The Old Man and the Sea: Tragic Hero with a Tragic Flaw Essay

Another important aspect of Santiago’s personality is his optimism and resilience. Although not associated with all transcendentalists, the ability to view events in a positive light is very important for a Transcendentalist to possess. Thoreau describes this attribute as being the way in which we see the beauty all around us, by taking the bad and viewing it in a positive manner. Santiago does exactly this by always accepting the hand he is dealt. After days out at sea in a very painful position, he states, “He did not truly feel good because the pain from the cord across his back had almost passed pain and gone into a dullness that he mistrusted. But I have had worse things than that, he thought. My hand is only cut a little and the cramp is gone from the other. My legs are all right. Also now I have gained on him in the question of sustenance.” (Hemingway 74). Santiago feels that his injuries are not important, as he has experienced worse pain and what is more important to him at the time is catching the fish. Later in the book, after he finally catches the huge fish, it gets eaten by sharks on his way back to shore. Unlike a typical

Santiago chose to go “there to find him [the marlin] beyond all people.” (50) His choice was to go far out into the sea, farther than any of the other fishermen.

In both competitions, Santiago demonstrates a great sense of will power and perseverance. For example, the arm wrestling match was also a test of endurance, just like his battle with the marlin: “They had gone one day and one night with their elbows on a chalk line…the odds would change back and forth all night…but [Santiago would] raise his hand up to dead even again” (70). Similarly, he fights the fish for three long days and does not give up. After this twenty-four hour arm wrestling game, “everyone called him The Champion” (70). This defeat was important for Santiago because it proved that Santiago once had enough strength to beat the strongest man on the docks, who is implicitly compared to the marlin. It is also interesting to note that during this part of the narrative, Santiago also remembers another worthy opponent: Joe DiMaggio, another hero who shows an amazing strength of will that helps him overcome adversity. With this flashback, then, Hemingway establishes a sense of heroic virtues as spiritual rather than physical qualities.

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

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

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.

The novel written by Ernest Hemingway tells the story of an old fisherman named Santiago (referred to as "the old man") and his quest of catching a fish. Unfortunately, the old man has been down on his luck and has been fish-less for eighty-four days. The next time the old man leaves for a fishing trip, he sets sail farther than any fisherman has ever gone before, and he refuses to go home until he has proven to himself and to society that he is more than an average old man. However the old man is forced to overcome many challenges on his quest. His old age hinders him drastically and when he is finally able to get a fish on his line, he is not strong enough and is unable to reel the fish in. On the third day of the fishing expedition as the old man continues to struggle with the fish (a large marlin), he begins to reflect on the nature of the universe and his low place in society. The old man begins to feel pity for the fish, however also feels an unflagging determination to kill

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.

Throughout the whole book Santiago shows many signs of courage. In the beginning, Santiago gets in his boat and sails out into the sea. He usually stays near shore, like all the other boats. However, today “He elects to risk all by reaching beyond man’s reach by going ‘too far out”’ (a readers guide 192).   He is not a man with a lot of strength. He is very old and has to have someone help him do certain tasks. His hands are very brittle and there is times where he can not rely on them. They bleed and get stuck in the fist position when he does too much manual labor. Often times his left hand is what gives him the most trouble.  However, none of this ever stops him from doing what he believes in. Hemingway uses this quote to show readers that Santiago can still do anything he wants, “I will handle him with the right arm alone” (16). While his left hand is not much use, Santiago does not let that stop him from holding onto the line with only his right hand. In the end, after the fish dies he is finally on his way back home. With him being such full of courage “he did not need a compass to tell him where Southeast was. He only needed the feel of the trade winds” (Hemingway 27). He is not scared at all about getting lost. He knows exactly how to get himself home. He does not need anyone or anything telling him which direction he needs to travel. As he was relying on the trade winds he finally makes it back

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.

Following this, on one side of the debate, some critics believe that the primary theme of The Old Man and The Sea is pride. Admittedly, there are many scenes where pride is shown. Nevertheless, it’s critical to understand that pride was one of the many reasons why Santiago persevered so much. For example, Litcharts.com claims that, “After he kills the first shark, Santiago, who knows he killed the marlin "for pride," and wonders if the sin of pride was responsible for the shark attack because pride caused him to go out into the ocean beyond the usual boundaries that fishermen observe (Litcharts 1).” Although the quote expressed many examples of the theme pride, it shows perseverance even further. When the quote claimed that pride

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 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

He tries to reel it in but he can't. Instead the fish is pulling the boat! He struggles and struggles with the fish for hours. After a while fatigue takes it's toll as his hands clamp up, and his back aches from the line tied around it. The fish surfaces and Santiago realizes that it is longer than the boat he is on! An unexpected jerk leaves a gash in his hand only to add to his pain. After a very long while Santiago shortens the line to harpoon it. He latches the fish to the side of the boat and begind to tow it back to shore triumphant. Then a mako shark approaches and takes a large bite out of the marlin. Santiago kills it with a harpoon. Only later did he realize that the sharks blood would attract more sharks. As more sharks approached Santiago fought with all his might to save his fish but there was too many sharks. By the time he got to shore, he had nothing more than a skeleton. Santiago collapses from exhaustion on the shore but is found by Manolin and calls for help. The community marveled at the size of the skeleton that is still attached to the boat. Manolin takes care of the old man and vows to return to him as an apprentice. Santiago finally gets the repect from his community.

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.