In the story The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway makes sure that Santiago is described as a strong, hard working old man. Even though he is strong and powerful he still encounters both physical and mental struggles throughout his adventure on the sea. His struggle with the marlin and the fight with his mind are conflicts that he struggles with almost the entire journey. His internal and external conflicts with his surroundings make for a saga in the sea that no other man could compare with.One of Santiago’s struggles out at sea was one with a giant marlin. Santiago battled with the Marlin for 3 days. Santiago had a very unique mindset about fishing. He believed that both fighters had the right to win. This idea from page 92 basically showed that Santiago was willing to fight to death. Santiago fought with the marlin until there was one obvious loser. This idea broke Santiago down both physically and mentally. He put all of his physical energy into fighting the marlin. The epic battle left him with visible lacerations all over his hands, and a body that was nearly dead. The old worn down Santiago was forced to finish his job because of his beliefs. The physical toll that Santiago perceived was brutal but it was what made him catch the fish in the end.
Another conflict that Santiago had to deal with was him against his head. He was so devoted on proving that he could catch the marlin. He had to show himself that despite his old age, he was very able to catch a large fish. If he did not have this drive to prove, then he probably wouldn’t have had the success that he had catching the marlin. It was his determination that kept him going for three days. Santiago’s will was tested countless times. I thought that Santiago successfully overcame his problems well and caught the fish just as he had hoped.
I also thought that Santiago’s dreams could have been considered a problem. His dreams were about lions in the jungle. In the jungle the lions are the main predators. They can’t be defeated. Santiago’s goal is to be the main predator of the sea and be thought of as the lion of the sea. As Santiago struggles to catch the marlin he knows that the outcome of his battle will inflect whether he can be considered the lion or just a regular fisherman. I think of this as a conflict because he is so dependant on being like this. Santiago’s drive to be like the lions is one that helps him catch the marlin.
Santiago shows signs of courage, will, and determination, as he overcomes the odds and defeated both physical and mental challenges. The challenges that were presented to him motivated him to keep going, and eventually resulted in the catching of the marlin.
5 comments:
Alright, Derek.
I thought this was overall a good essay.
The thesis, essentially you're three ideas of the struggles Santiago endured was for the most part collected. It was pretty strong, mostly clear until the fourth paragraph, and engaging enough for me.
I didn't really see any quotations in there, but the reference to page 92 did give me a better understanding of what you were saying.
I thought your thesis was overall the best part of the essay, and with a little more organization it would be great. What I would have liked is to see the fourth paragraph's idea elaborated on more.
All in all, nice job.
Overall I thought the essay was very well put together. The thesis was well explained and brought up a variety of times throughout the story. It was concise and consistant during the entire essay. It also made the reader what to continue reading to find out more about the thesis. Although your essay did not contain any direct quotation, the reference to the text on page 92 gave the reader a better understanding of your point.
Your essay gets across many good supporting points to go along with your thesis. Your writing style and word choice fit the essay well to. The advice I have though is to have specific qoutes and qoute them within your essay. That way you can intorduce an idea and use actuall text from the book to back you up. Also, it was good to qoute here because that was one of the requirements. However, overall a well-written essay and a good job by Derek.
Derek, I thought your story was very well written. I thought you had a very good and clear thesis statement. I didn’t really find any quotes in your story. I don’t know what was up with that? So next time, I would recommend using quotes. I thought you organized your piece very well, and it all flowed smoothly.
Good job Derek, I thought your essay had a unique thesis and strong paragraph and sentence structure because you built you built the all of your paragraphs in an organized manner. Something that your essay did lack though was quotation examples. Even though it lacked quotation examples I found it to still be very strong. Keep up the good work.
Good subject to write about. Your story is very good up untill the end. The Ending seemed a little weak but it did tie everything together. I liked your quote. I really didn't see three of them but the one I noticed was very good and tied very well into the story.
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