old man and the sea.

To create a piece of literature you need a main character to defeat a conflict. This conflict can be major or there can be many little obstacles in the piece. In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, the wisely devoted fisherman, faces many complex conflicts. For example Santiago faces obstacles like the powerful marlin, the sharks that are attacking his best catch, and the ongoing time that does nothing but hurts Santiago.

The first conflict is the marlin. Santiago really has to fight hard against this massive creature. The fish weighs approximately 1000 pounds and is very strong so Santiago has to be cautious about what he does. He doesn’t want to go anywhere near the fisherman and fights patiently and confidently for numerous days out at sea. This continuous fighting, even through dark eerie nights, really wears out Santiago. It makes him weak but he continues to battle the fish “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought.” (92) This quote shows how much power Santiago new the fish had. Santiago is an optimistic old man out at sea fishing alone. He gets very lonely and has a very petite boat which shouldn’t be meant for the sea. With this fish Santiago could have an amazing outcome but if the marlin finds a way to defeat him, it will all wash away to sea.

Another conflict that occurs in the story is the aggressive sharks. These violent looking and acting creatures are continuously attacking. The only thing Santiago can do is fight back. He doesn’t have many weapons but he doesn’t just give up. He defends himself and the fish with a harpoon and a club. This works until one shark actually gets a piece of the defenseless marlin and it bleeds. The blood attracts a bigger crowd of sharks which makes it even harder for Santiago. Santiago’s weapons eventually get stuck in the sharks as it says here: “But the shark jerked backwards as he rolled and the knife blade snapped.” (111) The sharks overpower him and eat the flesh off the bones of the marlin.

The final conflict that affects and hurts Santiago is time. Time was something that Santiago could never stop. It was very threatening to him because there is nothing and nobody that can defend them selves against time. As the days dragged on, Santiago because tiered from staying up, weak from fighting the marlin, and exhausted from a mix of those. The hours of fighting wore Santiago down progressively and not once did he get a break from the time passing. For example this next quote states how long the fish has been swimming steadily out to sea. “But fours hours later the fish was still swimming steadily out to sea, towing the skiff, and the old man was still braced solidly with the line across his back.” (45)

As you can see, there were many conflicts that you can find in The Old Man and the Sea. Every story has a main character and at least one conflict. This problem gets either defeated or undefeated. In Santiago’s case, he defeated the marlin but, couldn’t conquer the sharks very quickly, and for sure couldn’t do anything about time.