Obstacles by Wes C.

In the novella The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago may have had to overcome more obstacles than any one I know. His life has been a very rough time, especially while fishing. Santiago had to face many obstacles, such as his physical abilities, the aggressive nature and power of the sharks [dentusos], and the frustration that comes with being unprepared. All of these obstacles worked against Santiago and made it more difficult for him to land the fish of his lifetime.

Santiago’s first obstacle was his physical abilities, especially his left hand; “But his left hand had always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust it” (71). In the story, Santiago’s hand cramped up on him, and he couldn’t move it, even if he wanted to. This slows him down while trying to gain some line on the fish, and makes him use his brain to think of other ways that he can hold on to it. Not only is his hand bothering him, but also he is around 85 years old, and has limitations as to what he can physically do.

Another obstacle that Santiago had to overcome was the aggressive natured and extremely powerful sharks. He thought of these as very large nuisances; “But I killed the shark that hit my fish, he thought. And he was the biggest dentuso that I have ever seen. And god knows I have seen big ones” (105). The sharks were attacking and eating Santiago’s prized marlin that was attached to the side of the boat. During these attacks, he had to try to fend off “dentusos,” which was tremendously difficult. To do this, he had to use weapons. These weapons repeatedly broke, and he was strained to use parts of his skiff to make weapons. This made it more difficult for him to navigate his way back to Havana . But if he did not fend off the sharks, they would have devoured his marlin within a few hours. It was a sacrifice that was necessary to do.

A final obstacle, which Santiago must overcome, is frustration. He gets frustrated from being unprepared; “You should have brought many things, he thought. But you did not bring them, old man” (110). Santiago was not planning on being on the water for four days; he only brought about two days’ supplies. In order to survive, he needed to drink sparingly, and to eat, he had to catch other fish, which took his mind off of the marlin, and gave the marlin a chance to get away from Santiago. That’s what frustrated him. He wasn’t paying attention to the marlin so he could catch food. This was because of his “stupid” mistake in not being prepared. Being frustrated never helps when in a situation such as he was.

As you can see, Santiago had some challenging obstacles to overcome. Some of these that he was forced to face were his physical abilities, the aggressive nature and power of the sharks [dentusos], and the frustration that came with being unprepared. He overcame all of these, and caught the fish of a lifetime. One who has completed such a task as he must feel very proud of one’s self.