preview

How Does Hemingway Show Pride

Better Essays

The delicate balance between pride and modesty that Hemingway illustrates in The Old Man and the Sea allows the reader to understand their own place within the natural world through prideful and modest actions.
The feeling of pride is essential to the makeup of humans as a species; the superior range of emotions and knowledge have categorized homo sapiens to the top of the hierarchical system amongst animals. In many ways, the ability to feel pride is a double-edged sword. In some instances, being prideful shows accomplishment and achievement as a success that should be celebrated by the community. In other circumstances, being prideful portrays a sense of superiority that does not resonate well with the community. In general, we strive for …show more content…

When Santiago’s pride is high, he is trying to match that of the marlin to seem as strong and as capable as possible; when Santiago’s modesty is high, it is because he understands the beauty and greatness of the sea and respects it.
By doing so, Hemingway has made a situation where Santiago can’t help but seem humane and relatable to the audience. Santiago’s actions are justifiable, as explained above, because he understands the world and either tries to match it or respect it.
The balance between pride and modesty is one that Hemingway has learned to perfect over the course of The Old Man and the Sea. The audience can very easily see the delicate balance that humanity must find within its own world even by looking at a remote Chilean fishing village; although the audience does not live here, the elements of pride and modesty are so identifiable in the characters that the ideas become applicable in the everyday lives of the readers.
Essentially, Hemingway has created a situation where the audience sees themselves within the novel as Santiago and the marlin, and in doing so, Hemingway has made the reader one step closer to understanding themselves and how they’re acts of pride and modesty fit into the natural

Get Access