By Julee B.

In life we all have struggles and obstacles that make us who we are. In the novella The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, the old man, struggles with catching a giant, 18-foot, marlin. Throughout this story Santiago struggles with a cramped hand, being alone and having sharks attack his boat. All of these struggles affect Santiago internally and externally, and shape the plot of this story.

When catching the fish the Old Man hurt his hand severely. “He could feel the steady hard pull of the line and his left hand was cramped” (Pg 58). The old man unfortunately, didn’t have a fishing pole or rod, so he had to hold the line with his hand. While catching the marlin he had to hold it there for a while so his hand became cramped. While also pulling and tugging on the line he cut his hands. He had a tight, secure grip on the line, which made it rub up and down his hands causing his hands to bleed. This made it difficult for the old man to pull on the line to get the marlin up onto the boat. With his hands also being all cut up and bloody it was hard for him to lift the marlin because it was 18-feet.

Another struggle that he has is being alone. “ I wish the boy were here and that I had some salt”. (Pg 56). This quote explains that the old man has no one to help him out, therefore he has to catch the fish all alone. Seeing as the man is old it is also a struggle for him. I think if the boy had gone with him on his fishing trip would have been a lot more successful because he would have had somebody to help him out. I think that the old man internally felt sad. He was out on this huge ocean with no one else with him. The old man didn’t have much back on land either though, so maybe being out on the ocean was like a paradise for him.

One last struggle the old man really has is when the sharks attack his boat. Once the old man gets the marlin, it turns out to be huge, 18 feet long. This is two feet longer than the actual boat. To be able to hold on to the marlin he has to put some of it into the water. Since sharks are attracted to the scent of blood, they came towards the old mans boat where the marlin was. “The shark swung over and the old man saw his eye was not alive and then he swung over once again, wrapping himself in two loops of the rope. (Pg 102). This explains one of the sharks that came up which was a mako. The mako dug its teeth into the side of the marlin, and ended up taking 40 pounds of fresh nice meat. The old man stabs the shark with a harpoon and the shark ends up sinking taking the harpoon with him. Two shovel-nosed sharks then come smelling the stronger scent from the marlin from the other shark. The two sharks took a quarter of the best part of the meat but the Old man ends up killing them both with a knife. Later on another shovel – nosed shark comes and attacks the boat. The old man kills it but the shark takes the knife with him. The last pack of sharks comes taking the rest of the meat.

Santiago, the old man, had many struggles and obstacles throughout this book just like all of us do in life. He shows us that no matter what you should try. Santiago is there for hours and hours struggling to get that one marlin up. He doesn’t give up even though his hands are bloody, cramped and he has no one to help him. I think Ernest Hemingway was trying to show us that you shouldn’t give up and that even if you don’t achieve in the end you will feel proud or someone else will be proud of you.