by Katie T.

Every good story has a good meaning to them that the reader can relate to and apply them to their own lifestyle. The message from this story, Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, is to never give up. You should stay with your goal and strive for the best. Giving up, in my eyes, is just an excuse for lazy people to say they don’t feel like it. I’ve never been the type of person to give up on something I am passionate about. Whether it’s with sports, school or life in general I am never giving up. I am always working my hardest to keep myself in line. I think that’s what Santiago and I have in common. He never gave up on the fish; he was determined to get the marlin. Most people usually would have given up on the second day but Santiago waited until the 82^nd day to get the fish and it took him three days to catch it. That shows a lot of dedication.

In the book, Old Man and the Sea, Santiago becomes very strong and helps himself through the hardest times. “You better be fearless and confident, old man,” Santiago says to himself, “You’re holding him but you cannot get line. But soon he has to circle” (84). He is convincing himself to stay with the fish with the conditions as hard as they are. Santiago is his own self motivator. The marlin is as strong as he and the marlin will put up a good fight so he has to stay strong and never give up.

I can relate to this theme a lot. I have never given up on something I love. For example, this week is lacrosse tryouts. Every day has been three hours long. It is long and painful. I am busting my butt to do everything right and not mess up so I can look good. I never even think about stopping or giving up. No matter how much I want to just stop and go home, I convince myself that I am here for a reason. To play lacrosse, it’s what I love to do. In the book, “Fish,” he said softly aloud, “I’ll stay with you until I am dead.” Santiago is telling the fish that he will do whatever it takes to kill him even if it means to kill himself. He is sticking with fishing just how I am with lacrosse.

Santiago faced a lot of struggles throughout the story as well and yet he still never gave up. He hurt his hand on the line. He was holding the line for to long and his hand got stiff and couldn’t move. Santiago had thoughts it was rigor mortis. On page 59, Santiago talks to his hand, “Now,” he said, “You can let go, hand, and I will handle him with the right arm alone until you stop your nonsense.” I consider this quote very important; it shows that through the physical struggles he still withstands the pressure of the ocean. Many people would have let go of the line by now. Santiago didn’t. Also, Santiago missed the young boy, Manolin very much. He wanted to be with the boy so he took charge of the marlin, so he could go home.

Every person around the world can take this message and apply it to their own life. This theme is very crucial to the book as well; even though Santiago was going through so much during his trip he took the risk and never gave up. I learned that you can’t give up whenever things go wrong; you have to stay calm and strong. It’s the type of thing that every person, everywhere, should keep in mind when things aren’t going the way they want. You have to believe in yourself and that’s the one thing that you have to understand to not ever give up.