Old Man and the Sea-Q. 2

Question 2 asks for the conflict in the book and the causes, gains, and losses. In Old Man and the Sea, there were a couple major conflicts that could be noticed. The first was the desire Manolin had to fish with Santiago, but his parents wouldn't let him saying he needed to be with a "lucky boat" or a boat that had dependable catch and pay (Hemingway). The cause of this conflict was obviously the parents not wanting Manolin to go and warning him to stay away from the old man. Some of the gains were Manolin having a dependable job and being able to bring in a reasonable pay at the end of the day or the old man not having to worry about the boy becoming dehydrated and starved. There is obvious evidence that the losses outweigh the gains in this conflict. Some of the losses are Manolin losing his chance to fish for the largest fish the old man had ever caught, the old man not having anyone to talk to for multiple days, and the old man not having a partner in hauling in the marlin (Hemingway). All of these gains and losses in this conflict were not ideal, but they made the book a lot more interesting and really drove home the point to persevere through hardships.

The second conflict is the determination and size of the fish and Santiago. Santiago pointed out that the fish was the strongest he had ever encountered and how big it was (Hemingway). Because the fish was so big it was hard for the old man to pull it in without it breaking the line. Meaning the obvious cause of this conflict is the fish. Some of the different gains were the old man having a challenge since he was so well experienced for the other fish, lots of meat for the old man to sell or eat,popularity for the largest fish ever caught, and the old man having someone or something to relate to and think about while all alone out on the sea. The losses have a greater list than the gains, but sometimes that is what makes a book interesting. Some of the losses consist of the fish being hard to reel in because of its size and determination to be free, the weight and strength of the fish taking a physical toll on the old man, or the fish being too big for the boat and the sharks eating it.

All in all the different conflicts really made the book interesting and fun. Some books like this one can get very boring and dry when reading about the same thing happening, but the author did a good job mixing it up and putting different conflicts here and there. Having negative results come from situations, but a mutual ending really made the book great.

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