The novel, The Old Man and the Sea, is a story about an old man, Santiago, who experienced great adversity but did not give up. The author, Ernest Hemingway, describes how an old man uses his experience, his endurance and his hopefulness to catch a huge marlin, the biggest fish he has ever caught in his life. The old man experienced social-emotional, physical, and mental adversity. However, despite the overwhelming challenges, he did not allow them to hold him back but instead continued to pursue his goal of catching a fish with determination. Santiago’s character, his actions and the event in the novel reveals an underlying theme that even when one is facing incredible struggles, one should persevere. In the very beginning of the story, the …show more content…
He is so poor that he sometimes does not even have food. Manolin brings him his supper, given to him by the owner of the Terrace (19-20). On the eighty-fifth day, Santiago goes far out into the Gulf Stream away from all the other fisherman to catch a big fish. He is “alone and out of sight of land” when he catches “the biggest fish that he [has] ever seen and bigger than he [has] ever heard of” (63). To prevent the giant marlin from getting away, Santiago holds onto the line using only his back, arms, and hands. He does this for 3 days. During those 3 days, he has very little food, only some fish that he caught. While out on the sea, the sun is “painful” to his eyes, which is even worse “in the morning” (33). It brightly shines and blinds him, making it harder for him to see the marlin. Another obstacle the old man faces is when the rope cuts the flesh in the working part of his right hand and his left hand cramps “into a claw” (56-58). Although the old man suffers in pain and exhaustion due to the great size of the fish, the overwhelming sun, and his injured hands, he does not quit but keeps persisting. He does not let go of the fish. He maintained his strong desire to conquer the
After O’Brien tried to jump in he couldn’t he tried, the old man still remained quiet, knowing what was going on. “Elroy Berdahl remained quiet. He kept fishing. He worked his line with the tips of his fingers, patiently, squinting out at his red and white bobber on the Rainy River” (501-502). Elroy, still with his patience, knew what O’Brien wanted to do.
Santiago, in The Old Man and The Sea, was isolated by his society because he could not fish anything for 48 days, and they thought that he brought bad luck. There was a boy called Manolin, he was the only one who talked with Santiago. Santiago also isolated others for being unlucky person. It is evident when Santiago does not let Manolin to fish with him. “No, you are with a lucky boat.
Another short story within this book, “The Ledge”, depicts the life of a man who’s spent his life providing for his family as a fishermen. The work ethic seen in this man and the traditions his and his family share could easily be represented by many others on the coast of
The hero of this novel is an old man named Santiago. This old man had a hard time fishing in the sea, he was unable to catch any fish in 84 days. There was a little boy named Manolin who loved the old man so much, and the secret behind the boy's love is that the old man taught him how to fish.
The Creature knows that the old man won 't judge him for his outer appearance, so, he goes to talk with the old blind man when the others are out of the house. He has spent so much time watching these people and learning their language, and, he is very dependent on his plan to work so he can be accepted by humans. His plan works, but, then Felix and the rest of the Delacy family return while he is still in the presence of the old man. Felix beats him up. The Creature leaves in despair realizing all the time and effort he had wasted (96).
“An obsession is a way for damaged people to damage themselves more.” (Mark Barrowcliffe) In this statement, Barrowcliffe, a writer and novelist from the United Kingdom, suggests the idea that having an obsession is not good thing to have. This idea relates to the themes of two classic pieces of literature, The Great Gatsby and The Old Man and the Sea. The Great Gatsby was written in 1925 by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Though the “Old Man and the Sea”, portrays Santiago’s struggle, his experience from his journey betters him for the future. Ernest Hemingway’s novel is about an old man, who embarks on a journey to catch a fish. While on his journey, he struggles to keep himself together. He has to stay awake for long hours, on barely any food. Lacking energy, but not determination, Santiago pulls through and catches the great marlin.
Have you ever swam in the ocean? Ever fought against the waves? Have you ever felt its intensity?? Oceans can be quite treacherous and rigid, but once you sink down beneath the water, all is calm and peaceful. In “The Ocean” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, he paints an image of this by illustrating the waters and the men at sea.
Ernest Hemingway’s characters are frequently tested in their faith, beliefs, and ideas. To Hemingway’s characters, things that appear to be grounded in reality and unmovable facts frequently are not, revealing themselves to be hollow, personal mythologies. Hemingway shakes his characters out of their comfortable ignorance through traumatic events that usually cause a certain sense of disillusionment with characters mythologies, moving them to change their way of life. His characters usually, after becoming disillusioned, respond with depression, suicide, and nihilism. However, this is not always the case.
His strength of mind is still strong like his youth. Therefore this essay will emphasize on the old man’s struggle against marlin, battle of willingness and his bravery which supports the theme determination. The old man Santiago struggles against marlin over day and night. Santiago travels far beyond from his home because he needs to reveal his strength and prove that he is still able to be the fisherman that he once was.
If taken literally, Hemingway’s story is one in which very little happens. The story takes place in a train station in Spain where a couple argue about a vague event over drinks. From the very start of the short story, there is an overbearing uneasiness felt in the text as the unnamed male and the girl, Jig, hold what seems to be—on the surface—an innocent conversation. By using a limiting third person point of view that consists mostly of dialogue, Hemingway creates an obstacle in the way of understanding as there is no clear insight to what is going on inside of either party’s head. The conflict that the pair seem to be discussing is never named and it becomes the metaphorical elephant in the room much like the white elephants that Jig sees in the mountains.
Hemingway wrote, “the sun rose thinly from the sea and the old man could see the other boats, low on the water and well in toward the shore, spread out across the current” (32). The old man was not scared of going out farther into the sea if it meant the possibility of catching a fish and ending his drought. Another time in the novel that the old man showed the properties of hero is when he hooked an enormous marlin and wouldn’t give up, even if it killed him. On page 92, the old man thinks to himself, “you are killing me, fish…” (Hemingway). The old man is showing his resolve to catch the
Ernest Hemingway’s classic American novel, A Farewell to Arms is the story of the first-hand account of Frederic Henry, a man who served in World War I and fell in love with a nurse named Catherine. Hemingway utilized several techniques to manifest the theme of war and love with the ultimate result of death. The author fostered the characters through an emotional journey of highs and lows as death constantly hovered over them. Hemingway had to capture the concept of death correctly and impose the overall theme, which is why the ending was rewritten forty-seven times. Hemingway’s distinctive writing style centered around the dark perspectives of the 20th century, which sparked much controversy and criticism.
He is a very skilled fisherman and he only fishes because he is capable of catching huge beautiful fish. He is skilled in such a way that he caught a marlin bigger than his boat. He can tell which way he is traveling just by the pull of his line. He is able to stay out in the sea for days fighting a fish that is over 1,000 pounds. Santiago taught Manolian, a young boy who he treats as his own, how to fish as well.
Hemingway presents the elements of failure and suffering in The Old Man and the Sea by depicting several instances of suffering and failure which the Old Man, Santiago, has to go through throughout the course of the novel. According to Hemingway, life is just one big struggle. In the beginning of the novel itself, The Old Man, is presented as a somewhat frail old man who is still struggling with his life as well as his past failures. His skiff even had a sail which bore great resemblance to “the flag of permanent defeat”, with its multiple patches all over.