The Old Man's Obstacles by Melissa O.

Without the struggles Santiago has to endure throughout his journey, he may not have been as determined in catching the marlin. In the novella entitled The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago is the old man struggling for 4 days trying to break his bad luck streak and catch a large fish. If he does so he will no longer be poor and will gain respect from all of the other fishermen. While out at sea the old man deals with physical and emotional struggles. There were many times any other person may have given up and admitted defeat.

After being in the boat for quite some time, Santiago finally hooks the great marlin. The problem is that since the marlin is so large, he must wait for it to rise to the surface so he can spear and kill it. Unfortunately, the fish ends up holding on and putting up a fight for a long time. Since Santiago is older, he is easily fatigued, but still manages to do his best. He becomes very tired and hasn’t been able to sleep that much. He is not only tired, but his left hand begins to cramp and ache from holding the line with the marlin. If his hand does not stop cramping he may not be able to hold onto the fish and lose everything he had worked so hard for. “God hell me to have the cramp go, he said. Because I do not know what the fish is going to do (60).” With his strong determination he was able to struggle through the pain and keep his mind on the prize.

Santiago had not expected to be out for 4 days trying to catch the great marlin. Being alone in a small skiff for such a long period of time must have been extremely hard, especially for a man of his age. There are numerous times when he wishes the boy Manolin was there to see and help in the catching of the fish. “Then he said aloud, I wish I had the boy. To help me and to see this. No one should be alone in their old age, he thought. But it is unavoidable (48).” Catching the marlin would have been much easier I there was someone there to help. They could take turns resting, fishing and holding the line, it would have been much less lonely and Santiago would have had someone to talk to instead of himself.

Fishing would have been much easier if Santiago would have been better prepared. He should have brought food, water and a blanket even if he wasn’t sure of how long he would be out there. But if he had better fishing equipment he might not have been out there for so long. The only problem is that he does not have any money. The boy really loved him and he felt bad when Santiago would never come home with anything, especially for 84 days in a row. “It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and sail that was furled around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat (9).” I think that the boy is a great person for always helping the old man even though he doesn’t have too and there is nothing in it for him.

Santiago struggled physically from the pain in his hand and the lack of supplies. He struggled emotionally from missing the boy. It is amazing that Santiago was able to suffer through everything and still catch the fish. It took a lot of self control to push through but he did it. Even though he caught the fish he made no money since the shark ate most of it. He still was rewarded with respect from all the other fishermen. That seemed to be enough for Santiago.