old man and sea
The Old Man And The Sea: Man DefeatedReading through the novel The Old Man and the Sea one, as a reader, can perceive several themes in the book. Hemingway suggests certain subjects for discussion which built up the whole plot, therefore giving us options to choose the one we believe is the main one. In the past weeks we have been discussing, in a debate, which is that main theme. My group’s theme was “Man Defeated” and although it is hard to affirm that this theme was the prevailing one of the book, we firmly defend it. Various arguments were established. Some argued that the novel’s theme was Santiago’s struggle, the friendship with the fish and other characters; Santiago’s perseverance and that he really ended up as a triumphant man. But to argue that those were also the main themes of the book is also a difficult thing to do. Even though Santiago fought and kept on with his struggle to catch the fish, he was defeated because he lost it at the end. Defeat, according to the Larousse Chambers English Dictionary, is when you are overthrown in a battle, you lose a game and therefore you don’t win: you don’t gain or reach your goal. As we can see Santiago, in spite of the fact
He mentions: “ He was a fish to keep a man all winter. Some will argue that he won because he gained spiritual victory. When the sharks ate all of the fish it meant that the battle was over and there was nothing left to fight for. He lost the fish and lost his fight/struggle. ” Then, to be triumphant you have to celebrate and show your joy or happiness because you succeeded; because you had a favourable result and turned out as one had planned; because you gained wealth or position. May be that’s why the book has that name; it wasn’t an specific battle with the fish but with mother nature or just creation itself. And we are not only told this at the beginning of the book but reaffirmed at the end. Santiago needed the fish and lost it. He doesn’t even realise how many come at the end and eat the whole fish. There is no point in having dreams or illusions if you are going to starve and feel miserable. He tries to kill them but realises that he has no chance, that he is “ too old to club sharks to death. “But by midnight he fought and this time he knew the fight was useless. He didn’t even care about what would happen with what was left of the fish “…let Pedrico chop it up (the head)…You keep it if you want it (referring to the spear)” (page 124).
Common topics in this essay:
English Dictionary,
Fight I’ll,
Hemingway Santiago,
Defeated Reading,
lost fish,
catch fish,
fish lost,
gained spiritual victory,
sharks ate fish,
didn’t care happen,
santiago doesn’t,
santiago defeated,
couldn’t accomplish,
hope fight,
defeated santiago,
santiago weaponless,
favourable result,
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Acceptance Essays
