Second discussion question for The Old Man and the Sea

The main conflict in The Old Man and the Sea is Santiago, the old man, wh0, for three days, tries to capture a large eighteen foot marlin. Santiago suffers greatly in the task and both he and the marlin almost die. The marlin does die and in the process the old man is injured very badly. The cause of this conflict comes from the fact that the old man hasn't caught a fish in eighty-four days (Hemingway 1) and really needs to catch something. The boy isn't allowed to fish with Santiago since the old man lost his good luck. Santiago is alone and has to take care of his skiff and all of his lines by himself. He wants to catch a fish so the boy can come back and fish with him and to prove he still has luck. Because of this, the old man ventures far out in the Gulf of Mexico to catch a big fish.

Through this process the old man is injured and the marlin's meat is eaten by sharks. I for one, would be upset and slightly perturbed that all my hard work catching the giant marlin was just benefiting the sharks who ate my fish. The old man saw past that and was sad because of his actions the marlin was "ruined" (Hemingway 115) and didn't meet a good end. He gained compassion and respect for the marlin and in a way bonded with it since they both were struggling alone in the Gulf. The marlin struggled for three days trying to elude the old man and then was consumed by sharks. Santiago also gained the knowledge that he has control over his old body and can be independent and still fish on his own. The old man does like when the boy goes fishing with him, but just like the lions he dreams about (Hemingway 24, 81, 127), he knows that he survive by hunting/fishing on his own.

The losses the old man has during the conflict of this novel are physical and not emotional. Physically his hands and back are cut and strained during the process of catching the marlin and beating away the sharks. The boy, Manolin, takes care of Santiago when he gets back ashore in Havana, but the old man really hurt his hands by holding on the lines and the rope for so long. The only emotional loss that I can think of is the one time betrayal of the old man's left hand when it cramped up. He was so used to being in charge and in control of his body that I believe when his hand "betrayed" him it threw him off guard and was a reminder of his old age. Santiago also looses an enemy, but gains a friend and companion along his journey. The marlin and the old man bond as their fates intertwine since in the end one of them is going to kill the other.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.