The Old Man and the Sea blog 4

The hero character of The Old Man and the Sea is none other than the old man himself.  Santiago is a very unique character because of many of his qualities and traits.  These qualities include his love of baseball, fascination with creatures of the sea, and deep understanding of human instincts.  Santiago displays his love of baseball through his favorite player DiMaggio and the comparisons he makes between himself and DiMaggio.  “Do you believe the great DiMaggio would stay with a fish as long as I will stay with this one? he thought.  I am sure he would and more since he is young and strong.” (Hemingway 68).  The old man also deeply cared about the creatures of the sea.  He would often think about how the animals dealt with certain situations and he especially loved the sea turtles.  Santiago’s personality showed that he understood his own instincts and knew that he was not going to give up on catching the fish.  He knew that pride was the base of his perseverance and used it to his advantage.  Throughout the course of the book, the only thing that Santiago really accomplishes is to catch the great fish.  Even this comes to a tragic end when sharks steal all the meat and the old man is left with just a carcass of bones.  So in the end he only gained the honor of not giving up in his trials.  Santiago represents the abstract idea of perseverance.  He never gave up on either catching the marlin or fighting off the shark attacks.  Even when he had lost all hope, Santiago continued to persevere knowing that he had no other choice.  “The old man’s head was clear and good now he was full of resolution but he had little hope.  It was too good to last, he thought.”  (Hemingway 101).  Santiago was a hero in his own way for persevering through his personal trials and not giving up when hope seemed lost.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.