Santiago An Old Man

The old man is made fun of and called unlucky by all the other fisherman. He faces many challenges in the book and is put down and discouraged by many people and has no positive input coming toward him. Santiago has many years of experience with fishing and you can tell it by how he reacts throughout the book. The old man seems to be religious in some way because he is saying prayers but it also seems like he isn’t at the same time.

Hemingway is known for his heroic code in his novels, and the Old Man in the Sea is no different. Throughout the novel Santiago experiences several moments of truth. He also demonstrates the way to stay composed when he finally catches a fish. Finally, Santiago is destroyed, but he will not be defeated. Therefore, through the whole novel Hemingway uses Santiago to express the ideals of manhood.

The epic journey of “The Old Man and the Sea” describes struggle, discipline and manhood. The main characters relationships exemplify how faith and skill overcome man’s adversity during life on the sea. Santiago’s growing relationship with the boy idealizes his statute as a father figure and develops his integrity and values towards the boy. Hemmingway shows us how an old fisherman’s will to overcome the sea’s obstacles proves his manhood to himself and the young boy. His skills and knowledge of the sea provide a positive influence for the young boy to become a great fisherman someday.

Everyday Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea risks his life by returning to the ocean which “can be so cruel” and do “wild or wicked things” (Hemingway 29; Hemingway 30). When faced with a “very big Mako shark” (Hemingway 100), Santiago has “little hope” in defeating it, yet still thinks “maybe I can get him [the shark]” (Hemingway 101). Despite dehydration and exhaustion, Santiago defends his marlin by ramming “the harpoon down onto the shark’s head,” effectively killing it (Hemingway 102). By overcoming doubt and using all of his power, Santiago displays fearlessness in times of trouble. In All is Lost, Our Man shows courage by hopping off his boat in the midst of a treacherous storm and onto a life raft.

The protagonist of Hemingway’s short story, Santiago, is a man with much pride. The reader learns that he has gone eighty-four days without any luck catching a fish. Fellow fishermen taunt him, and the parents of his former apprentice, Manolin, refer to him as,” …definitely and finally salao,” meaning the worst form of unlucky. Nevertheless, the man has undefeated eyes. Determination and his prideful heart drive him to his goal of setting out farther to sea than usual, where the big fish are, despite his fruitless streak.

Hemingway has a way of making his readers believe that the feats and strengths that his characters obtain in his novels are actually possible. Although this statement may be too critical, and maybe there is a man out there, somewhere on the coast of Cuba who at this very moment is setting out to the open sea to catch a marlin of his own. The struggle many readers have is believing the story of Santiago’s physical powers and his strength against temptation bring forward the question of whether or not The Old Man and the Sea is worthy to be called a classic. Hemingway’s Santiago brought Faulkner and millions of other readers on their knees, while to some, believed Hemingway

Santiago, the protagonist in The Old Man and the Sea, faces challenges over the course of several days that ultimately culminate in his epic struggle with the catch of his life, the marlin. Shortly after his catch, Santiago watches in horror as the first mako shark begins to eat his prized possession. Santiago then notes, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated” (103). To analyze this quote, possible meanings of the two words must be explored. At first, it may appear that the word “destroyed” carries a much more intense and harsher meaning. Upon further inspection, it can be realized that the word “destroyed” just means to be killed in a physical way, while the word “defeated” implies a complete and utter mental loss. Looking at it this way, the quote can be paraphrased to: a

There are many strong relationships in this world. But none as strong as the old man/Santiago and the great outdoors. There is only one bad situation between Santiago and nature. The sharks, but that’s for later. Santiago is truly an outdoorsy guy.

