How And To What Extent Is Santiago A Hero?

People can define heroism different ways depending on what they think it means, based on culture and the era. A hero is someone who has superhuman strength, confidence, craftiness. A hero is also someone who is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. They are also brave, clever and willing to help others. Odysseus from The Odyssey can be represented as a hero.

Santiago, from the book The Old Man and the Sea written by Ernest Hemingway, was an old fisherman beloved by a boy named Manolin, who he mentored in the practice of fishing since he was the age of 5. Among the people of Cuba, Santiago was commonly known as “salao”, or unlucky, and a hero to few. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles” (Brainy Quote). Santiago was indeed a hero, proving this after he survived on very little and overcame his fish issue.

Some may believe a hero is a person who fights evil and saves people. In reality, it is more than than that. A hero is someone who fights for what they believe in, they are courageous, fight for the greater good, and above all, would sacrifice their life to save the lives of many. For example, in The Odyssey, a hotshot is shown in the life of Odysseus. While many believe Odysseus was a great figure and leader, he was far from that. He failed his crew, and for one reason only, he was not the chieftain his men needed.

Santiago demonstrates a Hemingway Code Hero here because he shows the ideal of poise and elegance in a chaotic situation. To add on, the old man also shows instances of grace under pressure while arm wrestling the negro at the tavern in Casablanca. Santiago and Cienfuegos, the strongest man on the docks, have been going at it for a full day, both of them in pain and exhausted. Suddenly the old man, “...unleashed his effort and forced the hand of the negro down and down until it rested on the wood” (70). The fight to win the match was difficult and chaotic, but Santiago stayed calm throughout it. He won in the end through his serene nature and demonstrates Code Hero qualities by being graceful under pressure. Next, after the first sunset, Santiago is telling himself that the fish will need to stop eventually for he could not pull the skiff forever when the old man states, "Fish," he said softly, aloud, "I'll stay with you until I am dead." (52). By saying this, Santiago is demonstrating a code heroes ideal of endurance.

A hero is someone who commits to an act of remarkable bravery, or who shows great courage. Heros include bad people and good people. Heroic stature is achieved when one acts courageously and altruistically. Learning about heroism is important, because it allows us to imitate their actions in order to help more people.

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles” -Christopher Reeve. When we think of a hero, we think of some big buff individual with a cape and superhuman powers. We think of a hero as a person who goes around saving people from mutant monsters. Despite this idea, heros come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and they don’t necessarily have to “save the day” to be a hero. Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is a prime example of a hero without a buff body and a cape.

In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway writes about an old man in Havana, Cuba. The main character of this book, Santiago, was once a great fisherman and well-known man in Havana. With his glory days of arm wrestling and great fish behind him, Santiago struggles to survive with an eighty-four day period without fish. Despite his vast troubles, he continues to travel to sea every day. Pride, Santiago’s greatest strength but also his most fatal flaw, leads to his defeat.

In the Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is an optimistic elderly man who by the end of the story transforms into his own kind of hero. He is a poor veteran man who lives alone, all he has left is a little kid named Manolin who idolizes him, but also feels bad for him from his misfortunes in fishing through the years. Santiago was once a legend and almost redeems himself after just missing a giant Marlin. He is deemed by many as a hero, a hero is person who, “in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal” (dictionary.com). Santiago is a prideful and determined hero and this is demonstrated through his noble deeds and actions.

Hero defined in the dictionary is “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities”. This definition may be interpreted differently amongst certain groups of individuals. It typically is known as someone who wears a cape and a costume, but a person can be their own hero too. In the novel The Old Man and The Sea an old, feeble man named Santiago may just be his own type of hero. Several of his bold actions gave him the traits that these certain individuals possess.

The Old Man and the Sea In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, shows heroic character traits by following the hero’s journey in a simple and ordinary way. While reading The Old Man and the Sea at first I didn’t think Santiago was a hero until towards the end of the book. Throughout the journey, both positive and negative character traits make up his story. Ernest Hemingway wrote Santiago as an ordinary hero with multiple positive character traits.

In the book, The old man and The sea the author Ernest Hemingway shows Santiago to be a strong independent man, kind hearted and friendly. Even though Santiago body is beaten up he stays up to not let Manolin down and to prove to everyone he can do it. Santiago strength is being said throughout the whole story. Knowing that he got back to the store with his body beaten up from left to right and with no fish meat shows that he has a lot of strength. Santiago unfortunately was unprepared for his long “war.”

“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated”Hemingway develops Santiago as a hero in order to show how fragile things can be strong in the inside.Even Though santiago seemed like a weak old man, while he was alone at sea trying to catch a fish;he demonstrates how strong,positive,and undefeated he is.

A hero is defined as, “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities” (Google). After reading The Old Man and the Sea, the character of Santiago was an extremely exceptional character. Santiago was described as an old man who looked as if he had been through the ringer. The one thing that kept him sane was the passion he had for fishing and going out on that deep blue water. Santiago was the type of person who could be the best at what he did, but still be as humble as he could be.

He makes a decision to outlast and fight all the outside forces and not accept defeat. Santiago states “man is not made for defeat…man can be destroyed but not defeated.” Hemingway also includes some more unusual forms of heroism that one might not first think of when thinking of a hero. Santiago is perceived as a hero in the novel. He gains the admiration of the fishing village after bringing in the carcass of the massive marlin.

Within the book, strong and enduring Santiago battles the marlin for days, although he has nothing but his hands to hold the line, and, then, fights against the fish with his knife and his old hands. When the Mako shark comes and eats the flesh of the marlin that is tied to the side of the boat, Santiago continues to fight for the marlin; however, the shark takes much flesh from the marlin. The sharks symbolize destruction in Santiago’s life; however, The Old man perseveres as Hemingway pulls out his thoughts, “But I killed the shark that hit my fish, he thought. And he was the biggest dentuso that I have ever seen. And God knows that I have seen big ones.”(pg103) Here, Hemingway exemplifies that even when the Old Man has experienced destruction, he overcomes