Old Man and the Sea Essay

Throughout the story, The Old Man and the Sea, the main character Santiago faces many challenges, but shows strength and perseverance to overcome them. He has a hard life and difficult job, and the four main problems come about him when he is getting ready to go fishing, or out on the harsh sea. In my opinion these challenges will change his life forever, and be things he will never forget, but he does a good job of looking to the future, being optimistic, and overcoming the problems.
The first problem he faces is poverty. He has very little to live off of, but has some help from the boy. He doesn’t have advanced fishing gear like others, or fancy boats, but he does have skill and knowledge of his profession. Before going out to sea, he says to the boy, “One sheet. That’s two dollars and a half. Who can we borrow this from?” (pg. 18) This shows that Santiago has no money to his name, and he has to rely on others to be able to fish and purchase bait. Luckily he has people that trust him because he is noble, which allows him to fish daily.
When the lonely old man is out at sea, a major challenge he faces is trying to catch the marlin. The 18 foot, 1000 pound marlin is towing Santiago out to sea, and he can't do anything about it because of the marlin’s incredible strength. “I’m being towed by a fish and I’m the towing bitt.” (pg. 45) When he says this he means that he is the bitt, and a bitt is the mechanism that secures lines. All Santiago can do is stand in the skiff, and be the secure bitt because he is determined to catch this fish after coming home empty handed 84 days in a row.
Sharks are one problem that Santiago will never forget. When he had finally caught the aggressive marlin after being out to sea for so long, and putting in so much effort, sharks started frantically eating the marlin meat. The ambitious old man tried everything, including using his fists, and all of his weapons. “The shark closed fast astern and when he hit the fish the old man saw his mouth open and his strong eyes and the clicking chop of the teeth as he dove forward in the meat just above the tail.” (pg. 101) This quote shows that Santiago could not prevent what was happening, and that the threatening sharks would eventually eat all of the remaining meat. All he could do was watch as the flesh was torn from the shiny marlin, which he could have gotten valuable money for.
The last struggle that Santiago faces is having to go home empty-handed. He doesn’t have any money, like he stated before, and hasn’t caught anything in a long time. Also, after he brought home the skeleton of the marlin, he had to hear the murmur of people talking about it. “‘What’s that?’ She asked a waiter and pointed to the long backbone of the great fish that was now just garbage waiting to go out with the tide.” (pg. 126) This quote shows that Santiago went through all the trouble of catching the marlin, and now tourists just think it is some big shark that is going to be taken out to sea. He then lays at home, delirious, and the boys tries to console him about the journey of the marlin. I think that the old man probably felt bad, or might resent catching the fish, because the marlin could have been swimming free, but instead he caught it, and then allowed cynical sharks to tear it to pieces.
The book The Old Man and the Sea shows that people have many struggles in their lives, but they need to overcome them and move forward to continue doing something they love. Santiago is a fighter in this book, and a perfect example of someone who doesn’t do their job for money, but for accomplishment and pride. He is devoted to what he does, and has a lot of knowledge of fishing, and that is why he is a role model in this book. He shows strength through the journey of catching a marlin, even if he is an old man, and never gives up.