Struggles In The Old Man And The Sea

Every person struggles sometime in their lives. Some struggle more than others. In the Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, an old man, had probably one of the most difficult struggles in his life, physically and mentally. He fought between life and death with the largest fish anybody had ever seen. In the end, he lost his fish to sharks who mutilated the fish. He still killed all of the sharks but he felt defeated because he fought so much and still didn’t obtain what he hoped for. The old man also had the pride and dignity of even meeting the fish. No person would ever experience the fish like Santiago did. He wasn’t destroyed, though, he still had what he’s had before and now he’s also gained more respect from people and his friend, Manolin. The …show more content…
Meeting a fish that massive was definitely something to take pride in. No person had ever seen a fish that large. It was longer than Santiago’s skiff at about eighteen feet long! The old man should feel pride and dignity from meeting the fish and also because he was the only one who ever saw the fish alive. The fish was a ‘great fish’ and his scales, “[W]ere dark purple [...] and a light lavender.” (51) Someday, the old man could become famous. People will want to hear the story of the ‘great fish’ and why Santiago couldn’t bring the whole fish to shore and if he becomes famous he might never even need to worry about finding food again, though he would probably still fish …show more content…
“They sat on the Terrace and many of the fishermen made fun of the old man [...]” (14) They didn’t care if the old man was poor or if he even had any food. There was an exception though, a boy named, Manolin liked Santiago and helped care for him. Manolin looked up to him and wanted to fish with him but the old man wouldn’t let him. Santiago wanted to sail far out into the water and the boy said he would try to sail far out as well just in case the old man needed help. The boy never did help though, because the old man went way further out than what he had planned. After the old man came back from his fishing expedition, the townspeople started to appreciate him more. The townspeople saw the bones of the fish and were in awe. They had never seen a fish that massive and were amazed that an old man like Santiago could find and catch a fish like that and because of that, the boy grew to love the old man even more. Manolin saw that he tried so hard to catch the fish and failed. Manolin now wanted to fish with the old man even more than before and didn’t care if his parents wouldn’t let him.
Santiago felt defeated, but he wasn’t destroyed. He still had success even in the darkest of times. The old man killed the sharks, had pride and dignity of meeting the fish, and gained respect from the townspeople. The old man might’ve lost all of what he hoped for but he still has a future