Obstacles

What would life be like without any obstacles? If everything went exactly as planned and you were never faced with any problems? Most people would think that that would be a good thing; but would it really be? Would you really enjoy never being able to experience that feeling of overcoming that "powerful force"? I believe that obstacles are actually an important part of our everyday lives. I believe that they make life interesting and worth living. In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea,Santiago, the old man, is faced with many obstacles. The obstaclesSantiago faces range from very minor obstacles, to rather large ones. The more major challenges he faces were the sharks, his luck, and his old age.
Have you ever been so close to reaching a goal that you can almost taste it? But have you ever had it taken away while it was right within your reach? That is what happened to Santiago: after eighty four days of waiting he finally catches a fish, and no, not just any fish but a giant marlin. The old man is thrilled that he finally makes a catch, but it isn’t long before it’s taken away from him by the sharks. "The shark closed fast astern and when he hit the fish the old man saw his mouth open and his strange eyes and the clicking chop of the teeth as he drove forward in the meat just above the tail,"(101). This is one obstacle that, although he tries to beat them off, Santiago cannot over come. However, I believe that it could have been avoided, if he hadn't tied the fish to the side of the skiff then the sharks would not have had such easy access to it. Even if the marlin was too big to fit in the boat, I'm sure he could have found some way to get it in there, or he could have cut it up into smaller sections so that it would fit better. But because he didn't he ran into a large road blocker that he couldn't quite get past.
A common obstacle that everybody faces in life is age; usually it holds you back from doing something. Whether it is when you are younger and you are unable to ride the roller coaster, or you are becoming too old and you are unable to drive anymore. Age puts a restriction on the things you would like to do, and accomplish. “Everything about him was old,” (10). Santiago is not as young as he once was and he defiantly isn't as young as the other fisherman which is yet another conflict that Santiago faces through out the story. The obstacles that the old age brings about are lack of strength and increase of drowsiness. Both of these have large effects on Santiago's ability to fish. However, when the marlin hooks on to his line he doesn't let either hold him back; he fights against this very strong fish and ends up prevailing over the massive fish. Age is an obstacle that you can't do anything about. There's no way you can avoid it, it's just what you to help over come it. And in this story I think the old man does a pretty good job dealing with his age, he doesn't really let it hold him back and he doesn't use it as an excuse for why he hadn't caught a fish. And with things you have no control over, you just have to learn to deal with them.
A struggle that not everyone believes in, but no one has any control over is luck. Some believe they have extremely good luck, others think that they no luck, while some don't even believes in luck at all. Santiago does not have much luck, "and he had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish,"(9). However he doesn't give up, and continues to be optimistic. "they [Santiago's eyes] were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated" (10). Fate is something that we, as humans, have no control over. When faced with bad luck there are too things you can do with it: you can either quit whatever you are doing, or you can wait it out, and eventually things will look up. In the story, the old man chooses to stay positive and not give up on fishing.
So what would life be like without any obstacles? I think it would be pretty boring. Like what would be the point of books? Every story needs some sort of conflict. In the novella the old man and the sea, what would the story be without the sharks and Santiago's age and lack of luck? Without these elements there wouldn't be much of a story.