Perseverance In Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man

The Old Man’s Perseverance

In Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway uses the main character, Santiago, and his prized Marlin to demonstrate perseverance throughout the story. The old man, who is apparently extremely unlucky after eighty-four days without a significant bite on his line, portrays his perseverance by continuing to go out day after day and maintaining confidence in his fishing abilities despite his recent failures. Hemingway introduces the fish as a beast, he is large, and it appears to be a tough fight coming up, it seems the determination of the fish is equal to that of an old man. The story is a battle of power and control between the man and the fish. Regardless of his internal determination, the old man’s physique does

It is a little ironic how both characters appear, one is strong and large, and the other is frail and old. Despite their size and strength differences, the old man has a determination that rivals that of a young, strong, big fish. “This will kill him, the old man thought. He can’t do this forever. But four hours later the fish was still swimming steadily out to sea, towing the skiff, and the old man was still braced solidly with the line across his back” (Hemingway, 45). Their endurance is what is keeping them both alive. The fish is fighting to stay alive just as hard as the old man is trying to kill him.

Though the old man possesses a fiery willpower within him, he addresses the vulnerability of his frail body. He criticizes himself heavily, thinking that his frail body is not strong enough to kill this fish. "What kind of a hand is that," he said. "Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good” (Hemingway, 3). Despite these ‘flaws’, he works past them to catch the fish. Even though, he did not end up technically bringing the marlin back, he brought back the skeleton and pride with