Achieving a Goal in In The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway

Another important aspect of Santiago’s personality is his optimism and resilience. Although not associated with all transcendentalists, the ability to view events in a positive light is very important for a Transcendentalist to possess. Thoreau describes this attribute as being the way in which we see the beauty all around us, by taking the bad and viewing it in a positive manner. Santiago does exactly this by always accepting the hand he is dealt. After days out at sea in a very painful position, he states, “He did not truly feel good because the pain from the cord across his back had almost passed pain and gone into a dullness that he mistrusted. But I have had worse things than that, he thought. My hand is only cut a little and the cramp is gone from the other. My legs are all right. Also now I have gained on him in the question of sustenance.” (Hemingway 74). Santiago feels that his injuries are not important, as he has experienced worse pain and what is more important to him at the time is catching the fish. Later in the book, after he finally catches the huge fish, it gets eaten by sharks on his way back to shore. Unlike a typical

In The Old Man and The Sea, Santiago teaches us about endurance, honor and faith, throughout his three day journey with the marlin. The Old Man has mot caught a fish in 84 days. He fishes alone on a skiff off the coast of Havana. Every day he comes back empty handed, not even the tiniest fish. One day, Santiago followed his daily rutine to go out to fish and expected to come back empty handed because this time he went on a three day journey out by himself far out into the ocean.

In the novel, “The Old Man and the Sea”, Santiago’s fatal flaw is his pride. Despite struggling with age, poverty and a series of streaks of misfortune, Santiago’s pride prevents him from relying on others for assistance. However, this pride serves as a righteous feature for Santiago since his pride is a combination of his passion for fishing and trying to retain his identity and dignity in an unjust society. “You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for

“He did not truly feel good because the pain from the cord across his back had almost passed pain and into dullness that he mistrusted.”(74) Once both the fish and Santiago had reached the breaking point of conflict the story seemed to slow down in time to exemplify the adverse conditions that both characters were suffering from. The old man proves himself worthy of personal suffering with the cuts and scars on his hands and back along with all of the pulling and slipping the cords had upon his fragile body. Hemmingway shows in a big way how an out of proportioned conflict with an old fisherman and an 18 foot long marlin helps to magnify the significance of Santiago searching for his rebirth to manhood. With constant abstraction describing the fish and the sea in relation to brotherhood create interesting questions for Santiago to ponder. His rationalization for his fishing is that he was born to do it. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (103) Hemmingway proves that this fish represents all of Santiago’s built up tension to total the size of a gigantic marlin that is perceived as devastating but not unconquerable. The old man’s hopes and aspirations can overcome the adversity of the marlin’s size, along with the conditions of the old, hungry, and exhausted fisherman. Through outright suffering Santiago achieves a goal above his previous manhood by combating pain and

Sometimes people have to do sacrifices, which appears in the rising action of the book. “‘Fish,’ he said, ‘I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before the day ends’” (Hemingway 54). Why did he have to kill it? Why couldn’t he hold on a little longer? Santiago sacrifices the fish for his self interest. In spite of the fact that he respects the fish, the old man’s determination reflects his belief that his purpose in life is to be a fisherman, and that comes first. As well, Santiago advises himself that he doesn't have Manolin, his beloved companion, with him and must battle against the fish by himself. It has been four struggling days of being pulled by the huge marlin, Santiago decided that that was enough. Even though

‘I am a tired old man. But I have killed this fish which is my brother and now I must do the slave work’” (95). This relates to perseverance because Santiago has finally caught the fish he’s sought after for days. Most people would have been celebrating their victory, but not Santiago. Santiago surveys the situation and lays his head in his hands. He is tired and ill from his long battle. Santiago only takes a short break. He knows he still has much to do. Santiago now has to worry about bringing the fish home. He thought of the fish as an equal and can’t let his body go to waste. He has traveled at sea for a days and therefore has a long journey home ahead of him. He can’t stop until he makes it home. Finally, Santiago makes it home, “He unstepped the mast and furled the sail and tied it. Then he shouldered the mast and started to climb. It was then he knew the depth of his tiredness. He stopped for a moment and looked back and saw in the reflection from the street light the great tail of the fish standing up well behind the skiff’s stern. He saw the white naked line of his backbone and the dark mass of the head with the projecting bill and all the nakedness

Santiago’s attitude seems to be that although he faces difficulties, he finds the strength inside of him to be able to overcome them. Once he hooked the marlin, Santiago comes to a realization that he cannot kill the fish quickly. Though he is faced with a problem, the old man is able to find the best of the situation. He begins to form a bond with the marlin, as he repeatedly

When an old man named Santiago sets out to sea nothing seems to be biting that day until one afternoon, far away from shore. He feels a great tug on his line, and the struggle for dominance begins. The author shows us the old man's perseverance and strength, which becomes even more evident in his epic struggle to capture the titian of all fishes. Marlins grow but the one Santiago catches is colossal. The man respects the fish, and the fish respects the man, and together they fight for two whole days, until one can no longer go on. Santiago struggles for dominance for days while he tries to conquer and tame

