Old Man Is Santiago Defeated

In The Old Man and The Sea, Santiago teaches us about endurance, honor and faith, throughout his three day journey with the marlin. The Old Man has mot caught a fish in 84 days. He fishes alone on a skiff off the coast of Havana. Every day he comes back empty handed, not even the tiniest fish. One day, Santiago followed his daily rutine to go out to fish and expected to come back empty handed because this time he went on a three day journey out by himself far out into the ocean.

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

“He did not truly feel good because the pain from the cord across his back had almost passed pain and into dullness that he mistrusted.”(74) Once both the fish and Santiago had reached the breaking point of conflict the story seemed to slow down in time to exemplify the adverse conditions that both characters were suffering from. The old man proves himself worthy of personal suffering with the cuts and scars on his hands and back along with all of the pulling and slipping the cords had upon his fragile body. Hemmingway shows in a big way how an out of proportioned conflict with an old fisherman and an 18 foot long marlin helps to magnify the significance of Santiago searching for his rebirth to manhood. With constant abstraction describing the fish and the sea in relation to brotherhood create interesting questions for Santiago to ponder. His rationalization for his fishing is that he was born to do it. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (103) Hemmingway proves that this fish represents all of Santiago’s built up tension to total the size of a gigantic marlin that is perceived as devastating but not unconquerable. The old man’s hopes and aspirations can overcome the adversity of the marlin’s size, along with the conditions of the old, hungry, and exhausted fisherman. Through outright suffering Santiago achieves a goal above his previous manhood by combating pain and

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.

There is hardly any progress, determination or success without unforgiving struggle and defeat. The road to success is a never-ending battle, but the outcomes of the war are rewarding and the avails are extraordinary. It is just a matter of having endurance when the will to continue becomes impossible and unimaginable. The idea of struggle lies deep within the plot of the novel, The Old Man and the Sea and the motion picture, Life of Pi. In the novel, the old fisherman, Santiago spends a few days out at sea attempting to capture the fish of his dreams. He battles through pain, thirst and hunger in order to bring the Marlin to the shore. However, while losing his prey, he gains a priceless experience combined with pride, respect and

Santiago’s attitude seems to be that although he faces difficulties, he finds the strength inside of him to be able to overcome them. Once he hooked the marlin, Santiago comes to a realization that he cannot kill the fish quickly. Though he is faced with a problem, the old man is able to find the best of the situation. He begins to form a bond with the marlin, as he repeatedly

Taylor Kreuscher September 6, 2014 The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Heming depicts an unlucky skilled fisherman named Santiago and his journey of catching a marlin. Santiago had not caught a fish for eighty-four days yet he caught a marlin on the eighty-fifth day. However, Santiago struggled to bring the marlin in and was lead on a five day journey.

In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is an unlucky fisherman who has not caught anything in 84 days.  Yet he sets out alone on the 85th day to try again.  For three days he struggles with a large marlin which he finally kills; but, despite his best efforts, he loses the fish to repeated shark attacks.

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

“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated. (Hemingway 103).” This quote, written by Ernest Hemingway in the short story The Old Man and the Sea, captures the theme perseverance in numerous ways. This quote describes when the old man Santiago was struck down physically, with the injuries of his hands and the pain of staying awake for a number of days. However, he mentally kept pushing forward, leading to his ultimate survival and his arrival home. Ernest Hemingway wanted the readers of this story to learn about the rewards of perseverance because of the hardship Santiago and the marlin had to endure, rather than themes such as luck, pride, and suffering.

It is ambiguous whether the old man succeeds or fails. At first, it seems that if Santiago has failed. “He sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind” (Hemingway 119). It is almost like he has lost everything that he has worked for. The old man accepts defeat as is, without mourning or grief Fortunately, after all the damage has been taken, he keeps fishing. He built some sort of relationship with the marlin, but was later broken. He has since moved on.

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.

In the Old man and the sea, Santiago says, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated. (Page 93)” The true statement can be referred to throughout the novel. Santiago is in the end physically destroyed, but mentally he is not defeated. Santiago’s courage and pride pushes him forward throughout the novel, even when it looks like hope is lost, but is never defeated.

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