The harder you try the more likely you are to succeed and feel pride in yourself. In the book The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway there are many themes. Santiago is noble fisherman who doesn’t have much luck, but continues to strive to accomplish the best. The author has a confident tone when he talks about the theme, it’s the journey and end result that counts, not how long it took and what really matters is that you pushed yourself to accomplish what you want. There is a lot that you can take away from this book, and they are things that may take years for people to find out.
Time is a key component of the theme and the book. Santiago has spent many days at sea trying to catch a marlin, but has not quite got one.” Eighty-five days is a lucky number; the old man said. How would you like to see me bring in one that dressed out over a thousand pounds?” (16)Many people would not take the time like Santiago and would not wait 85 days to try and catch a fish. Reading this Santiago may seem delirious but he is really just determined and has goals set for himself. You have to be truly dedicated to what you are doing to spend that amount of time trying to catch a fish. Time is important to the book because Santiago has nothing but time and uses it by doing what he wants and loves to do. The author is trying to tell the reader that you have a lot of time in your lifetime but if you don’t use it doing something that you love, time is useless.
You will never accomplish anything you want if you don’t push yourself. “The speed of the line was cutting his hands badly but he had always known this would happen and he tried to keep the cutting across the calloused parts and not let the line slip into the palm nor cut the fingers.”(83) Santiago clearly wants to catch a marlin and he will do anything for it. The pain of the cuts from a fishing line and the burning sensation of salt water on open cuts would be many peoples stopping point. To Santiago it is nothing because he pushes himself to get over it. Also trying to defend the marlin, Santiago fights of many sharks and in the process gets bit, but he doesn’t let that barricade him because he knows that he can make a lot of the fish, so he pushes himself to keep fighting them off. Pushing yourself is a major part of the theme and to the author it is very concrete action if you push yourself because it can only pay off.
There is always something you are going to want to change, but its part of the journey, so you have to stick with it. “Then he dove suddenly and the old man saw flying fish spurt out of the water and sail desperately over the surface”(33). Santiago made the most of his trip and he didn’t always focus on catching the fish. He made his journey memorable by looking at the stars in the crystal clear sky, the bright lights in Havana where he passed, and watched the helicopter pass over head. Santiago could have attempted to pull in the fish at any moment but instead he waited till the perfect moment to pull it in and he got to experience many memorable things. He stuck with the fish and tested his determination on how long he could stay with it, and because he did this his future didn't turn out to be bleak. Many other fishermen would have been anxious and tried to pull it in as soon as they hooked the marlin,unlike Santiago. This was a substantial part of the book because it gave it depth and without it the book would be very boring and there would not be much detail without it. Also the reader would not get as much feeling for what it is like out at sea.
In conclusion it’s what you make of the situation that is important. In the story that’s what Santiago does, he doesn’t get caught up in the fact that all the other fishermen are getting lucky and catching fish almost every day. He makes the most of being a fisherman and being able to sit out on the ocean all day, and watch the dolphins and fish swim by. Unlike most fishermen he realizes that it’s the journey and end result that counts, not how long it took and what really matters is that you pushed yourself to accomplish what you want. The theme is very complex but Santiago is able to grasp it. Santiago is very optimistic and it helps him get through the day, he would never accomplish anything if he were pessimistic. The theme helps paint an inspiring picture in the readers head that they one day should try and realize.
Time is a key component of the theme and the book. Santiago has spent many days at sea trying to catch a marlin, but has not quite got one.” Eighty-five days is a lucky number; the old man said. How would you like to see me bring in one that dressed out over a thousand pounds?” (16)Many people would not take the time like Santiago and would not wait 85 days to try and catch a fish. Reading this Santiago may seem delirious but he is really just determined and has goals set for himself. You have to be truly dedicated to what you are doing to spend that amount of time trying to catch a fish. Time is important to the book because Santiago has nothing but time and uses it by doing what he wants and loves to do. The author is trying to tell the reader that you have a lot of time in your lifetime but if you don’t use it doing something that you love, time is useless.
You will never accomplish anything you want if you don’t push yourself. “The speed of the line was cutting his hands badly but he had always known this would happen and he tried to keep the cutting across the calloused parts and not let the line slip into the palm nor cut the fingers.”(83) Santiago clearly wants to catch a marlin and he will do anything for it. The pain of the cuts from a fishing line and the burning sensation of salt water on open cuts would be many peoples stopping point. To Santiago it is nothing because he pushes himself to get over it. Also trying to defend the marlin, Santiago fights of many sharks and in the process gets bit, but he doesn’t let that barricade him because he knows that he can make a lot of the fish, so he pushes himself to keep fighting them off. Pushing yourself is a major part of the theme and to the author it is very concrete action if you push yourself because it can only pay off.
There is always something you are going to want to change, but its part of the journey, so you have to stick with it. “Then he dove suddenly and the old man saw flying fish spurt out of the water and sail desperately over the surface”(33). Santiago made the most of his trip and he didn’t always focus on catching the fish. He made his journey memorable by looking at the stars in the crystal clear sky, the bright lights in Havana where he passed, and watched the helicopter pass over head. Santiago could have attempted to pull in the fish at any moment but instead he waited till the perfect moment to pull it in and he got to experience many memorable things. He stuck with the fish and tested his determination on how long he could stay with it, and because he did this his future didn't turn out to be bleak. Many other fishermen would have been anxious and tried to pull it in as soon as they hooked the marlin,unlike Santiago. This was a substantial part of the book because it gave it depth and without it the book would be very boring and there would not be much detail without it. Also the reader would not get as much feeling for what it is like out at sea.
In conclusion it’s what you make of the situation that is important. In the story that’s what Santiago does, he doesn’t get caught up in the fact that all the other fishermen are getting lucky and catching fish almost every day. He makes the most of being a fisherman and being able to sit out on the ocean all day, and watch the dolphins and fish swim by. Unlike most fishermen he realizes that it’s the journey and end result that counts, not how long it took and what really matters is that you pushed yourself to accomplish what you want. The theme is very complex but Santiago is able to grasp it. Santiago is very optimistic and it helps him get through the day, he would never accomplish anything if he were pessimistic. The theme helps paint an inspiring picture in the readers head that they one day should try and realize.
1 comment:
1) This essay’s thesis is “The author has a confident tone when he talks about the theme, it’s the journey and end result that counts, not how long it took and what really matters is that you pushed yourself to accomplish what you want.” Yes this thesis sentence is very clear and concise. It is also focused and captures my attention. It makes me want to read this essay and that it wont be like the typical boring essay. The author already engages the reader with the creative thesis sentence, which is amazing.
2) The quote that stood out the most to me was “The speed of the line was cutting his hands badly but he had always known this would happen and he tried to keep the cutting across the calloused parts and not let the line slip into the palm nor cut the fingers.” I think that this quote is the strongest because it is one that enhances the essay instead of just explaining something. It was captivating as well. It stood out to me because you can tell the author took the time to look for this descriptive quote to help her essay and it did.
3) Something this author does very well is word choice. The author uses the right words to describe or analyze exactly what she wants to analyze. This helps the reader to capture and understand exactly what the author wants their readers to do. “Santiago is noble fisherman who doesn’t have much luck, but continues to strive to accomplish the best.”
4) One advice I would give the author is to make sure you cite your quotes because I didn’t see that in this essay. Also make a stronger last sentence in your conclusion because it is sort of confusing. Write something that says WOW! Great job!
Post a Comment