MI Test of the Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea Blake Bauernschmidt

Defend the statement, “But man is not made for defeat.  A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

You can defeat a man in the human way but you can’t take ways the things he believes in, the things he hold true to his heart.  You can defeat the body but you can destroy the spirit and the  soul.  

The Old Man was determined and even though the sea was defeating him he was keeping the faith in what he believed in.  The sea never destroyed him.  He left a legacy.

This idea runs throughout the book. 

“Now they have beaten me, he thought. I am too old to club sharks to death. But I will try it as long as I have the oars and the short club and the tiller.”  In this example the Old Man admits to being beaten but then in the next sentence he will keep trying.  He is keeping the faith.

“Now it is over, he thought. They will probably hit me again. But what can a man do against them in the dark without a weapon?”  Again, he says it over but wonders if he can really be damaged.  

“He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy and he went back to the stern and found the jagged end of the tiller would fit in the slot of the rudder well enough for him to steer.  He settled the sack around his shoulders and put the skiff on her course. He sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind.”  And last, the Old Man is beaten again but he continues to steer the skiff and feels no feelings.  If he was really beaten he would feel pain, sadness, etc..   

My top three MI results were kineastetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal.  I chose to this question because it best fits my personality.  I liked the competition aspect of the old man.  It wasn't "the old man and the sea" but "the old man vs. the sea."  It was a game, sort of.  The book was about competition.  I also appreciated the old man's toughness, he never gives up.  These are the things that I have learned about myself from this book.