Santiago & His Struggles by Maddie M.

Ernest Hemingway has created a noble and determined character, Santiago, in the novella, The Old Man and the Sea. This determined character faced many struggles while out in the sea including catching a marlin, battling off sharks, and fighting his sanity and old age.

It had been eighty-four days since Santiago had last caught a fish. Despite that, he set sail in hopes of having a great catch. Once Santiago had been in the murky waters for some time, he got a bite and hooked a giant sixteen-foot marlin on his line. Mind you, the skiff that he was fishing in was only fourteen feet long. He thought that the battle had almost concluded, but you will soon find out how very wrong he was. “‘Fish,’ he said, ‘I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends’” (54). For four days Santiago battled with the marlin, yet he still cared for it because he knew that the marlin was a living creature.

Once Santiago finally caught the marlin, the sharks caught a drift and were at Santiago’s skiff momentarily. Even though there were many more sharks than Santiago, he kept his hopes up. “‘But man is not made for defeat,’ he said. ‘A man can be destroyed, but not defeated’” (103). Perseverance is the main point in this portion of the reading because without it, Santiago would never have been able to find the strength to fight off some of the sharks and last as long as he did.

Old age was also a key part in this novella. If Santiago had been younger, he probably wouldn’t have had as much of a struggle with the marlin and the sharks as he did. Also, if Santiago had had more food and water with him, he wouldn’t have been so fatigued at the time of the attack. “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). This quote is saying that even though Santiago was in desperate need of a catch, he respected the great marlin and even referred to him as ‘brother’ throughout the novella. “‘I am a tired old man. But I have killed this fish which is my brother and now I must do the slave work’” (95). Even Santiago knew that he was an old man, but he didn’t let that ‘minor fact’ in his eye deter him.

In conclusion, The Old Man and the Sea is a fantastic novella that teaches the reader many surface things, but also many deeper things like life lessons. I give a lot of credit to Santiago for what he did and more importantly, the way he did it. In today’s society and the way we live, I can’t name anyone that would be able to catch a marlin that was bigger than the skiff they were in. I don’t know anybody that has that kind of patience and perseverance to keep going. Nor do I know a person that could battle off sharks while fighting for their life and sanity.