How would you feel if your best friend was not allowed to travel along with you on excursions any longer? In the book, The Old Man and The Sea, Santiago dealt with this exact issue. Santiago was a timeworn fisherman that lived in the city of Havana, Cuba. His friend, “the boy”, also lived there, and took care of Santiago a great deal. Santiago had not caught any significant-sized fish for 84 days. Now, it was the 85th day of Santiago’s empty-net fishing trip streak. He had not brought the boy along, for his parents didn’t wish him to fish with Santiago anymore, as I will explain later. When Santiago was out a ways, without warning a gigantic fish took hold of his fishing line. Santiago tried to haul up the fish, but instead, the fish dragged him and his craft away from land. All of a sudden he wished the boy was there to aid him. Everyone agrees that Santiago went to sea. Some say it was more profitable that he didn’t bring the boy. Others believe the contrary. Santiago should have taken the boy to sea for three

Struggles affect relationships in the novel because this is how the old man Santiago and the young boy Manolin were such a great team for each other. The old man had lots of knowledge about fishing and had taught the young boy how to fish, the young boy was capable of doing more of the hard work like lifting heavy fishing supplies onto and off of the skiff. Manolin didn’t mind helping Santiago when it came to daily routines and they both enjoyed each other's company. If it weren't for their struggles they may have never became friends and have such a great friendship as what they do. Maolin has been a big help to Santiago's life, but he doesn't mind helping him because Santiago has been more of a father to Manolin then his actual father. Santiago was old and would forget things, his mind would repeat things over from other days in the past and Manolin had eventually just grown used to acting

The lions, first presented in a flashback to Santiago’s childhood, and most important throughout the story in Santiago’s dreams, develop to symbolize his youth and indirectly symbolize the boy. When relating to Manolin the things that mean most to him, Santiago expresses “When I was your age I was before the mast on a square-rigged ship that ran to Africa and I have seen lions on the beaches in the evening” (Hemingway). This marks the beginning of the comparable relation between Santiago’s youthful memories of the lion and his thoughts of Manolin. The lions also symbolize Santiago’s dwindling stance as a revered fisherman. As lions in their native habitat, hold a reverence as symbols of bravery, adventure, and strength, when presented in Santiago’s dreams the lions lacked these characteristics, and are instead marked by playfulness and adolescence. This distinct contrast symbolizes a decline in the characteristics that once marked Santiago as a famous fisherman of his time. These shifts in characteristic, displayed in Santiago’s memory of the lions also inspire a perspective of humbleness in Santiago’s dull character. Considering the link between the lion’s and Santiago’s lively youth is equivalent to his memory of them in his dull adulthood, the lions infuse a sense of transition from childhood to adulthood with sustained virtue in Santiago’s character. The lions accomplish the same task in balancing the link between Santiago and his young

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.

Endurance can be seen in Santiago’s good spirit after eighty-four days in which he failed to catch a fish. “‘Eighty-five is a lucky number,’ the old man said” (Hemingway, 16). Santiago waits for the day his luck will return without complaint. To compound these twelve fishless weeks, the people in the town begin to speak poorly of the old man. “But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which was the worst form of unlucky…” (Hemingway, 9). None of this concerns the old man. He suffered in silence while trying to avoid taking charity from those around him. Later, during his time on the sea, Santiago faced down sleep deprivation and

One of the predominate dreams that Santiago has during the book takes place on the coast of Africa with lions playing around with each other. The book tells us this is the only dream he has and the dream connect Santiago with memories of his childhood. Like the lions, Santiago is a hunter at heart with him being a fisher. But since his dream depicts the lions playing instead of hunting, the dream serves as a break from the real world.In the Old Man of the Sea, one of the main themes in the book is modernism. One of the characteristics of modernism found in the book is when Santiago is stuck on the boat while he is fishing. It is only him and his thoughts and the readers get to read everything. Through his thoughts we are able to understand how he feels. Despite the the fish Santiago

Santiago of The Old Man and the Sea is the quintessential “Hemingway Hero”-a type of fictional character created by Hemingway in all of his books whose basic response to life appealed very strongly to the readers. The Old Man begins the narrative with all the elements of such a hero despite his senescence and poverty. He shows strength, determination, and dedication to himself despite his struggles. Santiago relates back to readers as a strong failure who picks himself up repeatedly.