Old Man and the Sea

The first two obstacles that Santiago faces are that his father tells him he can not do something that he wants to do and that he wants to pursue his personal legend, but he does not want to hurt those that he loves. For example, Santiago’s father said, “The

When Santiago encountered the thieves, he told them the truth, and they didn’t believe him, which saved his life. This quote from earlier in the book was mentioned, about how people become more skeptical when they are older:

1. What do you think Santiago will do with his life after he travels back to Egypt for Fatima?

"son." Victor narrates, “The letter revived in my memory what I had before forgotten, the threat

The Narrator explains that people can’t always do things they would like to do. In the novel, Santiago runs into dilemmas, but improvised to still continue his

Second, Foreshadowing is used in the passage to show that everyone knew Santiago was going to die, and none of the characters prevented it. Divina remembers Santiago’s hand as being “frozen and stony” and uses the metaphor “like a

Santiago changes in many ways. He changes from worrying about the future, to not worrying. He learns that

developing a mind and will of his own. He is no longer unperceptively loyal to his father.

From the outset, García Márquez already establishes the themes of religion and violence with mentions of the bishop’s arrival and images of rifles chaotically bouncing against the walls, suggesting that these themes will play a key role in the novella’s development. The opening line is intentionally vague and non-descriptive, building suspense and encouraging the reader to take part in the speculation, wondering who will kill Santiago. This immediately makes the reader play an active role in the investigation and unwittingly participate in the murder about to unfold as they gain increasing knowledge of future events, just like the rest of the community. For this reason, the true nature of a community is already being explored as we see how easy it is to become implicit in the crimes of others without being truly conscious of what you are

he is estranged from himself. To help expand on this theme it is useful to look

Santiago, and encourages him despite his bad luck. Santiago, in turn, has wisdom and experience.

117). Santiago’s mother in this scene believes Santiago remains upstairs, scolding the brothers from above. Marquez’s symbolical placement of Santiago in his mother’s imagination expresses him as physically being above others since his placement in society reigns higher than theirs. With this expectation, Marquez incorporates dramatic irony, as Santiago’s mother refuses to acknowledge the idea that Santiago left the house to stand on a lower level and could be harmed by the Vicario brothers in any way, since they belong to a lower class. Moreover, the Vicario brothers hold a strong sense of confidence when approaching Santiago; however, when they begin the action, they freeze because Pablo “‘was scared when [he] saw him face on’”

Many strange coincidences took place and took away Santiago’s last chance to

Throughout this novel there are many different characters that Santiago encounters, some more influential than others. For example, the crystal merchant. The crystal merchant helps Santiago by giving him a job when Santiago is robbed, and in a way Santiago is also helping the crystal merchant because Santiago’s unconventional sales methods bring in lots of business for the merchant. Another way the crystal merchant helped Santiago was by, unintentionally, giving Santiago an example of what happens when you don't follow your personal legend, you become unhappy with your life and are stuck with a boring job. This motivates Santiago to continue in with his journey. But the merchant also pushes Santiago further from his personal legend by saying

An instance that demonstrates this is when he meets Melchizedek, who displays his capacity to know about him, his personal history, and his thoughts without ever asking Santiago anything at all. And in turn, Santiago accepts this about the king of Salem, reflecting not too long on where he came from, but the message that Melchizedek bestowed on him instead; lessons on Personal Legends, the Soul of the World, and the Principle of Favorability --- also known as Beginner’s Luck. Even the ability of the mystical stones, named Urim and Thummim, given to him by the king to help make decisions does Santiago not question. Bringing in fantastical elements into a real world setting, all the while authorial reticence is exhibited to heighten a sense of mystery, are all characteristics of magic