Perseverance In The Old Man And The Sea

In the novella the Old Man and the Sea an old man named Santiago taught a boy named Manolin how to fish when the boy was very young. In the book, Santiago and Manolin are usually referred to as “the old man,” and “the boy.” In their time together on and off the skiff they formed a father-son relationship, however, Manolin’s parents said the old man was unlucky, so they made him other fishing arrangements. He went to fish with another boat, and caught three fish in the first week.

At the beginning of the novella the reader is greeted with a description of the old man’s situation, “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.” The first forty were with the boy, and

According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, perseverance can be described as, “to persist in a state enterprise or undertaking in spite of counter influences, opposition, or discouragement.” Santiago shows his courage, persistence, and perseverance continually throughout the entire book.

Through his determination, the old man finally hooked a fish, though it was not a fast catch. The fish remained latent under the water for quite some time before the man caught a glimpse of it as it jumped out of the water.

Since the fish was so enormous, it towed the skiff out to sea, however, the old man was determined to hold onto the fish no matter what. “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,” describes the difficulty of the catch. This four hours was a mere fragment of the old man’s time holding onto the fish at sea. The old man was pulled by the fish for many days and nights, fighting thirst, hunger, sleep deprivation, physical wounds, and aching muscles for a one fish. Santiago did not succumb to the fish’s strength or his own