During the course of a human’s life they will always have to make decisions and live with the consequences. These consequences can have little to no affect, or they could completely change somebody’s life around. They can be for better or for worse, but they will affect somebody in some way. Santiago has many choices that affect him greatly, such as going out very far into the Gulf of Mexico, not bringing enough food and water for his voyage, and not bringing anybody with him in his boat.
A major choice that Santiago had during the book was going too far out into the Gulf of Mexico. A quote that describes this well is “I shouldn’t have gone out so far, fish, he said.”(110)This was a bad choice because then once Santiago finally did catch the fish, he was so far out that the voyage to shore took forever. The fish ended up getting eaten by sharks because of the long trip. Santiago should have either tried harder to catch the fish or have just given up on it after the third day. This way he would not have gotten into all that trouble.
Not bringing enough food was a very simple but critical mistake. Santiago was out in the ocean for six days total and the only thing he could eat was something he caught. Santiago precisely wishes for salt, more water and some lime. “He was thirsty too and he got down on his knees and, being careful not to jerk on the line, moved as far into the bow as he could get and reached the water bottle with one hand.”(78) Santiago did not have any luck so he would not be able to catch many fish. So you can see how this would be a problem. Now every day he doesn’t eat he is getting weaker and weaker. This could have easily led to him not catching the fish, or even worse it could have led to Santiago dyeing.
Santiago could have picked anybody to go with him on his voyage. The Old Man was lonely being by himself in the boat. The nights were cold and harsh and the days were hot, but Santiago had nobody to share his thoughts and opinion with. So the Old man began to talk to the fish that was on his line. In this section of the novella Ernest Hemingway was very descriptive and made Santiago seem very naïve. Also Santiago needed somebody to accompany him for his physical needs too. When his hand became tense and cramped, he wished that the benevolent and optimistic boy were there to rub and soothe it. “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. If the boy was here he would wet the coils of the line, he thought. Yes. If the boy were here. If the boy were here.”(83)
Although Santiago knew that his chances of catching the fish were bleak, he stayed strong and continued his fight with the noble marlin. As a matter-of-fact there wasn't a single instance where he was pessimistic. He knew that his objective was to catch the fish, and he was going to do anything in his power to do so. Before Santiago caught the great marlin he was thought of as unlucky by all of the other fisherman. Although his choices might not have been the best, everything worked out for him in the end, and he will forever be known as a godly fisherman.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
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