Throughout this novel, the only main conflict I could see was that the old man really wanted to capture that eighteen-foot marlin, but was struggling in doing so. The old man’s determination to capture the marlin ultimately led to his downfall. The marlin and him both died on numerous moments during their three-day-long battle, and eventually the old man won. Unfortunately, it was not all great from there. Another conflict comes in to play when sharks attack him and his fish numerous times on his way home and soon he was left with nothing. That conflict is more of a smaller one that fits in with the main conflict.
The cause of the old man wanting that marlin was that he had not captured a fish in eighty-four days (Hemingway 9) and he refused to allow his fishing hiatus to go past eighty-seven days, which was his record (Hemingway 10). Because of his want for the fish and his struggle to get it, he lost a lot of physical strength from exhaustion. In the end, he also lost his marlin, the only thing he was fighting for. Unfortunately, through his conflict, the old man gained nothing that he planned to. He did not win a big fish, he did not gain strength, and he did not gain luck. He gained a deeper understanding of life, and he developed compassion towards the marlin. He even seemed to bond with the beast of a fish in that he respected him as much as he respected himself. “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.” (Hemingway 92). The old man gained the knowledge that even in his old age, he could handle himself. He gained the knowledge that in the end he is able to achieve his goals on his own, even if he did not win that time.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.
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