The Choice of a Lifetime (Draft)

It’s hard to understand at times; the fact that one moment can determine an entire life. A single second can determine anything and everything. A teenage girl driving in a car could lay down the foundation for the rest of her years on earth by answering an oh so urgent text message from her sweetheart boyfriend when an eighteen wheeler t-bones her because she just ran a red light and didn’t even realize it. Life itself is so incredibly precious. The scary part is, no one can avoid the risk life brings. We all have to make choices every day. Granted many of them lack the capability and power to alter a life but yet there are many that do contain that very power. But even though terrifying, choices make things interesting. Think of why we read books; to uncover the choices someone or something made. The Old Man and the Sea is no exception to this. In the book an old fisherman named Santiago is having difficulties catching a fish. In his day he was an excellent fisherman and very well known around his little village in Cuba, but now he cannot catch a single fish. Santiago has spent eighty-four days without catching anything. On the eighty-fifth day, though, he thankfully gets a bite. An enormous Marlin gets hooked on Santiago’s line. The great fish that weighed over one thousand pounds ends up passing away after a fight of a lifetime for Santiago. The Marlin’s choice to bite the line was obviously life changing for not only him but those around him. The choice to bite at the line killed him, put the old man stranded out at sea with little supplies and may have very easily drained the old man’s confidence enough that he could no longer obtain a sea living creature, to stop his career once and for all.

Generally, when a fish bites onto a hook, whether they know it or not, they are handing over their life. You would think they would be catious of this because most fish don’t like this idea and thus try to get away but fail relatively quickly. This marlin that Santiago caught was different. It spent three days of Santiago’s time trying to escape the grasp the hook had on him. “QUOTE” (The Old Man and the Sea. Pg.) one result of the Marlin biting the hook was his eventual death.

Another result of the marlin choosing to bite the line was stranding the old man out at sea with little supplies and no land in sight. “QUOTE” (The Old Man and the Sea. Pg.) Santiago being the old man that he was it was obviously dangerous for him to be in the middle of the Caribbean Sea alone on a small skiff. The Marlin had dragged him out to sea for days and Santiago was extremely tired. His hands were cut up and to face the facts there was a good chance he might not make it back to shore. Putting the old man’s life at risk was another result of the marlin’s choice.

Can you imagine not achieving a goal that has been simple and easy for what seems like forever? It would be like not being able to tie your shoe all of a sudden and not regaining the skill for eighty-four days. This is what Santiago had to go through in fishing. And it wasn’t such a random task as tying his shoe either, this was his lifestyle, his way to earn money; fishing was keeping him alive. And now when he finally ‘tied his shoe’ a big shark came and untied it before he could even check to see if he had done it right. “QUOTE” (The Old Man and the Sea. Pg.) The Marlin’s choice also lead to the possible end of Santiago’s career as a fisherman.

One small moment of greed or confusion, even natural stupidity can change everything. It was cause death to anyone involved with the incident. It can leave an innocent bystander stranded for their life. It can diminish something that was once great or simply untie a shoe. It really is a hard and cold concept, but every moment counts and there is nothing anyone can do about it.