Ernest Hemingway’s novella, The Old Man and the Sea, talks about a very interesting character. It’s the old man named Santiago who faces many struggles and powerful forces throughout the story. He had a very hard time catching the humongous marlin which was larger than his own skiff. Santiago eventually catches it but he goes through many scrambles before he actually gets to see the fishes shiny, purple back.
As Santiago starts his battle with the marlin, he realizes right away that it’s an unusually big fish. It’s a fish of great size and Santiago never had a fish this strong. “Never have I had such a strong fish nor one who acted so strangely” (48). The man is really old and there were times when he thought he wouldn’t be able to pull the large marlin out. There were many times when Santiago wished the boy, Manolin, would be there to help him out and see the giant fish.
Another struggle Santiago faced during his journey was when he got pains and cramps in his body. I don’t know how someone of that age could possibly withstand so much strain on their back holding a fish of that size. Also the old man must’ve experienced a lot of bad cramps on his hands before because he asked his hand how it feels, knowing that it will soon uncramp. ‘“How do you feel, hand?” he asked the cramped hand that was almost as stiff as rigor mortis’ (58-59). Another thing Santiago experienced was when the line holding the big fish cut his hand and it started to bleed. You can also tell that the old man went through many pains because when he got back home, he went straight to his house and slept for a very long time. The boy understood that the old man went through many struggles and that’s why he left him alone until he slept.
A third struggle the old man went through is the sharks attacking. “It was an hour before the first shark hit him” (100). The sharks came because of the scent of the blood from the huge marlin. Because sharks attack anything and try to eat anything where there’s blood, about ten sharks attacked the marlin, since it was bleeding. Santiago killed about seven or eight of them. To do that, he used a spear, a knife, the till of his boat, a club, and any other weapon he could find in his boat. There was no meat left on the marlin except the bones and the head. Although the people at the village saw that there was no meat on the fish and that it wasn’t worth anything, they still knew that this truly was the biggest fish they’ve seen and that the old man is a very good fisherman.
As you can see, the old man had many physical struggles throughout the story during his journey. He also had mental struggles such as his age and he is always alone so he talks to himself. But because of his fishing experience, he was able to catch the big marlin and bring at least the remains of the biggest fish caught. Those were some examples of Santiago’s struggles.
As Santiago starts his battle with the marlin, he realizes right away that it’s an unusually big fish. It’s a fish of great size and Santiago never had a fish this strong. “Never have I had such a strong fish nor one who acted so strangely” (48). The man is really old and there were times when he thought he wouldn’t be able to pull the large marlin out. There were many times when Santiago wished the boy, Manolin, would be there to help him out and see the giant fish.
Another struggle Santiago faced during his journey was when he got pains and cramps in his body. I don’t know how someone of that age could possibly withstand so much strain on their back holding a fish of that size. Also the old man must’ve experienced a lot of bad cramps on his hands before because he asked his hand how it feels, knowing that it will soon uncramp. ‘“How do you feel, hand?” he asked the cramped hand that was almost as stiff as rigor mortis’ (58-59). Another thing Santiago experienced was when the line holding the big fish cut his hand and it started to bleed. You can also tell that the old man went through many pains because when he got back home, he went straight to his house and slept for a very long time. The boy understood that the old man went through many struggles and that’s why he left him alone until he slept.
A third struggle the old man went through is the sharks attacking. “It was an hour before the first shark hit him” (100). The sharks came because of the scent of the blood from the huge marlin. Because sharks attack anything and try to eat anything where there’s blood, about ten sharks attacked the marlin, since it was bleeding. Santiago killed about seven or eight of them. To do that, he used a spear, a knife, the till of his boat, a club, and any other weapon he could find in his boat. There was no meat left on the marlin except the bones and the head. Although the people at the village saw that there was no meat on the fish and that it wasn’t worth anything, they still knew that this truly was the biggest fish they’ve seen and that the old man is a very good fisherman.
As you can see, the old man had many physical struggles throughout the story during his journey. He also had mental struggles such as his age and he is always alone so he talks to himself. But because of his fishing experience, he was able to catch the big marlin and bring at least the remains of the biggest fish caught. Those were some examples of Santiago’s struggles.
1 comment:
Your essay is very organized and the thesis statement was a clear and brief,it gets me in attention and want to read your essay. Overall, the quote that I like is the "How do you feel, hand?” he asked the cramped hand that was almost as stiff as rigor mortis" (58-59). I like Santiago personality and the quote was good for the essay. However, your introductory paragraph was like a plot summary but overall I think you did a tremendous job.
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