Santiago And The Old Man In The Sea Critical Lens Essay

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.

While other fishermen reel in boatloads of fish, the old man is lucky to feel so much as a tug on his line. He spends some time fishing with a young boy, but after months of bad luck, the boy’s parents no longer allow him to fish with the old man. It is for this reason that he decides to journey far out into the sea, aiming to catch a fish so huge it renders the other fishermen speechless. After venturing miles away from the course, the old man finally feels the pull of a large fish on his line; so large, in fact, that he does not have the strength to reel it in. However, he is determined to capture it no matter how long it takes, telling himself, “You better be fearless and confident yourself, old man” (Hemingway 84). He does his best to remain strong and optimistic throughout his time at sea. With much patience, he allows the marlin to guide his boat through the rippling waves of the ocean for days on end. When it finally tires out, he is able to kill it and reel it in, leaving an accumulation of blood in its place. Knowing this could mean trouble, he begins to head back to shore as quickly as possible, blood trailing behind him. To his dismay, despite his efforts to avoid them, the sharks sense the blood in the water and approach his boat. Each time a shark appears, he is eventually able to fight it off, but not before it can take a portion

Throughout the constant struggle between Santiago and the fish, he is forced to prove his skills as a fisherman and conduct his discipline to retain his

The Old Man and The Sea, is a tale of an old man named Santiago who is a fisherman. He hasn’t had any luck with fishing, resulting in the other town members viewing him as a lame old man. A boy who used to fish with him inspires to change up his usual fishing tactics resulting in him catching a great huge fish. After fighting the fish for a couple days in his tiny boat he ties it to the side, headed for shore. On the way in sharks eat his entire catch leaving a skeleton to show for his work. The reader can see a clear metaphor painted by Hemingway. The fish

When describing the man he said “the old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck (9)”. This depicts how old Santiago really was and how close he was to the end of his life. Hemingway also described the flag on his sail as “looking like the flag of permanent defeat (9)”. This quote foreshadows Santiago’s eventual death which was caused by going out at sea past his ordinary limits.

‘I am a tired old man. But I have killed this fish which is my brother and now I must do the slave work’” (95). This relates to perseverance because Santiago has finally caught the fish he’s sought after for days. Most people would have been celebrating their victory, but not Santiago. Santiago surveys the situation and lays his head in his hands. He is tired and ill from his long battle. Santiago only takes a short break. He knows he still has much to do. Santiago now has to worry about bringing the fish home. He thought of the fish as an equal and can’t let his body go to waste. He has traveled at sea for a days and therefore has a long journey home ahead of him. He can’t stop until he makes it home. Finally, Santiago makes it home, “He unstepped the mast and furled the sail and tied it. Then he shouldered the mast and started to climb. It was then he knew the depth of his tiredness. He stopped for a moment and looked back and saw in the reflection from the street light the great tail of the fish standing up well behind the skiff’s stern. He saw the white naked line of his backbone and the dark mass of the head with the projecting bill and all the nakedness

Santiago's determination shows that he is not worried to fight past his limits to catch this great fish. He wants it bad and he will fight forever to get it. After he has caught the fish he put is on the side of his boat. As he is sailing the great distance to home he keeps encountering sharks. Santiago realizes that "it was too good to last…

Among all the novels and essays he has published, he is best known for his classic novella The Old Man and the Sea (1952). Since its publication, the novella has earned worldwide recognition and has been translated into numerous languages considering it is known as a tale with a much deeper message that transcends place and time. In the novella, the protagonist Santiago’s qualities of bravery, honor and endurance not only enable him to thrive in the face of adversity, but also influence those around him. For instance, a young boy, Manolin has a special relationship with Santiago, who has taken the boy out to fish since he was five. Manolin has a certain degree of devotion and loyalty to Santiago, for he thinks of Santiago as both a fatherly figure and a mentor.

Still, Santiago returns to his small fishing village with the skeleton of the fish.  He achieves a spiritual victory instead of  a material one, surviving the ordeal of battle, and arriving with proof of his struggle strapped to his boat-the skeleton of the fish.  Rather than a huge profit from such a large fish, he gains the admiration of the town for his valorous fight.  Violence and disorder prevail, but Santiago honorably defends his catch in the midst of what will be a losing battle. Oscar Wilde once said, "Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot.  In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you" (n. pag.).  Santiago finds fulfillment by proving his manhood and his worth to both the town and Manolin, a local boy who admires him greatly.

Santiago's lifeline In the Old Man and the Sea, Earnest Hemingway’s master piece, Santiago, the old man, is devoted to god along the course of the story despite the fact that he seems in denial of his religious practices. Santiago has moments that represent desperation, solitude and hope, that makes the reader understand that after all, he is attached to his faith in God to overcome the difficulties he is going through. The novel takes place in Cuba’s independence years.

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.

After the old man returned home, Manolin told the old man that he would begin fishing alongside him once again. This was also good news to Santiago because the boy had good luck catching fish. When Santiago asked the boy what he caught during his absence, he replied, “One the first day. One the second and two the third” (Hemingway 124). The old man had hope for the future; Manolin wanted Santiago to teach him everything he knew about fishing. Manolin tells Santiago, “You must get well fast for there is much that I can learn and you can teach me everything” (Hemingway

A time when the old man has faced defeat is when the sharks come. When the sharks come he was not defeated entirely, but he definitely did not succeed. During the time of the sharks he has several defeats. The main defeat that I will talk about is when the second wave of sharks came. During this time the old man feels defeated because he caught the marlin but he had gone out too far. Now there are sharks attacking the aged man and the marlin and Santiago really feels guilty to the fish. The old man states “‘I shouldn’t have gone out so far, fish,” he said. “Neither for you nor for me. I’m sorry, fish.’” (Hemingway 109). The old man saying this is really significant because he feels defeated for the fish and for himself.

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.

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