Internal and External Conflict in "The Old Man and the Sea" Essay

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

Even though he is an adolescent boy, Manolin loves spending time with Santiago. He loves to go out fishing with him but, his parents no longer will let him. The reason for this is because Santiago has not caught a fish for eighty-four days. As a result of this unfortunate occurrence, others deem Santiago the term salao, or the worst kind of unlucky. Knowing the struggle Santiago is facing, Manolin tries to help him in as many ways as possible. Manolin brings Santiago drinks, food and the newspaper so they can talk about baseball and the great Joe DiMaggio. In spending all this time with the old man, Manolin develops a form of respect for him. He comes to understand that despite the recent unlucky situations, Santiago remains hopeful as well as prideful. This is why Manolin looks up to the old man so much. “Santiago… I could go with you again. We have made some money. The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him” (Hemingway 10). Along with just loving Santiago for himself, Manolin also looks up to him because Santiago taught him how to fish. Manolin understands that he is a large part of Santiago’s life and feels honored and

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

Another conflict exists between Santiago and the other, younger fisherman. They suppose that Santiago is salao because he has not caught a fish in eighty four days. They are doing no respect him as a result of he is old and unlucky. They do not acknowledge or fear his ability. In fact, they ridicule him. This affects Santiago’s confidence and isolates him more. Santiago doesn't have any friends apart from the boy because no one respects him. Once Santiago comes back from his trip with the large marlin carcass with shark bites in it, they understand that Santiago has nice ability and determination for his age and that they begin to respect him. When the old man tells the story, he reveals that being honored is very important to him. His pride

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

Throughout the journey, Santiago encountered many struggles and hardships, however he never gave up. Throughout The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway wants to show Santiago’s perseverance and Santiago as Christ. Santiago is faced with many struggles throughout his journey of catching the marlin yet he preservers through his struggles. Santiago was once known as the champion fisherman by locals, however he had not caught a fish for eighty-four

Everyday Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea risks his life by returning to the ocean which “can be so cruel” and do “wild or wicked things” (Hemingway 29; Hemingway 30). When faced with a “very big Mako shark” (Hemingway 100), Santiago has “little hope” in defeating it, yet still thinks “maybe I can get him [the shark]” (Hemingway 101). Despite dehydration and exhaustion, Santiago defends his marlin by ramming “the harpoon down onto the shark’s head,” effectively killing it (Hemingway 102). By overcoming doubt and using all of his power, Santiago displays fearlessness in times of trouble. In All is Lost, Our Man shows courage by hopping off his boat in the midst of a treacherous storm and onto a life raft.

In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is an unlucky fisherman who has not caught anything in 84 days.  Yet he sets out alone on the 85th day to try again.  For three days he struggles with a large marlin which he finally kills; but, despite his best efforts, he loses the fish to repeated shark attacks.

Santiago of The Old Man and the Sea is the quintessential “Hemingway Hero”-a type of fictional character created by Hemingway in all of his books whose basic response to life appealed very strongly to the readers. The Old Man begins the narrative with all the elements of such a hero despite his senescence and poverty. He shows strength, determination, and dedication to himself despite his struggles. Santiago relates back to readers as a strong failure who picks himself up repeatedly.

Neither is exempt from the cruelties’ and hardships of nature, as nature is indifferent to both man and fish. Santiago recognizes that they are both going through hell when he says, “"You’re feeling it now, fish," he said. "And so, God knows, am I" (56). Santiago is in a sense suffering exactly as a fish in this scenario. Nature has no special treatment for him just because he is a human, there is no hierarchy that places him above the fish in the sea’s eyes. Santiago acknowledges this when he sees a bird, saying, "Take a good rest, small bird," he said. "Then go in and take your chance like any man or bird or fish" (55). Santiago understands that in the world of nature life is no easier for a bird or any other creature than it is for man, and sometimes it comes down to a matter of luck. The struggle of life engages more than just human nature. As humans, we have a tendency to believe that our suffering is incomparable to any other creature’s suffering, that being a human is the hardest feat of all. People often look at animals and wish they could be them in a sense, as they believe it would provide freedom from all of the pain thrust upon them by life. This novel proves this simply isn’t the case. If you are alive, you suffer. To suffer, is to be alive. When engaged in a battle of killing it is easy to forget that you are dealing with a life form, but Santiago acknowledges the feelings and pain of the fish,

He tries to reel it in but he can't. Instead the fish is pulling the boat! He struggles and struggles with the fish for hours. After a while fatigue takes it's toll as his hands clamp up, and his back aches from the line tied around it. The fish surfaces and Santiago realizes that it is longer than the boat he is on! An unexpected jerk leaves a gash in his hand only to add to his pain. After a very long while Santiago shortens the line to harpoon it. He latches the fish to the side of the boat and begind to tow it back to shore triumphant. Then a mako shark approaches and takes a large bite out of the marlin. Santiago kills it with a harpoon. Only later did he realize that the sharks blood would attract more sharks. As more sharks approached Santiago fought with all his might to save his fish but there was too many sharks. By the time he got to shore, he had nothing more than a skeleton. Santiago collapses from exhaustion on the shore but is found by Manolin and calls for help. The community marveled at the size of the skeleton that is still attached to the boat. Manolin takes care of the old man and vows to return to him as an apprentice. Santiago finally gets the repect from his community.

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