Old Man and the Sea: Gains, Losses, and Causes of the Conflict

The main conflict of this novel can be obviously be identified as the struggle the old man faces against nature however, there can be many observed conflicts that bring gains and the losses in the novel.  One example is when the old man's hand would not work.  This caused a loss to the old man because it made catching the fish harder to do and longer to do.  While that conflict was a smaller edition to the main conflict, it was still an important part of the novel because it shows that nature is not in the old man's favor.  Another smaller conflict I found was when the sharks kept attacking the old man's small boat in order to take a bite out of old man's catch.  This was a huge loss to the old man because he lost all of his hard work when the sharks ate his catch.  There were some gains in the novel as well.  The gains in this novel were harder to seek out because it had such a sad tone.  After searching very hard for a conflict that gave a gain to the old man, I realized that the very same conflict the old man faced against the marlin brought him some gains.  He gained respect for the marlin which made him more knowledgeable and wiser.  Although many readers may not recognize this gain, it is very important.  He may not have gotten the catch of his life to the shore.  The experience with catching the marlin made him a better person overall.  He gained incredible  knowledge and more perspective on life.  That is the main gain that the old man made during this short novel.  Another small gain you can see in the novel is at the end.  When the old man comes home, he is disappointed with the fate of his catch. However, the other fisherman that once thought the old man was past his prime, realized he was still a great fisherman when they saw the skeleton of the marlin.  This gain was minimal, but the old man gained his respect back from the other fisherman that did not think much of him.  Hence, those are the causes of the gains and losses during this novel.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.