The Old Man And The Sea Code Hero Analysis

Per Ernest Hemingway, a Code Hero “lives correctly, following the ideals of honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful.” Hemingway’s Code Heroes endure the toughest of conditions stoically and courageously. However, not all agree that a hero, such as Hemingway’s Santiago, must approach scenarios in an emotionless manner. An example is shown in that of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby, who displays strong emotion in his struggles yet still shows the life of pain, lack of morality, and relentless pursuit of goals that are common to Code Heroes. Therefore, we can observe that Hemingway and Fitzgerald Code Heroes share characteristics such as pain and immorality although do not share emotionlessness found in Hemingway Code Heroes. However, the question remains: How and why are Hemingway and Fitzgerald Code Heroes similar or dissimilar?

From the beginning, the boy is very clearly in love with the old man. He practically worships him and considers him a hero to him. It is very strange for a book to have a character be so highly idolized at the beginning and have him not idolized any further at the end of the story. Some defining qualities a Code Hero should have are courage, honor, and discipline. Santiago quickly shows off these on the first full day fishing trip we experience with him. His courage to stay with the big fish while also honoring its feelings and its place in the sea as he is being dragged by it demonstrates him being the hero of the story. A little bit later in the story, when Santiago had been holding the line against his back for over a day now, the book said “He was still bearing the pull of the fish across his shoulders.” (Hemingway 76). Santiago stayed very calm while being dragged to distract his focus from the pain on his back. Showing grace under intense pressure is another important quality that makes a Code Hero who they are. Another example of this is shown in this quote: “He felt faint again now but he held on the great fish with all the strain he could.” (Hemingway 91). He was determined to catch this fish and he even said that he would die before the fish could ever get away while speaking to

In the old man and the sea, Santiago is portrayed in many different ways. When thinking of a code hero people will think strong, courageous and has a will to survive. Santiago shows the attributes of a code hero in, honor, courage and endurance, in the face of a stressful situation of catching a large fish. The first attribute that is shown is honor, Santiago has much honor when he caught the big fish, this was a large accomplishment for him. He could say he caught a large fish.

Santiago is a man who surely has shown his dedication to his craft of fishing, which also shows his persistence. Throughout the entire novel he fights the overcome the various circumstances in his life and yet uses these struggles to grow as a person. Ultimately, Santiago is a great example in literature of perseverance no matter the circumstances.

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles” -Christopher Reeve. When we think of a hero, we think of some big buff individual with a cape and superhuman powers. We think of a hero as a person who goes around saving people from mutant monsters. Despite this idea, heros come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and they don’t necessarily have to “save the day” to be a hero. Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is a prime example of a hero without a buff body and a cape.

In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway uses Santiago to demonstrate some of the qualities of a Hemingway Code Hero. Throughout the novel, Santiago encounters many trials and tribulations that test his role as a code hero. While reading the novel one will see that Santiago endures many of the rules of a code hero. However, the ones he encounters the most are misfortune, honor, and courage. Hemingway uses these rules in his novel in such a way that one can fully understand the life of Santiago.

Santiago demonstrates a Hemingway Code Hero here because he shows the ideal of poise and elegance in a chaotic situation. To add on, the old man also shows instances of grace under pressure while arm wrestling the negro at the tavern in Casablanca. Santiago and Cienfuegos, the strongest man on the docks, have been going at it for a full day, both of them in pain and exhausted. Suddenly the old man, “...unleashed his effort and forced the hand of the negro down and down until it rested on the wood” (70). The fight to win the match was difficult and chaotic, but Santiago stayed calm throughout it. He won in the end through his serene nature and demonstrates Code Hero qualities by being graceful under pressure. Next, after the first sunset, Santiago is telling himself that the fish will need to stop eventually for he could not pull the skiff forever when the old man states, "Fish," he said softly, aloud, "I'll stay with you until I am dead." (52). By saying this, Santiago is demonstrating a code heroes ideal of endurance.

