The Old Man and the Sea blog 2

                The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is centered around the conflict of Santiago, the old man, and his struggle against a huge fish that lasted for three days.  There were many causes for this conflict and Hemingway chose to use foreshadowing and personification to bring out these events.  One of the main causes of the conflict was Santiago’s choice to go far out in the ocean on his eighty fifth day without catching a fish.  “They spread apart after they were out of the mouth of the harbor and each one headed for the part of the ocean where he hoped to find fish.  The old man knew he was going far out and he left the smell of the land behind and rowed out into the clean early morning smell of the ocean.”  (Hemingway, 28).  The fact that Santiago went out so far is important because no one would be able to help him once he hooked the fish.  Another cause closely linked to this was Santiago believed eighty five was his lucky number so he took more risks on that day.  Santiago did not gain very much from the conflict.  He managed to catch his fish after three days of struggle, but was stuck at sea with a bleeding carcass as big as his boat.  “’It was the only way to kill him,’ the old man said.  He was feeling better since the water and he knew he would not go away and his head was clear.”  (Hemingway 97).  Santiago also gained the pride of catching such a fish, but this was short lived.  The losses in the conflict included Santiago’s injuries like cuts on his hands, but more importantly the shark attacks.  Everything that he had worked so hard to gain was lost again to these carnivores of the sea that stole his pride and he possessions.  By the end of the book Santiago was no more than what he was at the beginning, except he now had the memory of the great fish. 

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.