In the thrilling novella The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway you go on an adventure with the character Santiago . You learn the struggles he faces throughout the story and the odds of catching such a great fish. The choices that were made at the beginning affected how the rest of the story turned out. I believe that Santiago ’s decision to go fishing without Manolin affected the obstacles he was challenged with. Manolin’s choice not go with Santiago not only affected Santiago but also Manolin himself.
After hours and hours of waiting for a great catch to come across the old man already knew he made a mistake by going fishing without the boy, “If the boy were here he would wet the coils of line, he thought. Yes. If the boy were here. If the boy were here.” (83) It shows that not only are the boy and the old man close to one another but the boy was very helpful. Santiago is getting much too old to be fishing alone and needs some extra help to prepare everything for fishing. Santiago is no longer the best fisherman he once was. He is much weaker now and getting more fragile because of his old age.
As the adventure goes on you begin to notice that Santiago is getting lonely. Santiago has no source of entertainment, not even a newspaper to read about his favorite sport and the great Joe DiMaggio. “If the others heard me talking out loud they would think I am crazy. But since I am not crazy I do not care. And the rich have radios to talk to them in their boats and to bring them the baseball.” (39) does he have the boy to talk to, so he resorts to talking out loud to himself to try to stay awake. After being alone at sea for several days you are bound to get lonely and go a little crazy and do whatever it takes to stay awake long enough to catch the fish.
At last when the great fish was hooked on to Santiago ’s hook is when he really could have used the boy’s help. You knew that Santiago was a determined man but some things you need assistance on no matter how strong you are. “For an hour the old had been seeing black spots before his eyes and the sweat salted his eyes and salted the cut over his eye and on his forehead.” (87) This shows how dead beat and dehydrated Santiago is and how much he needs to rest. If the boy were there he could take over the line while Santiago rested up and regained some strength. It is also clear that Santiago needs to get some food into his system so the boy could have tried to catch some food for the two of them while Santiago was stilling holding on to the massive marlin.
Throughout the novella The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway you notice that the main character goes through many challenges. The choices that were made in the beginning of the story had much affect on the rest of the story. I believe that Santiago ’s decision to go fishing without Manolin affected the obstacles he was challenged with. Had the boy gone fishing with Santiago I don’t think the book nor would the events have been the same.
4 comments:
Lida :]
Your essay was really well written. Your thesis statement was clear and engaged me to read more. Out of all your quotes the one in the third supporting paragraph was my favorite. I liked the quote, “For an hour the old had been seeing black spots before his eyes and the sweat salted his eyes and salted the cut over his eye and on his forehead.” (87) I think it fit very well with what you were writing about and you backed it up nicely also. I also thought your third supporting paragraph was the strongest because the ideas were clear and accurate. I think something you did well in this essay was using detail and description. An example of this is when you said, "the massive marlin" and when you used the word "fragile". I thought your story was flawless and I can't think of any suggestions for change. Good Job :]
Your essay was really good. I think that your had a rally strong thesis statement. I think that your strongest paragraph overall was your introduction. It set up your whole essay really well. I also think that all of your quotes fit really well into your essay. Every paragraph as clear and tp the point. It was relly good.
There wasn't anything that you could change about your essay. It was really well written. Your conclusion also ended you essay well. Good Job.
LIDA, I really liked your essay. Your thesis statement was very clear and made me want to continue reading. I think that your third quote was my favorite because fit very smoothly in your writing and makes your writing a lot clearer. I believe that this paragraph was also your strongest paragraph. I really liked how your essay got straight to the point. You didn't add in anything that didn't need to be in your story. I thought your essay was very clear and didn't need any adjustments.
LIIIDA,
I thought you did a great job of showing the reader how difficult Santiago had it and how much the choices he made affected everything that happened.
Santiago definitely isn't the strong young fisherman he once was and can't really handle most of the great big fish in the ocean. Manolin certainly would have helped him greatly in his fight to capture the marlin. Manolin would have done anything the old man asked and Santiago would of at least had someone to talk to as well.
The quote I liked the most in your story was "If others heard me talking out loud they would think I am crazy. But since I am not crazy I do not care. And the rich have radios to talk to them in their boats and to bring them the baseball."
I liked this one because is shows how simple Santiago is and that he fishes like a real fisherman without all the bells and whistles the rich people have, it's just him and the sea.
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