In the Old Man and The Sea, Santiago encounters many powerful forces and obstacles throughout the book. When Santiago encounters these forces and obstacles, he finds a way to get past them and never gives up. Although, these struggles he had at sea did take a toll on him and he returned in rough shape and very tired. Some forces and obstacles Santiago struggled with throughout the story were the big marlin, the sharks, the lack of weapons Santiago had, and the old man's age.
One powerful force the old man encountered was the huge, aggressive marlin that Santiago was trying so hard to catch. The whole plot of the story was Santiago trying to catch this massive marlin he had hooked out at sea. When describing the marlin, Santiago says, "He is two feet longer than the skiff"(62). Santiago was fascinated when he realized how big the marlin was. The 20 foot, 1500 pound marlin challenged Santiago mentally and physically. When feeling hopeless, the talkative man would talk to himself and the fish to help his mind stay straight. Also, when he got cuts, he would put them in the salt water to help the bleeding and healing.
Secondly, sharks that were trying to eat his marlin put up quite the fight against Santiago and left him exhausted. Even though he was exhausted, the sharks brought out the best in the character in the story showing that although it was doubtful he could defend the fish, he would fight until he couldn't any more. "When he saw the shark he leaned over the side and punched at him"(109). With his hands severely cut and calloused, Santiago courage and determination to save his fish.
Next, the lack of weapons the old man possessed with him was a major obstacle he encountered during his trip. I believe Ernest Hemingway chose to enter very few weapons into his story to show Santiago's desperation to catch the marlin and also kill the sharks. "But there was no hatchet and no knife"(115). He gave Santiago just enough weapons to catch the marlin, kill the marlin, and kill a shark or two. But, when Santiago ran out of weapons, more sharks kept coming so he had to use his bare fists as told in the previous paragraph. Santiago didn't prepare for the unpredictable events he would face on his fishing trip.
Lastly, Santiago's old age played a huge role in his journey out at sea. "Everything about him was old"(10). I believe Mr.Hemingway gave Santiago his old age for a reason. If Santiago was young, strong, and in-shape, the story wouldn't have happened like it did. Santiago would easily be able to catch the marlin and still be prepared and ready to fight the sharks. But, since Santiago was old, the old man tired more quickly, had a hard time fighting the sharks, wasn't very healthy, therefore he almost died while out to sea. The trip caused the old man to become exhausted and delirious.
In conclusion, the forces and struggles Santiago encountered in the story were the big marlin, sharks, his old age, and the lack of weaponry he possessed on his journey. All of these obstacles and forces Santiago battled effected him greatly throughout the story. The Old Man and The Sea told a lot about Santiago's character and patience considering he remained 84 days without a catch and still waited to catch the marlin. In the end, I believe the theme of the story was to always try your hardest and you will get rewarded even if the reward is not what you would expect. Santiago caught the fish, the sharks ate it, but he still had the skeleton to prove he had caught one of the biggest marlins ever. Even though he was disappointed, he was proud of himself for catching the marlin.
