The Old Man and the Sea 2

Question two for the novel the Old Man and the Sea asks “what are the causes, gains, and losses of the conflict dealt with in this book?” Like most books there are many conflicts with gains and losses. This book is by Ernest Hemmingway.

The main conflict in the Old Man and the Sea is Santiago el Cameron, an old fisherman, is stuck at sea for three days by himself. He is physically beat up by the fish he is trying to catch. “He held the line against his back and watches its slant in the water and skiff moving steadily to the north- west. This will kill him the old man thought. He can’t do this forever he thought. But four hours later the fish was still swimming.” (Hemmingway 45) This passage shows the marlin fish was very strong and the old man was too weak to pull him in. The old man also has to fight against numerous sharks that attack his fish. Santiago ends up killing the marlin fish while trying to fight off the sharks. After being attacked by sharks for the third time the meat of the marlin is gone and only bones are left. The defeated old man says “Nothing….I went out to far.” (Hemmingway 114). This shows the conflict and reaction from the main character.  

A loss from the conflict is the old man losses the fish. Santiago worked for eighty four without getting a fish. The old man was judged by everyone in the town and thought of as crazy. He was too weak to fight off the sharks and keep the fish; he needed help from the boy. A gain is the old man still got respect for bringing back the marlin fish skeleton. He proved to the town he could catch a fish and was not crazy.

Another conflict in the book was that Manolion’s parents did not want him fishing with Santiago. A gain from the conflict was the boy was not in danger. A loss was he was not able to help the old man when he needed it. Manolion also liked the old man and was not able to spend as much time with him.

In the end there were gains and losses with the conflict. Fortunately everything ended alright for the old man and the boy.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.