Old Man And The Sea Is Santiago A Hero

The forces of the universe have crucified both Santiago and the marlin.  We see this when Santiago carries his mast cross-like to his shack and the author's description of his exhausted repose "face down on the newspapers with his arms out straight and the palms up" (Hemingway  122).  Yet, through this struggle, through this pride that made him go far out beyond all people, Santiago learns the meaning of life in a meaningless universe is humility and love.  We see this expressed most clearly in his mentor-like relationship with Manolin.  Human solidarity and interdependence may not make a man any more capable of beating the forces of the universe, but they are sustaining as much as the courage and dignity with which Santiago faces life "the boy keeps me alive, he thought.  I must not deceive myself too much" (Hemingway  106).  Before coming to shore, Santiago recognizes he has gained humility and he is loved.  He is appreciative the other fishers will worry about him.  They bring him food and newspapers to

In the book The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway uses the flashback technique in order to characterize Santiago and develop key themes of the novel, such as Santiago’s connection with nature and what it means to be a hero. Hemingway employs several flashbacks as an effective technique that develops Santiago’s character as he recalls past occurrences in order to renew his strength of will. There are three flashbacks in particular that are critical to the development of this story. The first flashback describes a time when Santiago associated himself with the marlins. The second flashback occurs when Santiago arm-wrestled the town’s strongest

Death is the unavoidable force in the novella, the one fact that no living creature can escape. But death, Hemingway suggests, is never an end in itself: in death there is always the possibility of the most vigorous life. The reader notes that as Santiago slays the marlin, not only is the old man reinvigorated by the battle, but the fish also comes alive “with his death in him.” Life, the possibility of renewal, necessarily follows on the heels of death.

Another component that stood out in the novel to make Santiago’s death appear evident was his image as a Christ figure. There were multiple times in the book that Hemingway compared Santiago to Christ. For example, when Santiago returns to shore, “he shouldered the mast and started to climb (121)”. This is similar to when Christ carried the cross bar on his shoulders up to Calvery. Santiago fell three times on his way back to his hut, as did Christ. Hemingway’s comparison of Santiago to Christ implies that Santiago will die just like Christ did.

In Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, the protagonist is an old fisherman named Santiago. He is poor and has gone over two months without catching a fish. On his eighty-fifth day, he hooks a gigantic marlin. After a long struggle, Santiago manages to best the marlin and kill the fish, but on the way home, sharks seeking his enormous catch attack the fisherman. Despite Santiago’s attempts to repel the predators, the marlin is stripped clean of its flesh.

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

He had been out for days in efforts to catch a fish, and when he does, it is torn up by other forces. This has happened to so many people that is has caused a new saying to appear: life is unfair. This allows the reader to empathize with him. For some readers, however, this is not enough. If they do some reading between the lines, they will then find out that the marlin represents Hemingway’s novels and the sharks represent the harsh critics who would figuratively rip the book to shreds with their comments. This will cause all readers to empathize with

Because Santiago has never been one to give up, he preserver through hardships and his daily life. Santiago is not wealthy man, but he does not let it affect his life. He does not have a nice home, or a big fishing boat, or even luxurious meals. Santiago still has enough to be happy.

There is tension between Santiago and the marlin throughout the entire novel. The old man finds kinship with the fish against a common enemy. “‘Half fish,’ he said. ‘Fish that you were. I am sorry that I went too far out. I ruined us both. But we have killed many sharks, you and I, and ruined many others. How many did you ever kill, old fish? You do not have that spear on your head for nothing’” (Hemingway 115). Although he does not recognize it himself, the stakes of the battle with the marlin are so high thanks to

After catching the marlin and attaching it to the side of the boat Santiago saw that sharks smelled blood from the fish and were chasing him so he had to figure out a way to kill them with items on the ship. “The line showed clearly on the top of his brown head and back where the brain joined the spinal cord and the old man drove the knife on the oar into the juncture, withdrew it, and drove it in again into the shark’s yellow cat-like eyes. The shark let go of the fish and slid down, swallowing what he had taken as he died” (Hemingway, 2003, p. 108). The old man tied his knife to his boat’s oar to stab the sharks that were quickly coming for the fish. His method worked, however, his “weapon” eventually broke and he had to use another object to kill other sharks. Santiago killed sharks before they took his fish and killed him, thus making him successful because he accomplished

In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago demonstrates the traits of the code hero. The Hemingway’s code hero covers the principal ideals of honor, courage, and endurance in a misfortune life. Throughout the novel, Santiago shows a contrast between opposite attitudes and values which associate his behavior with the guidelines of the code. In this case, the depiction of conflicting values, such as dignity despite humility, perseverance despite despair, and victory despite defeat are aspects that help to describe and understand the role of Santiago in the novel, and reflect the reason why this character is perfectly suited to the heroic conduct established by Hemingway.

Over and over again he is remarked to be a strange old man, and he himself is the one to glorify that. He seems to struggle with the fact that he must prove himself to the other fisherman who mock him and believe him to be a fallen hero. He sets off to sea in his boat one day, but what he does not know that it will be the three most tiring days of his life. He first catches a smaller fish and instead of turning back, he decides to go farther out into the ocean to see what he can catch with that fish. He soon is dragged all over and back by a shiny purple marlin, that is two feet longer than his skiff. The response to Santiago’s poor decision or lack of creativity to harpoon the marlin instead of try to kill it another was as to not attract mako sharks was confusing. He is shown to be a man of intelligence and greatness, yet his decision to kill the marlin in this manner knowing what could happen proves that he had a distinct motive for harpooning the fish. By the words of Gery Brenner, “that motive is self validation-the need to prove himself”(Brenner 55). In the end, after the three day struggle, when Santiago returns to the dock, he is told by Manolin later that he was said to be lost at sea, and everyone was completely taken away by the length of the mangled carcass that he brought in. The take many get from Hemingway’s novel is

“Santiago’s ordeal, first in his struggle with the big fish, and then in fighting against the sharks, is associated by Hemingway with Christ’s agony and triumph,” (Bloom 2). When Santiago sees the second and third sharks coming, he shouts “Ay,” and Hemingway notes: “There is no

While santiago is in land he is a fragile old man and depends on the boy. “The boy took the old army blanket off the bed and spread it over the back of the chair of the old man’s shoulder”.When santiago is at sea he has no one to depend on and works really hard in order to accomplish his goal of catching the marlin. “He held the line tight in his right hand and then pushed

The boy could help Santiago haul in the huge fish. When Santiago caught the fish, he was without help, therefore, instead of drawing in the line, the fish towed him away from view of land. If the boy had come along with Santiago, he would have helped bring the fish in, and consequently they wouldn’t have stayed away such an extended period of time. Also, when they were out at sea, even if the fish pulled them out of sight of land, they could each switch between watching and sleeping, thus they wouldn’t be sleep deprived. When Santiago was alone at sea, he became exceedingly fatigued, and risked his life slumbering with such an outsized fish lugging his boat, not knowing where it was taking him. Also, if he had brought the boy along, Santiago could have assistance defending the fish from the ravenous sharks. The sharks attempted to eat the fish, yet the boy could have helped him fend the sharks