The Old Man and the Sea: Battling Nature

From the surface of the book, it appears that the story is nothing more than a man, Santiago, battling nature, the marlin. I do not believe that this is the case at all, but that Santiago almost finds his place in nature. When Santiago squares off against the marlin, is a not so much a struggle but more of contest among friends. Santiago says multiple times throughout the novel that he greatly respects the marlin, and one of them will surely die, yet he does not care who it is. This says a lot about Santiago’s character. He has that much respect for other living things, and he is so genuine and true. I really enjoyed that trait of his because I myself respect and enjoy nature much as Santiago does. When I say that Santiago seems to find his place in nature, I mean that because of his philosophies, he is very similar to an animal or more specifically, the marlin in which he attempts to reel in and catch. He exhibits many of the same traits as the marlin does such as bravery and pride. Also, he makes his views on death very clear in the novel. He views life as a whole and in nature as you must kill or in turn be killed. It is sad and depressing, but I would have to agree with him. Some people think that everything in nature is nice and peaceful, but death and violence is simply another part of nature. For instance, in the film Grizzly Man, the main character loves nature, especially bears, very much, but he falls victim to the nastier side of nature and is eaten by his “friends” the bears. This is another reason why I believe Santiago to be an absolute genius. He may not be book smart, but when it comes to nature and fishing, there is nobody smarter. I wish there were more people like Santiago in today’s world.