the old man and the sea

Everyone faces obstacles in life. Like walls in the mists of time, reaming unseen until it is too late. Or like rouge waves on the ocean of eternity, cresting just as you turn your back, Problems are major setbacks you can’t see until the end, things you must struggle against.

You must endure, or you will lie down and die. Every one who ever was, is, and will be on this little blue planet will face them. Santiago, from The Old Man and the Sea, faces much more than the average human can possibly take.

The first struggle was the fact he hadn’t caught a fish in a long time. “But after 40 days the boys parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salo, which is the worst form of unlucky”(1). He is filled with fear and self doubt. He doesn’t know if he can ever catch a fish again.

Adding to the fact is that Manolin is doing so well. It fills him with even more stress and anguish. He does not want to rely on the boy, even though he offered to come, which would have made this ordeal 20 times easier. Still, Santiago struggles on, and goes out to catch his dreams.

Then, he fights against the marlin. The marlin, a great beast, fights valiantly and to the end. It is stronger, faster, and bigger than Santiago. “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who."(92). The marlin wears him down to the brink. It almost kills him.

Still Santiago endures. The have an epic battle, lasting for days. No one has the clear advantage. Finally, by the skin of his teeth and his grit, Santiago kills the beast. Santiago triumphs where most men would fall. It in almost inconceivalbe to people that this frail old man could bring down the modern day equivalent of the Leviathan. It would be like like an old man in a nursing home killing sasquatch with a stick.

Fate still has more in store for Santiago though. This blood bath draws the attention of some very hungry sharks. The sharks are attracted to the now deceased marlin, and Santiago must fight to defend his prize. Hordes of sharks emerge from the ocean, hell-bent to steal Santiago’s fish away.

Broken, beaten, and scarred, Santiago keeps on fighting; he never gives in, never gives up. “Fight them, he said, I fight them till I die.(115) Santiago absolutly rocks the sharks, killing almost all of them. Even though the sharks absolutely gorge on the fish, Santiago still has the will to go back to shore, fish skeleton and all, because even if he lost the fish, he still won this day.

It is almost like if you just fought Mohammad Ali, then fought Joe Frazier right after. Santiago has turned into a absolute force of nature. By this point, he is an unholy killing machine.Then he has the will to just get up and go home, without the full fish, which is by far the hardest thing to do.


Santiago faces inconceivable obstacles on his quest to catch the fish. He cant get what he wants, but still he perseveres, still he tries. His will is unbelievably strong, far stronger than most. It almost seems like Santiago is inuman. The things that this man did are absolutly ridiculous, and his strentgh of will even more so. Maybe, if we learn a bit from Santiago, we shall become stronger willed ourselves.