The Old Man and the Sea Essay
Persistence may be agreed to be a very admirable quality. What do we notice about these people that possess this devoted quality? What is it about them that attract positive energy, and positive outcomes to certain situations? Behind their persistence, is motivation. The drive that they get to achieve something they want almost guarantees that they will eventually get what they want. This attitude is what can make a person successful in life. In The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemmingway, persistence is one of the main themes of the book. It is a quality that the main character, Santiago, possesses as a part of his characterization, and it is one of the factors that helps develop and move the story along. Throughout specific parts in The Old Man and the Sea, this quality in the story is displayed through Santiago’s dialog, and it is what helps to establish this important theme and life value throughout the novella.
Sometimes in life, we face challenges that must be solved by overcoming one or many great obstacles. The Old Man and the Sea tells a story of an aging and ambitious fisherman named Santiago. He was once a skilled and successful fisherman, but after an unfortunate change in luck occurs as he grows older, and not one single fish had been caught in almost three months. Then his time finally came when he spots and hunts a marlin for days on end, and you see the true desire in Santiago to be on top of the world again: “Fish, he said softly aloud, I’ll stay with you until I am dead” (52). Although Santiago is saying this to an ocean animal, he speaks the truth. Santiago dedicates everything he has to catching this marlin, avowing to hunt it until either the marlin or he himself is dead. This ambition that Santiago carries with him throughout the book helps him to keep the career he truly loves, and it helps to keep him fighting to not give up on fishing for good.
“Fish, he said, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you before this day ends” (54). One of the many character traits of Santiago is his kind heart. Even though he is hunting this marlin with the intentions of killing it, he is still talking to it, and showing his respect to it. Through Ernest Hemmingway’s writing, you can also see that Santiago’s character and his moral values are not like those of other fisherman in his town. The average fisherman may have not paid any respects to the fish the way Santiago did. The average fisherman would not even think about killing a fish, and not even care that they are killing an animal for money. But Santiago uses fishing as a lifestyle, and he fishes with the intentions of using his catches for food, and not profit.
Determination can get us through almost anything, including injury. When this quality is present in a person, and they know that in a moment of injury that they have a job to do, and that they must work through whatever may be the problem with their bodies so that this can be done. “Be patient hand, he said, I do this for you” (59). Santiago has been holding onto the fish for hours and hours at this point in the novella, and when he says this, he is showing that he is not going to back down anytime soon. He has waited and worked very hard to try and catch a fish as great at the one he is following now. Even though his hand is cramping up, he tells himself that his hand needs to get better, because he is not only doing this for the catch itself, but he is staying committed to the marlin because he owes it to himself to get a long awaited, and good catch. He will do whatever is possible to overcome this obstacle, and finally get the catch he deserves
The Old Man and the Sea is a story about ‘man vs. wild’ as many have described it before. But I see it as much more within one of its themes. I believe that the message of persistence is an extremely important aspect to this classic novella, and it is well displayed through Santiago’s character. He is a determined, wise, and proud man, who lives for his fishing career and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Fishing is almost all he knows, and he wants to try and keep his special skill with him and keep using it until the day he dies.
By Jessica Stefanowicz