In Santiago, the central character of The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway created a “Code Hero” who personified endurance. In Hemingway’s The Old Man And The Sea , Santiago was an example of endurance when he was hunting the really big fish. While everyone has been fishing with there family or with there fishing crew , Santiago was out there in the sea catching big fishes alone. No one helped him , he was the oldest out there in the sea and did the job of what 3 people did by himself. Santiago had fished and killed a marlin that was 18 feet.Santiago faught the marlin and sharks even though he does not have alot of strength in him , he was in sever pain due to the ropes and was also even starving , but avoided the pain and continued doing

Ernest Hemingway has long been known for his two “heroes” in his writing. The hero who is a weak, pathetic individual who is often lost physically and mentally, and the code hero who usually shows “grace under pressure” and helps the Hemingway hero find his place. These two heroes often come together in a relationship where the code hero is the teacher who initiates the Hemingway hero into the code. Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” is the quintessential example of Hemingway’s heroes.

However, for Santiago, pride is the motivating force that pushes him towards greatness. Whenever Santiago is feeling broken or feels like he want to relinquish, he simply tells himself that he is capable of anything. In addition, Santiago constantly recalls past experiences in order to boost his confidence. When he fears that his skiff will be attacked by sharks he remembers the time he won an arm wrestling match in Casablanca. “As the sun set he remembered, to give himself more confidence, the time in the tavern at Casablanca when he had played the hand game with the great negro from Cienfuegos who was the strongest man on the docks. They had gone one day and one night with their elbows on a chalk line on the table and their forearms straight up and their hands gripped tight... He had unleashed his effort and forced the hand of the negro down and down until it rested on the wood... For a long time after that everyone had called him The Champion.” This positive reinforcement helped Santiago feel invincible in times of trouble. Due to the his pride, the old man became fearless. When the sharks attacked, the he did everything in his ability to protect the marlin. Santiago knew that the attack was the destined tragedy that awaited him. He knew there was not a chance that the conflict would result in his victory. Nevertheless, he fought with all his might. He did not want to be overcome knowing he did nothing to avoid it. Moreover, Santiago has the unique ability to be self-loving yet humble. Santiago's humility is evident throughout the novel. “And the best fisherman is you" the boy told him, but the old man responds "No. I know others better.” Santiago does not allow his pride to control his body. Throughout the novel, he is not seen boasting a single time. He does not seek any attention or praise, his only desire is to enjoy life being the

Most importantly, Hemingway’s “heroes are not defeated except upon their own terms” (Warren, 55); what matters to them “is the stoic endurance, … the stiff upper lip” (Warren, 55) which represents victory in their own ways. Hemingway then masterfully shows how these principles affect the character’s lives in a positive light. Santiago, the protagonist of The Old Man and The Sea, shows how the code hero principles help him gain peace despite his failure to catch the large fish. The struggle may also be arduous and testing, as shown in The Nick Adams Stories. We the audience see Nick Adams, the protagonist and code hero, evolve from a naïve child in the beginning of the story, all the way to a fully realized code hero at the end. Hemingway maps Adam’s journey as one with both blessings and hardships; however, in the end, these learned principles give Adams peace and understanding with his life. These heroes all face different forms of defeat or death; however in the end, they “all manage to salvage something” (Warren, 35) out of these excruciating circumstances. Ernest Hemingway utilizes Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea as a fully developed code hero and Nick Adams

     In the timeless novel The Old Man and the Sea, the hero is undoubtedly the old man, Santiago, whom us as readers become very acquainted with. Santiago is a hard-worker and perseveres through every problem nature brings to him. He is in the midst of a horrendous fishing drought, during which the townspeople laugh and ridicule him. Santiago just lets the criticism pass him by because he is confident that the fish of his lifetime is coming soon. In a sense, Santiago represents the ideas of honor and pride. He is also a hero to a young boy named Manolin who conveys the image that the old man is whom he would rather live

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