The Old Man and the Sea

By Garrett Kay

Mrs. Cheryl McCarthy

Honors English 10

9/27/16
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The Old Man and the Sea

The novel, The Old Man and the Sea, written by Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize

winner Ernest Hemingway is based on the journey of an aging Cuban fisherman who has

struggled for nearly three months now without catching a fish. Although he is criticized

and laughed at by many fisherman in the village, his strong bond with a young boy and

his own determination to prove to himself and others that he is not “salao, the worst form

of unlucky” (Hemingway 9) assist the old man to continue on with his journey. In

The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway portrays the old man, Santiago as a hero

who represents courage, faith, strength, and determination which in return helps him

catch the trophy fish of his dreams.

Santiago’s character exhibits courage in many ways throughout the book. Not

only is he alone in his skiff but he ventures out farther than ever before beyond the other

fishermen to where the biggest fish promise to be. Santiago never once complains about

his bad luck, questions the loss of his young fishing assistant, Manolin, “I know you did

not leave me because you doubted” (Hemingway 10) whines about his aging body, or

curse the large marlin who is giving him the fight of his life, but does the best he can to

take matters into his own hands and move on. He finds courage within himself to face

the difficult journey he is up against and shows it to the very end as he returns home

exhausted and empty handed, having to face the loss of his trophy catch.
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Santiago’s faith is not in God, “I am not religious, he said, but I will say ten Our

Fathers and ten Hail Marys that I should catch this fish” (Hemingway 64) but in himself.

It is due to his strong faith that Santiago is able to accomplish what he has in the story.

When any other human being would have given up, Santiago continues to push through

the agony of defeat and pain, like a turtle’s heart that continues to beat even in death-like

situations. Santiago never calls it quits.

The strength Santiago portrays in The Old Man and the Sea is both mental and

physical. “I may not be as strong as I think, but I know many tricks and I have resolution”

(Hemingway 23). Although he is not a young man anymore, he finds ways throughout

the book to take on the strong marlin by talking himself through the difficult times.

Santiago is not only cut several times by the fishing line but is dealing with old tired

hands “Cramp if you want, make yourself into a claw” (Hemingway 58) that choose not

to cooperate when he needs them the most. He is feeling dizzy at times and becoming

dehydrated but never once gives up on his own personal strength. Santiago pushes on

even in the roughest of times “I am being towed by a fish and I am the towing bitt”

(Hemingway 45) relying on himself to come out on top.

Determination is definitely one of the key elements Santiago shows throughout

the book, The Old Man and the Sea. It can easily be seen through his constant insistence

and stubborn attitude that he has in order to reach his goal of catching his prize trophy

fish. “Fish, I will stay with you until I am dead” (Hemingway 52). “If he will jump I can

kill him, but he stays down forever. I will stay down then with him forever”
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(Hemingway 60). Santiago’s careful and pain enduring way of bringing in the fish and

managing to finally kill it, is a perfect example of how determined he was. Throughout

the book, no matter how difficult and unpleasant his circumstances became, Santiago

exhibits nothing but tireless determination to catch the marlin and last but not least bring

it to shore. He is a definite symbol for never giving up.

In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway portrays the old man, Santiago

as a hero who represents courage, faith, strength, and determination which in return helps

him catch the trophy fish of his dreams. Although Santiago is from a different

generation, his character’s qualities are ones that are still beneficial to have in today’s

society. Ernest Hemingway through Santiago teaches us we all have battles to fight and

we should always try our very best to win them by never giving up.
 Work cited

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. Scribner, 1952.