Old Man and the Sea Essay

Overcomming Struggles

Every single day people go through some type of struggle. They can be regular any day things like, figuring out what to wear or getting your homework done all the way to staying alive long enough to get home to your family if you are in the war. But no matter what the obstacle in your way is, it is always up to you, to get past the obstacle and overcome what is in your way. In the book The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago overcomes many important obstacles such as catching the biggest marlin he has ever seen, overcoming his physical injuries, and fighting off the sharks that come to his boat.

The first obstacle Santiago faces is catching the marlin. This marlin is over 18 feet long and over one thousand pounds. “He is two feet longer than the skiff the old man said.” This shows the extreme size of the fish he is trying to kill. He is all alone and he now has to single - handedly kill a marlin 2 feet longer than the boat he is in and then bring it in on his own. This is a huge obstacle for him to over come. He has nobody on his boat to help him with the fish and he has nobody to call to because he is way out in the middle of the ocean where nobody can find
him. This would make me very happy that i caught it but also pessimistic about wheather or not i could reel it in.

The second obstacle that the old man must encounter is his own physical injuries which almost get the best of him. He is having a cramped hand which he will need to hold the fish and back problems. His back is hurting from holding the rope tight against it. “God let me have the cramp go, he said. Because I do not know what the fish is going to do.” This shows one of the problems that the old man is facing. “Finally his left hand found the line and he leaned back against the line and now it burned his back and his left hand, and his left hand was talking all the strain and cutting badly.” This also shows more of the pain that he encounters. He has a hurt back and a hand that keeps cramping and also on his hands he has many cuts and scabs from the dried blood from the rope digging into his hands from hanging on so tight. Also he is physically tired in his entire body which complicates things more. This would have been very hard from him to overcome. Personally, i would be so annoyed with this id just let go and row away.

The last obstacle that Santiago faces out on his fishing voyage is many vicious sharks. The first shark he has to face is one of the most deadly ones in the sea, a Mako shark. “He was a very big Mako shark built to swim as fast as the fastest fish in the sea and everything about him was beautiful except his jaws.” The Mako shark has extremly sharp teeth that, at one sight of them would make me just give up the marlin. He then has to fight that off and succeeds to by ramming the harpoon into his head. But he soon encounters more. The way he fights them off becomes extremly intense and severe. The tries to club them away and stab them but he soon looses all his weapons and he is defenseless so the sharks eat his prized marlin which he
worked so hard to get. He feels hopeless after he looses his weapons but he still finds his was home.

This is the hardships the old man had to go through to catch this marlin. But unfortunately one of the hardships he went through also lost him the marlin. But all throughout the story which ever struggle presented itself to the old man he overcame it. Because even though he lost the fish he saved himself. This is what most people do everyday, is they get past there difficulties and make life better. I find it amazing that through all the things that happens in the book, the old man still seems optimistic.

"3rd Quarter Out side Reading Book Review"

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. Arthur A. Levine Books, since 1920. Genre: Fiction.

This is the 7th and the last of the Harry Potter books. it is about Harry fulfilling a mission that Dumbledore left him before he died. he has to destroy the 7 "horcruxes" Voldemort made so he can finally kill him. a horcrux is something you seal part of your soul in so if your body is attacked part of your sould still remains so you cannot die. so Harry has to get rid of these so he can finish off Voldemort. but the trouble is he does not know where they are so he has to figure that out himself.

"The curtains close. With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the famous epic of wizardry and magic finally ends. J. K. Rowling takes us, Muggles, for one last magical tour into Harry Potter's world. The book ends with a climax that reaches a feverish pitch. If you haven't yet grabbed a copy of the book, you are missing a lot."

-Simran Khurana

The 7th is just like the first 6 but much more intense. everysingle chapter is packed with suspense and action making it very fun and enjoiable to read. the author shows harry potter as the hero type with many people looking up to him and even liking him just because of what he has overcome. but also with that there must come enemies and he does have plenty of those. between voldemort and draco its hard to choose who to route against more. but once again harry pulls of what he has to somehow and always with the help of his friends. all of the first six books lead up to the final ending of this book which ends very well.

"Finally, the truth. Lying with his face pressed into the dusty carpet of the office where he had once thought he was learning the secrets of victory, Harry understood at last the he was not supposed to survive. His job was to walk calmly into Death's welcoming arms" (691).

I am a big fan of the Harry Potter books. i think J.K. Rowling does a really good job and she makes the books suspenseful and very fun and easy to want to read and makes you want to keep reading and then when you are done read it again. i like the suspense that the author puts into this and the great detail and extreme imagination that makes it interesting. i would definately reconmmend this to anybody else you likes books that are fun and interesting and suspenseful.