He was soothed by seeing the city lights in the harbor merrily twinkling his arrival. As the skiff shuffled on the shore, Santiago pulled his boat and carried the mast on his shoulder. He could feel his strength diminish from exhaustion, and threw his body onto the ground. Santiago squinted the fish laying by his side with a nuance smile. Regardless of his fatigue, he felt powerful as he freed himself from the fishermen’s thought. With triumph upon him, Santiago unfettered the fish and said, “You are my achievement, indeed, inspiration”

The novel written by Ernest Hemingway tells the story of an old fisherman named Santiago (referred to as "the old man") and his quest of catching a fish. Unfortunately, the old man has been down on his luck and has been fish-less for eighty-four days. The next time the old man leaves for a fishing trip, he sets sail farther than any fisherman has ever gone before, and he refuses to go home until he has proven to himself and to society that he is more than an average old man. However the old man is forced to overcome many challenges on his quest. His old age hinders him drastically and when he is finally able to get a fish on his line, he is not strong enough and is unable to reel the fish in. On the third day of the fishing expedition as the old man continues to struggle with the fish (a large marlin), he begins to reflect on the nature of the universe and his low place in society. The old man begins to feel pity for the fish, however also feels an unflagging determination to kill

Santiago is a man who surely has shown his dedication to his craft of fishing, which also shows his persistence. Throughout the entire novel he fights the overcome the various circumstances in his life and yet uses these struggles to grow as a person. Ultimately, Santiago is a great example in literature of perseverance no matter the circumstances.

Within the book, strong and enduring Santiago battles the marlin for days, although he has nothing but his hands to hold the line, and, then, fights against the fish with his knife and his old hands. When the Mako shark comes and eats the flesh of the marlin that is tied to the side of the boat, Santiago continues to fight for the marlin; however, the shark takes much flesh from the marlin. The sharks symbolize destruction in Santiago’s life; however, The Old man perseveres as Hemingway pulls out his thoughts, “But I killed the shark that hit my fish, he thought. And he was the biggest dentuso that I have ever seen. And God knows that I have seen big ones.”(pg103) Here, Hemingway exemplifies that even when the Old Man has experienced destruction, he overcomes

“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated. (Hemingway 103).” This quote, written by Ernest Hemingway in the short story The Old Man and the Sea, captures the theme perseverance in numerous ways. This quote describes when the old man Santiago was struck down physically, with the injuries of his hands and the pain of staying awake for a number of days. However, he mentally kept pushing forward, leading to his ultimate survival and his arrival home. Ernest Hemingway wanted the readers of this story to learn about the rewards of perseverance because of the hardship Santiago and the marlin had to endure, rather than themes such as luck, pride, and suffering.

The nobility of character of the old man prevents him from feel hate and rancor toward the other fishermen. Despite the taunts of the other fishermen, Santiago is quiet and admits having a bad streak of luck. This makes him an honorable man, which avoids any conflict and is able to recognize his flaws as a fisherman. Although the sea has given him several bitter drinks, he is able to keeping on loving it. “A man is honest when he acts honestly, he is humble when he acts humbly, he loves when he is loving or being loved.” (Waldmeir 165). Perhaps, the crowning act of humility in Santiago is when he is forced to recognize that by his own forces he will not be enough to grab the fish, and decides to carry out prayers to the Almighty. At the end of the hunting of the big animal, Santiago does not become conceited. His simple and humble soul thanks with a prayer for the outcome of his effort. Although the fighting has been severe and bloody, the old man was not self-styled "hero”. Santiago humbly considers himself as one fisherman more, and the categorization as a hero depends on the readers. “It is the knowledge that a simple man is capable of such decency, dignity, and even heroism, and that his struggle can be seen in heroic terms, that largely distinguishes this book.” (Young 131). The evident relation between his humility and dignity helps to place Santiago as a perfect

Over and over again he is remarked to be a strange old man, and he himself is the one to glorify that. He seems to struggle with the fact that he must prove himself to the other fisherman who mock him and believe him to be a fallen hero. He sets off to sea in his boat one day, but what he does not know that it will be the three most tiring days of his life. He first catches a smaller fish and instead of turning back, he decides to go farther out into the ocean to see what he can catch with that fish. He soon is dragged all over and back by a shiny purple marlin, that is two feet longer than his skiff. The response to Santiago’s poor decision or lack of creativity to harpoon the marlin instead of try to kill it another was as to not attract mako sharks was confusing. He is shown to be a man of intelligence and greatness, yet his decision to kill the marlin in this manner knowing what could happen proves that he had a distinct motive for harpooning the fish. By the words of Gery Brenner, “that motive is self validation-the need to prove himself”(Brenner 55). In the end, after the three day struggle, when Santiago returns to the dock, he is told by Manolin later that he was said to be lost at sea, and everyone was completely taken away by the length of the mangled carcass that he brought in. The take many get from Hemingway’s novel is