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Perseverance In Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man

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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 …show more content…

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

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Even though Santiago’s fish was mangled to the point it was unrecognizable he keeps it attached and brings it back anyway to show the battle he faced. Santiago can also be seen following a strict daily routine that he applies no matter the condition. Despite his old age he stays fit and follows the routine he has always followed. The reader can see that Santiago has not caught a fish in 84 days (about 3 months), despite this fact he still goes out one more day and ends up catching the biggest fish he has ever witnessed. Even though Santiago has not caught a fish, he sticks with his routine that has not been successful and ends up catching the massive marlin.

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