Discussion Question 2- The Old Man and the Sea

The conflict of this book is ongoing and last for the whole middle part of the book. The conflict is Santiago, or the old man, is struggling to catch a fish so big that he stays at sea for 3 days until the fish dies. The cause of the conflict is partially self pride. The old man wants to become a good fisherman again and prove to the other fisherman that he can still catch fish even though he is getting older. Another cause of the conflict is the old man sailed out too far into the sea (Hemingway 120). He did not loose his direction, but he lost sight of land and had to depend on himself and his little supplies to keep him healthy. Since his hand was not completely healed and did not un-cramp all the way (Hemingway 82), his performance on the sea was altered. He could not properly kill the fish significantly because of his pain, but he did what he could and succeeded. The old man gained many things from struggling with the fish. He gained a sense of pride in himself because he caught the fish and stuck with it until the fish died. He also gained approval from other fisherman. The other fisherman gathered around and suddenly became more concerned with the old man, his health, and protecting his fish. The old man also gained appraisal from other people. Many tourists came and viewed the fish’s skeleton and people just walking by would wonder at the fish. As for himself, the fisherman gained knowledge, which was one of the most important. The knowledge gained came from within. He knew how to solve all of the problems before they happened; he just had to think about the solution. He was very knowledgeable at see, which is why he survived. The old man built up an inner strength that helped him to last the whole 5 days total. The losses of struggling with the fish are once it died, there was a trail of blood which attracted many sharks. The sharks ate away at the fish until there was close to nothing left. Another loss is that his hard work brought him almost nothing in return. Since he did not have a whole fish when he brought the fish into the dock (Hemingway 122), he did not get money, and ended up giving the leftover parts of the fish away to other fisherman.

 Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. Cuba. Scribner’s Publishing. 1952