About Me
- Mr. B-G
- “Man lowers his head and lunges into civilization, forgetting the days of his infancy when he sought truth in a snowflake or a stick. Man forgets the wisdom of the child.” - Jack Kerouac (1922 - 1969)
3 comments:
Kylie, I really enjoyed where you went with this essay. I enjoyed your focused thesis and every point you made throughout the essay. I liked your quote about Manolin because I also believe if Manolin was brought along then things possibly could've gotten done faster and easier without Santiago becoming injured and lonely. But I also understand why Santiago chose to go alone; to prove that he is still capable of catching fish, without relying on other people and such. But word up. Anyways, I liked your conclusion. You did superific with the conclusion. Overall, the whole essay made me think more about the man Santiago is (was?). I like the way you write Kylie, so all I'm gonna say keep up the happy, and, yeah. =)
Wow, I thought your closing sentence was absolutely amazing. It re-enforced your thesis 100%. In fact, I think it was better than you thesis.I liked the quotes you used a lot. They sounded like you really searched through the text to find exactly what you were looking for. I don't think I'll read another person's essay with the same quotes as you. That's great because it gives your essay a huge advantage over everyone else's: originality. Your fourth paragraph was a little confusing for me.
Great story! I think you had a great thesis, which was on track the whole story. My favorite quote is on page 97. It was a perfect quote to pick! It made me sad when he was thinking of all the money he would get, but then his chance was ruined by the sharks. I loved your ending sentence. I thought it was the best one in the whole story and was a really great summary/ending. The only that that could have been changed is maybe adding a couple more engaging words. Other than that great story!
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