By Joe K.

In the novella the Old Man and the Sea Earnest Hemingway establishes an image of an old weathered man who’s passion for fishing baits him back to the sea even after months of failure. He comes to realization of his aged, haggard state and is forced to endure several struggles. His age, condition, limited strength and denial of his weaknesses all burden him along his voyage to catch this giant marlin.

The old man, Santiago, is described as “the old man who fishes alone in his skiff” (10). It is apparent in the description of this mans lifestyle that he is aging and worn down. Most of all Santiago is struggling with his elderly state as a physical burden. Santiago shows his realization when he says, “[He is] to old to club sharks” (112). He feels fatigue faster and pain is more noticeable. He struggles to overcome the fact that his physical existence is coming to an end. His withered body can’t take as much as it once could and it is obvious he is deteriorating throughout his journey. This hurts him because he goes to an extreme to catch the marlin, and this extreme places more struggle of pain and close destruction. Yet this extreme state of refusal to lose is maybe the cause of his success in witch he knew this was his last chance and he refused to end on a bad note.

One of the mans encumbers was his withered hands. The line he used to bait the fish was as thick as a pencil and dry as a bone, he had nobody to wet the lines, “The speed of the line was cutting his hands badly. He had always known this would happen. If only the boy were here to wet the coils.”(83). They describe his hands resembling raw meat after tearing through the calluses the man had formed over a lifetime of pain. His injured hands make it much harder to control the fish’s power. The line slices through the sensitive wounds every time the fish moves. The man does his best to keep the line on the thickest part of his hand but this only slows the process of his hands being worn to bloody stumps. This is a struggle for the man but by no means is it a closure on his fight. He battles the pain and finishes the job.

Santiago has extreme endurance abilities and has proven it to himself many times. But as soon as he thinks the hard part is over he faces an obstacle that near destroys him all together. With the marlin tied to the skiff he slowly sails back to shore, but because of his decision to travel farther out, blood from the marlin attracts sharks. Santiago struggles to fight away the ruthless scavengers. It is obvious that these sharks will be a threat to Santiago’s catch. Even after a vicious fight he remarks, “He took about forty pounds”. These sharks were no joke and Santiago struggles to fight them off. First he uses a gaff to spear the dentuso. He then struggles to kill the next sharks with a knife mounted on the end of his oar. Santiago kills all of them but not before they tare another quarter of the fish away. After about 4 or 5 sharks he says, “Now they have beaten me, I am to old to club sharks to death” (112). At this point he begins to realize what is happening but refuses to give in. the man fights off close to 7 sharks and returns to shore, pride in contact. The fish is destroyed and only fleshy scraps and bone is left. But to in his own eyes he has returned a winner.

The title fisherman immediately suggest a strong bodied man, someone who sees failure and pain more often then say a lawyer or a teacher, their job has a routine but unlike any other, their success is often times out of their hands and determined by the sometimes unforgiving sea. And with daily struggles of pain, emotions and the thought, “will I make it through the day?” this profession is one of honor, bravery, and humility. Santiago is a priceless example and represents the pride, the glory, the strength that we call fishermen. With the ability to never be brought down, after all he worked for is literally torn away from him, he overcomes each and every struggle and burden placed in his way. This fish is no fish to Santiago it is but a worthy opponent, and that is why even after all the pain and all the emotional distress, he can walk away from the mutilated catch and sleep knowing he has won, he has overcome.