OMS essay

The Old Man and the Sea essay assignment
By Allie Fogg
B-G English 9B

In the book, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, otherwise known as the old man, is one of the main characters. Santiago is a life long fisherman, who is also very dedicated to what he does. In this book, he struggles with several situations. These include trying to catch the Marlin, living the lifestyle that he does, and having nobody but the boy.

The first struggle that Santiago faces is the way that his lifestyle is. Santiago is very poor and his only source of income is the money that he makes by selling his fish and also, if he doesn’t catch any fish, then he has no food to eat! That means that if he doesn’t catch any fish, he’ll starve.On the first of the book, it says, “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.” This quote tells you that Santiago has gone about two-and-a-half months without catching anything!

Another struggle that Santiago faces in the book is, and probably the most the most intense one, is trying to catch the Marlin. When he tries to catch the Marlin, it puts up a fierce fight. It goes back and forth, against the current, and Santiago is very desperate to catch this Marlin. On page 52 of the book, it says, '"Fish", he said softly, aloud,, "I will stay with you until I am dead."' The reason for this is probably because of a pride reason.He has been fishing a long timeandreally wants to catch this fish! Also, Santiago is an old man, and this could be his last chance to go fishing and catch something big, so he wants to catch it really badly. In the book, Santiago hasn’t had luck on his side and has gone a long time without catching any fish.

The third struggle that Santiago struggles with is the fact that he is alone.Santiago lives all alone where he lives. He lives all alone and has no family or friends. The only person that he has is Manolin, the boy, whos mom doesnt even want him to be around Santiago because hes crazy, and for various other reasons. The bot is like Santiago's little helper, but isnt with him all of the time. On page 56,Santiago says,"'I wish the boy were here andthat i had some salt."' That is one example of how Manolin helps Santiago. Another example is on page 62 and says "If the boy were herehe could rub it for me and loosen it downfrom the forearm, he thought. But it will loosen up." this was when Santiago got a cramp. All of those are examples of how Manolin helps santiago, but i think that Santiago also wanted Manolin with him because he was lonely. The old man has practically no one but himself to talk to, and he enjoys spending time with the boy and talking to him.

All of those are examples of struggles that Sanitago faces in the book, The Old Man and the Sea. He struggles with trying to catch the Marlin, living the lifestyle that he does, and having nobody but the boy.Those are some situations that are hard to overcome, btu Santiago still seems alright!!


THE END!! <3