A great marlin can be found in many people’s lives, but not everyone realizes it until they need to face it. In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, an old man named Santiago senses his setback of eighty-four days without a fish will end when he goes out far into the sea. He faces hardships and battles ferocious sharks only to lose the marlin he captures. I never went fishing, but I can still relate the symbols in this novel to my own experiences. At the start of the novel, the marlin is what the old man desires; and while, at first, he views it as his enemy, he later regards the huge fish as his own brother and regrets killing it. By the time the old man hooks the marlin, it means more to him than another catch. It becomes the ideal …show more content…
During my freshman year, I too had my own marlin to trap, having good grades while making time to socialize, while avoiding sharks, problems and issues I faced, in the sea of life. Both Santiago and I left on a journey to find our marlin representing a person’s struggle against themself and their weaknesses. Stepping through the high school doors last August, I assumed I’d be able to catch my giant marlin, social life and good grades, within the first couple months. I represented my marlin as my 9th grade struggle of balancing friends and schoolwork because I, like Santiago, never tried to reach a similar goal before as Santiago had never seen a marlin that big in his life. At first, it was simple to “hook” my marlin at the start of school. There wasn’t a great deal of assignments to complete, and I still had my friends from middle school to chat with. Comparing this to The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago didn’t have trouble with the marlin biting the sardine on the fishing hook. He kept his lines straight in precise, so he might be ready when a fish bites the hook unlike those who go by chance and let it drift in the current. Santiago contemplates, “...I keep
While other fishermen reel in boatloads of fish, the old man is lucky to feel so much as a tug on his line. He spends some time fishing with a young boy, but after months of bad luck, the boy’s parents no longer allow him to fish with the old man. It is for this reason that he decides to journey far out into the sea, aiming to catch a fish so huge it renders the other fishermen speechless. After venturing miles away from the course, the old man finally feels the pull of a large fish on his line; so large, in fact, that he does not have the strength to reel it in. However, he is determined to capture it no matter how long it takes, telling himself, “You better be fearless and confident yourself, old man” (Hemingway 84). He does his best to remain strong and optimistic throughout his time at sea. With much patience, he allows the marlin to guide his boat through the rippling waves of the ocean for days on end. When it finally tires out, he is able to kill it and reel it in, leaving an accumulation of blood in its place. Knowing this could mean trouble, he begins to head back to shore as quickly as possible, blood trailing behind him. To his dismay, despite his efforts to avoid them, the sharks sense the blood in the water and approach his boat. Each time a shark appears, he is eventually able to fight it off, but not before it can take a portion
Juan Francisco Manzano was slave in the country of Cuba in the 18th century. In the year 1797 he was born into slavery from slave parents and would remain a slave for the majority of his life. With all odds against him he was able to become very knowledgeable, like tailoring, writing, reading and writing poetry, with minimum resources that he acquired. Any opportunity that came his way to expand his knowledge he would take full advantage of it and practice until it was up to standards. But his main objective was to become a free slave, which was a rejected idea by his mistress. After his hard work of being a poet and being recognized by others of the time he was able to receive his freedom. Of course this couldn’t be done without the help of Del Monte, who bought Manzanos freedom. As a result from the help of Del Monte, Manzano was insisted by Del Monte to write an autobiography. With much fear and insecurity Manzano wrote his autobiography.
It foreshadows in the beginning of the book, ” But are you strong enough now for a truly big fish. ”(14). Throughout the whole book Santiago’s resolution drove him to beat the fish, even if he had to die with him. It was his legacy to catch a huge fish and once he hooked the 18 foot marlin he knew what must be done.
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
Though he does not let his sense of unity come between his drive to kill the marlin, his respect for the lives in the sea manifest through his tendency to only eat what he needs. He feels a connection to the nature around him, and losing his catch does not lessen his love for the sea or the creatures within. The fish was a worthy opponent. It never belonged to him just as a brother cannot belong to a brother. They are equally insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and the old man accepts the fact that the sea can take what it gives without resenting it, as it is the nature of the ocean.
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
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.
Ernest Hemingway combined three of the most random symbols into one of Literature’s well known books. The Old Man and the Sea has several symbolic meanings hidden in its pages. The old man can be seen as a Christ or Christian figure. The marlin is compared to as greater than his opponent. Joe DiMaggio is also compared to the old man because of their similar backgrounds. Santiago is also seen as weak by the other fishermen, but by the end of the novel they had an unspoken respect for the old man who caught the marlin, worked like Christ, and loved what he
The marlin symbolizes the perfect rival. Santiago found something that really tested him and his skills. He appreciates that he found a creature that rightfully tests his strengths. The marlin brings out his best traits.
“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
The Euro and its Impact on the U.S. Economy The euro is the official currency of the following 12 European nations: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and Finland. Although it has been the official currency since January 1,1999 it became physical tender which can be used by all participating countries on January 1,2002. The introduction of the euro into the world was truly a historic event; it represented a unity never before seen in the history of Europe, a common currency. After years of negotiations and much skepticism from around the globe, the implementation of the euro is no longer an abstract ideal, but a change that nations, corporations, and investors must
There is tension between Santiago and the marlin throughout the entire novel. The old man finds kinship with the fish against a common enemy. “‘Half fish,’ he said. ‘Fish that you were. I am sorry that I went too far out. I ruined us both. But we have killed many sharks, you and I, and ruined many others. How many did you ever kill, old fish? You do not have that spear on your head for nothing’” (Hemingway 115). Although he does not recognize it himself, the stakes of the battle with the marlin are so high thanks to
Similes. Metaphors. Alliteration. Figurative language. They are everywhere. In books, papers, signs, clothes, everything. They roam our world just like us people. Are incorporated in our lives just like other vitals in our life. Figurative language is the oxygen of literature, it is found in every part of the world, and is a necessity in living. Authors especially love figurative language. There's not one book that you will find that will not incorporate figurative language. Authors live off of figurative language. In the course of the stupefying novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the main character Eddie’s rollercoaster of life has finally been cut short, and the new journey of his life is just about to begin. The place we call heaven
In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago goes fishing and catches a marlin. Marlins, which are large swordfish, are more popular for their use in sport rather than commercial revenue. They have been abused and now are an endangered species which now possibly may be removed from the planet due to overfishing. Marlin fishing should be stopped because it is causing their population to drop, its demand cannot be sustained, and it has a lot of mercury which can be potentially harmful.
For my current event, I choose an article based upon the management topic of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The article I choose was “A Purpose Beyond Profit”, written by Tony Schwartz, for the New York Times in 2014. As the title implies, it looks at businesses practices adopted by corporations that have surpassed just obeying regulatory laws to actually encompassing many sustainability programs to help society, even if means lowering their profits. In a meticulous analysis of the article, “A Purpose Beyond Profit”, I will summarize the main points of the author, show the important factors that support the main idea(s), reveal any holes in the main ideas, and its supporting arguments; further more I will provide counter-arguments to the basis of the article, and will discuss management theories that are applied in businesses today.