By Morgan P.

In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, a perseverant old man, had to overcome many obstacles. Some of these included his hand cramping up, fatigue, and battling sharks. Each of these obstacles demonstrated Santiago’s strength and courage, that isn’t commonly found in men his age.

When Santiago had first caught the marlin, he began to think that everything was going to be just fine. Then, his left hand cramped up. This angered Santiago a good deal. “’What kind of hand is that,’ he said. ‘Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good’” (58). Santiago catches a fish one handed, and eats as an attempt to relax his muscle. He continues to massage his left hand with his right one. When he feels the line rising with his right hand, he manages to maintain control of the line and the marlin. He does not release his magnificent catch because of something as insignificant, but yet useful, as his left hand cramping up.

Being out at sea for three days, by himself in a skiff, with hardly any food or water, Santiago found himself extremely worn out. The huge marlin was pulling the skiff out to sea at an alarmingly quick pace, and Santiago was doing all he could to keep control over the fish. When Santiago felt the fish begin to slow, he sympathized with the marlin. “[Santiago] held steady, and settled back against the strain of the line. ‘You’re feeling it now, fish,’ he said. ‘And God knows, so am I’” (56 ). Santiago openly admits that he is fatigued. When a man as determined as Santiago admits to being tired, you know that he is exhausted. But he fights through this exhaustion, and is still able to catch the marlin.

When Santiago finally caught the marlin, he faced something that, considering the circumstances, almost nobody else could’ve come out alive. If having a catch of an eighteen foot marlin, being out to sea for four days, and having almost no food, water, or sleep weren’t enough, why not just add in a couple sharks? “He hit [the shark] with his blood mushed hands driving a harpoon in with all his strength. He hit it without hope, but with resolution and complete malignancy” (102). Santiago battled his first shark that day. There would be many more to come. And he would battle all of them, striving to protect his catch.

Throughout Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea Santiago faces many obstacles. Obstacles, that probably took just about a miracle to overcome. However, miracle or no miracle, Santiago did overcome all of them. He may have returned home with just the skeleton of what had been a great fish, but he returned home safely. Some may say that he ‘lost’. But in my eyes, Santiago is, and always will be, a winner. He overcame the many obstacles that this portion of his life threw at him. Even in his old age, he survived. Even in his old age, he never gave up.