Few Examples Of Physical Fortitude example essay topic

Fortitude: An Old Man's Strength Fortitude means, according to the New World Dictionary, "the strength to bear misfortune, pain, etc. calmly and patiently; firm courage". In The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago, the old man, shows that he had physical and mental fortitude. A few examples of physical fortitude are that the old man never let go of the fishing line and the characteristics of the old man's body. Two examples of mental fortitude are Santiago's positive attitude in the face of bad times, and his endurance. To further explain the example of how Santiago's physical fortitude is how he never let go of the line, here are a few quotes. "He had no feeling of his left hand, but he braked all he could with his right and the line rush out".

This asseverated that he did have a lot of physical fortitude in the instance that he used all of his strength to hold onto the line. Another quote is "The boy saw that the old man was breathing and then he saw the old man's hands and he started to cry". The quote stated that the old man endured a lot of pain those few days. The example of physical of physical fortitude contends how the old man's body had endured many years of pain.

"The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck". This citation portrays that Santiago had not had an easy life, this showed in the deep wrinkles in his neck and how he looked gaunt. "The benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks", is a way of saying that he had a harsh life on the sea with sun and the abrasive wind that gave him the skin cancer. The quote, "He always thought of the sea as la mar which is what people call her when they love her... ". shows that he usually had a positive and altruistic attitude about his life on the ever-changing sea which describes his mental fortitude.

The novella described that he loved everything and that, no matter what, he never gave up. "He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff on the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days without taking a fish". This said that Santiago had mental endurance whereas most people would have given up and gone home. The old man held onto the fishing line for three days and nights so that he could bring the big marlin home, but even after all of the pain he suffered, he only brought home the blighting of it. In conclusion, all of these reasons and examples tell that in The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago, the old man, had physical and mental fortitude. The fact that he never gave up and had always had a positive attitude are ways of describing his mental fortitude.

The description of the old man's body and his hands are tell-tale signs of Santiago's physical fortitude.