Consequences

Consequences in //The Old Man and the Sea// In the world of sports, no pain equals no game. In other words, you must go through adversity to reach where you want to be or get what you want to get. In Ernest Hemingway’s book, //The Old Man and the Sea,// The main character Santiago departs on a transcendentalist journey due to his confidence, free thought, and state of self-reliance. However on this journey he would experience the consequences of in his struggle of man vs. nature. Specifically, Santiago vs. the marlin and the sharks. Bottom line is, Santiago has physical and emotional scars from his transcendentalist journey

Confidence is just one factor that gave the old man a yearning for the journey with unexpected consequences. The old man came across the marlin which he fought his gruesome battle with for days to catch. It is unlikely for one of Santiago’s age to go days of trying to catch a fish like this but the fact that Santiago has been pushing himself displays his confidence. Along the way he suffered multiple hand cramps but his ability to recognize his own perseverance displays confidence of catching the marlin.

The next factor that (proves he suffers from physical an...) into Santiago is free thought. Santiago thinks only practically and has that “what if” mentality. He leaves no excuses for errors. on page 59, he notes that in order to catch the fish, “There is no sense in being anything but practical though, he thought.” Another part of the old man’s free thought is to see the fish as a brother or a symbol of himself whereas the average fisherman would think of fish as animals to catch for money. It’s Santiago getting to know the marlin which is another thing that helped him catch the fish. Another example of free thought is Ernest Hemingway’s sexist ideals that he implemented into Santiago’s personality are Santiago seeing the current way of fishing with motor boats and large nets as feminine as that is an easy way out of things.

Santiago wouldn’t have had as many consequences if he didn’t go fishing by himself. One of the main roots of transcendentalism is self-reliance and for years Santiago relied on the boy’s help to capture fish. Throughout the book, the old man wishes the boy was with him and God was there with him too. Santiago had to manage the skiff and work on capturing the fish himself. Santiago could only use the advantages around him such as what nature offered such as wind and light to see the fish. In the battle with the sharks, the old man loses large amounts of his energy trying to fight them off which is bad for someone his age. You can see the toll the journey has brought upon him from the beginning where he could carry the sails to the skiff to the end where he is stumbling back and barely walking back to his house with the sails. There is a saying that has had no beginning and no end: “be careful what you wish for.” Santiago thought he would be successful in his journey capturing the fish; and he did. However, as a consequence, he came back with just the skeleton of the marlin. His confidence, free thought, and his only way of self-reliance on the journey dealt Santiago his consequences which leaves the ending questionable to the reader what was going through the mindset and what happened to the old man, Santiago. Ernest Hemingway’s //The Old Man and the Sea// is proof that a transcendentalist journey carries consequences.