The Old Man and the Sea writing assignment

The Old Man and the Sea essay assignment

In many movies and books, the protagonist has to over come obstacles and problems that many everyday people wouldn’t have to worry about. Some of these obstacles could be as complex as trying to stop a shark from attacking you and as simple as getting a good grade on a test so you can hang out with your friends that weekend. In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago has to overcome both types of obstacles on his quest to catch possibly the largest marlin ever.

The first obstacle the old man is forced to face, is the fact that he hasn’t caught a fish in over 84 days and he was “finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky”(9). None of the other fishermen wanted to help him thinking that he would jinks them too. This was a difficult struggle for Santiago to overcome because he wasn’t used to not catching anything over an extended amount of time. Although he was used to the rejection and not having many friends, it still took a toll on him to not have anyone supporting him.

Another problem that Santiago encountered during this story was when he was being pulled out to sea by the marlin and his hand started cramping. At first he wasn’t sure what do to and he was a little worried that he was going to lose the fish if he tried to reposition his hand. “It will uncramp though, he thought. Surely it will uncramp to help my right hand…It is unworthy of it to be cramped” (64) he said. He kept positive and with the help of drinking some water, eating some of the dolphin, and gradually flexing and relaxing his hand, his cramp went away and he was able to continue chasing the marlin.

The final obstacle Santiago is faced with, is trying to stop the sharks from eating the marlin he tried so hard to catch. “‘Ay,’ the old man said. ‘Galanos. Come on galanos’”(108). Santiago knows that this will be his last battle and he has a higher chance of losing than anything else. Knowing this, he goes into the battle head on using all the courage he had left. He uses his anger towards everyone who didn’t believe in him, and his anger toward the sharks because they are going to steal his catch. The physical strength he already has and the mental strength don’t combine to make him strong enough to beat the sharks and he ends up losing the marlin. The old man is defeated but he never really gave up.

As you can see, there have been many obstacles Santiago was faced with that he had to overcome throughout the course of the book. Some struggles were less severe than others, but he still had to work through them to be able to finish his task; catch the marlin. Like his hand getting cramped, it wasn’t the worst thing that could every happen to him, but it was another thing that added to his list of problems and it definitely did not help him in his quest to catch the marlin. On the other hand, having the sharks come and attack his marlin was probably the worst thing that happened. He had finally caught the gigantic marlin and was on his way back home when, of course, a couple of sharks happen to notice that he has a fish strapped to the side of his boat. The sharks end up eating the whole fish and there was nothing the old man could do about it. Although Santiago didn’t end up triumphant, and considering the fact that he had to overcome so many things, he still learned a lot on his journey and that’s what really counts.