Santiago's Wisdom

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Recommended: Symbolism in the old man and the sea

“What I will do if he decides to go down, I don’t know. What I’ll do if he sounds and dies I don’t know. But I’ll do something. There are plenty of things I can do,”(Hemmingway;78). In the novel, Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway, an elderly man by the name of Santiago is a fisherman who fails to catch a fish for 84 days, until he is rescued by his luck. There, on an odyssey that takes him far out into the sea, he encounters an ordeal of an agonizing battle with a giant marlin he catches in the face of triumph and defeat. The lack of his success does not demolish his strong spirit, it only strengths it. Through the wisdom and limits of his old age, his intelligence of the sea, his livelihood of spirit, and the suffering pain rescued …show more content…

Santiagodisplays this quality by his intelligence of the sea with his ability to identify even the smallest traits of the fish by the many years of his fishing. In addition, the author narrates,“He felt no strain nor weight and he held the line lightly. Then it came again. This time it was a tentative pull, not solid nor heavy, and he knew exactly what it was,” (Page 41). Judging from the tentative pull of one of his lines, he predicts that the fish must be a huge one, especially after his failing attempt to pull it in, but the fish does not budge. From the strength of the hook when he pulls it, Santiagocan immediately estimate the approximate size of the fish through the wisdom by the countless years he has been …show more content…

He faces the harsh pain from the cramp on his left hand that leaves Santiago in a continuous plea for the recovery. Santiago says, “It must uncramp. It is unworthy of it to be cramped,” and Hemmingway later narrates, “He was comfortable but suffering, although he did not admit the suffering at all,” (Page 64). Santiago becomes frustrated with the weakness of his body despite the fact he is a physically strong old man, but is even stronger mentally. When his body feels the pain and is on the verge of giving up, his mind keeps him from surrendering. Nonetheless, Santiago exceeded his limits of suffering by motivating himself with confidence from his

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