As in many other stories, the main character faces many obstacles which they have to beat in order to reach their goal. This book is no different. The obstacles the Santiago manages to overcome are pretty impressive considering the conditions he was working in. The three main obstacles that Santiago is confronted with are his physical shape, equipment, and pride. All three of these took their toll on Santiago physically and mentally.
This fishing trip was extremely strenuous for the old man. First of all he was trying to complete this trip at the age of 84. I know of no other 84 year old who would even think about attempting this grueling trip alone. Also, Santiago suffers from rigor mortis in his left hand. The rigor mortis causes him a lot of pain during the trip. “God help me to have the cramp go,” (60). The pain that Santiago endures from the cramps is a major setback on a fishing trip. Another problem for Santiago was fatigue. Santiago is 84 years old and was out at sea for 85 days. He had very little food and very little water. With nothing to give Santiago energy, he grew very weak which made catching his dream marlin that much harder. Also, being out at sea for that long with little food and water made Santiago go a little crazy.
The Old Man and the Sea takes place in the late thirties early forties. The equipment that fisherman had back then was nothing compared to what it is now. Santiago really was unfortunate because not only was his equipment out of date but he was poor also so he couldn’t afford any new equipment. First of all Santiago’s boat is extremely small. The marlin was just as big as his boat. Boats today are much bigger and aren’t made of wood. “He is two feet longer than the skiff,” (63). Santiago also didn’t have the best fishing gear like rods and bait. All these things show what a disadvantage Santiago was at.
The third obstacle that Santiago faces is pride. Santiago was only supposed to be gone for about three days. He stayed out much longer than that just so he could prove to everyone that he was still a skilled fisherman. “Santiago,” the boy said. “Yes,” the old man said. “Can I go out to get sardines for you for tomorrow?” “No. Go and play baseball. I can still row and Rogelio will throw the net.”(12). This quote shows that the old man didn’t want the boys offer because he didn’t want other people to feel sorry for him. Santiago still had some pride left and he wanted to keep it.
As you can see Santiago overcame the challenges he was faced with and proved to everyone that he was still a worthy fisherman. Santiago used courage, bravery, and toughness to get through his long, laborious fishing trip and has earned the respect of many people.
15 comments:
Sam-
I thought your story was pretty good. The thesis statement was deffinatly clear and I understood it. I thought your best body paragraph was your first one because you fit in your quote well, and you used good detail to describe it. You also used great vocabulary in your story. One thing that I would reccomend is to read your story over because I saw a couple of grammer mistakes. Overall I thought it was a pretty good story.
sam, i liked your story. you had a clear thesis about the obsticals Santiago faced. i liked the first quote best because his hand was a mayjor problem he faced. the quote you chose captured this well.
"As in many other stories, the main character faces many obstacles which they have to beat in order to reach their goal. This book is no different."
this comparison was a good way to start off the essay.
Sam,
i really enjoyed reading your story. The thesis statement is clear, and well understood. Your first quote was definitely the best, and i thought it brought out the obstacles very well. It had a lot of detail in it so i knew exactly what part of the story it was from. Your vocabulary was very well used and brought out. One thing i would recommend is to have someone else read your story before you publish it. Overall, your story was very well written and i enjoyed reading it very much.
Sammy P
I thought you had a really good story with a very clear thesis. I liked your first quote the best because it had good supporting detrails to explain it. I thought that the vocabulary was the best aspect of your essay and it helped you explain your ideas well. Next time I think that you should do less telling of what happened in the story and more analyzing of the obstacle that you are describing. Overall it was a very good.
Sam,
good essay. I really enjoyed reading it. your thesis was very clear "The obstacles the Santiago manages to overcome are pretty impressive considering the conditions he was working in."i thought your essay was very good and well put together. yuo used detail and good examples from the book. My favortie quote was “God help me to have the cramp go,”
(60). This quote shows how santiago fights throught the pain from the cramp in his hand. It takes a lot out of him to over come this chanllege but he does it and ends up catching the fish.I really liked your essya but one thing i would do next is he a couple people edited your work. But other than that Great Job!
sam,
nice job. your thesis was clear and right to the point, and therefore easy to understand.
I like how you incorperated the quote into the first paragraph. it fit in perfectly with the point you were trying to make.
the best part of your essay was the vocab used. the vocab made your essay more intresting, and was well done.
one thing I would work on would be your conclusion. it was only one sentence long and seemed a bit rushed. other than that great job.
sAm
I really like your essay. The thesis was clear about Santiago's obstacles. The best quote was God help me to have the cramp go,”
(60). This was your best in my opinion because It fit perfectly into your paragraph about Santiago injuring his hand. There was plenty of detail and i really enjoyed it. Nice story.
Nice story sam. Your thesis is great. Its clear, and to the point. Your first quote was really good. It really fit into the paragraph, and gave a great idea. It really supported the paragraph, and essay. Your story was fluent. I would recommend that you use better grammar next time.
I thought your essay was good. It had a clear and understandable thesis. I thought the best quote was: “God help me to have the cramp go,” (60).
That fit well with the paragraph. It described the injuries of Santiago's hand and how it became so injured that he could not really use it effectively. You used good vocabulary. I didn't see any mistakes. Good job.
Sam, I really liked reading your story. The thesis statement was clear and easy to understand. I think that your overall story had a lot of detail, but I think you could have improved some of your vocabulary. I thought that your best body paragraph was definitely your first one because you described it well and your quote fit in perfectly. I think that next time you shouldn’t rush your conclusion as much and maybe have a few people revise your story.
Samuel....,... this was a very strong essay, just like your batting. the thesis was clear and understandable. it was obvious what obstacles he faced. your first paragraph was obviously the strongest. your explained your piont well and the way you integrated the quote was splendid. the one bad thing i saw was how it seemed you didnt reread your story becuase it had a few mistakes. i think this was a great essay.
SAM POULIOT, I really liked your essay. Your thesis statement was very clear and I understood it perfectly.My favorite quote was “God help me to have the cramp go,”
(60) This is because I think you used a lot of description and supporting detail to help the reader understand the quote clearer. One thing you did very well in your essay was you used very good vocabulary. This made your story more interesting to read. Besides for a few grammatical errors I think you did very well on your essay. The story was interesting and clear. I wouldn't change anything about it.
SAM POULIOT, I really liked your essay. Your thesis statement was very clear and I understood it perfectly.My favorite quote was “God help me to have the cramp go,”
(60) This is because I think you used a lot of description and supporting detail to help the reader understand the quote clearer. One thing you did very well in your essay was you used very good vocabulary. This made your story more interesting to read. Besides for a few grammatical errors I think you did very well on your essay. The story was interesting and clear. I wouldn't change anything about it.
Good story, sam. Your thesis was very clear and focused. The essay was very well-organized and easy to read. I liked the third quote best because it was the most relevant to your essay and it was the longest. You used good description in your essay. Next time you might want to make your writing a little bit more formal and check your grammar. Good job overall.
sam,
u did a great job, thnx it helped me a lot:)...........i need another favour........ is there any one whom v can compare Santiago with? i need this info to write my assignment......thnx
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