...catch of his life. For eighty-four days, Santiago, an aged Cuban fisherman, has set out to sea and returned empty-handed. So conspicuously unlucky is he that the parents of his young, devoted apprentice and friend, Manolin, have forced the boy to leave the old man in order to fish in a more prosperous boat. Nevertheless, the boy continues to care for the old man upon his return each night. He helps the old man tote his gear to his ramshackle hut, secures food for him, and discusses the latest developments in American baseball, especially the trials of the old man’s hero, Joe DiMaggio. Santiago is confident that his unproductive streak will soon come to an end, and he resolves to sail out farther than usual the following day. Character List Santiago - The old man of the novella’s title, Santiago is a Cuban fisherman who has had an extended run of bad luck. Despite his expertise, he has been unable to catch a fish for eighty-four days. He is humble, yet exhibits a justified pride in his abilities. His knowledge of the sea and its creatures, and of his craft, is unparalleled and helps him preserve a sense of hope regardless of circumstance. Throughout his life, Santiago has been presented with contests to test his strength and endurance. The marlin with which he struggles for three days represents his greatest challenge. Paradoxically, although Santiago ultimately loses the fish, the marlin is also his greatest victory. The marlin - Santiago hooks the marlin, which we learn at the...
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...the Sea is not one of those exaggerated stories of a huge fish that cannot be proven to have ever been caught. In fact, Santiago, the protagonist, truly hooks and kills the biggest marlin he’s ever seen, one that is well over 1000 pounds. Unfortunately, after winning the fiercest fishing battle in his career, this poor Cuban fisherman loses marketable parts of the fish to hungry sharks on his way back to shore. Three major themes in this novel are determination, pride, and friendship. There are many themes or lessons one can learn throughout the novel The Old Man and the Sea. Determination is one of the most important character traits Santiago portrays in this novel. It has been 84 days, and the protagonist has not caught a marketable fish that he can sell. Santiago depends on this because he is a poor man who does not have much. Despite the fact people in the town are now starting to lose hope in Santiago he does not give up. Santiago is determined to catch a fish no matter what it may take. Since Santiago has went to fish near shore he begins to think he will have more luck if he goes out further. As he takes a new route Santiago finally finds a fish but it is very hard to catch so he is struggling to kill it. As he waits for a perfect time to launch an attack to kill it he says “I’ll stay with you until I am dead” (Hemingway 52). This shows that Santiago would give up his life for a fish to prove everyone who thought he had bad luck wrong. If it weren’t for Santiago’s determination...
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...What does it take to be a hero? Does it have to be the big things or those nice small favors that have helped you. It has probably taken a journey for the hero to get where they are now. In the case of the Santiago, it was a long journey. Even though he is an old man, it doesn’t mean he already found his ending or reward. Santiago is an old fisherman struggling to catch fish. Santiago hasn’t caught a fish for a long 84 days. He gets help from his pupil, Manolin. Manolin provides food for the old man, carries fishing equipment, and essential care. In the book, during the early days of the fight with the marlin, Santiago wished for Manolin to help him when he wasn’t there. (pg.48) “Then he said aloud, “I wish I had the boy. To help me and to see this.” This expresses how Santiago feels about the boy. It’s clear that Santiago prefers that the boy was there to help him....
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...renowned eighteenth century pianist, and Hemingway’s own Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea are similar in their loyalty, their degree of skill, and their...
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...1. Santiago is an old hardened fisherman as described in this quote, “the old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck” (9). He is distant from his fellow fisherman and lives in a rather tiny house. 2. Manolin was taught how to fish by Santiago, and had worked alongside him for a period of time. Manolin would only quit when his parents told him that he had to work on another boat due to Santiago’s lack of success. Manolin considers Santiago to be the best fisherman, “There are many good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only you” (23). 3. Santiago and Manolin have a caring relationship as explained early in the novel, “It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty…the boy...
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...On the eighty-fifth day of his unlucky streak, Santiago was a salao no more. Both man and fish perilously struggle for survival for three days until the marlin tires and its equally exhausted counterpart harpoons it. While at first this battle seems simple, it redefines the meaning of victory for a man with something to prove. Especially if that meaning is not the typical show of fame and fortune. At first glance, one may believe Santiago fails as a fisherman because he did not bring his great catch to the market to sell, but this understanding of success fails to comprehend that being a fisherman has more than materialistic value to the old man. While Santiago could not deliver the whole marlin to shore, the strong connection Santiago has with the sea and his intrinsic pride as a fisherman...
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...Ernest Hemingway “ There was an old man that goes by the name Santiago. Santiago had been labeled as a "Salao" or the worst form of being unlucky. Because he had gone eighty-four days without catching a fish and that his companion, Manolin, was forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man and had been tasked to go with other blossoming fisherman but the boy disobeys his parents and visits the old man each night. Santiago tells Manolin that he will set far out into the Gulf Stream, north of Cuba and Straits of Florida to fish. Santiago was convinced that his fate will change. On the eighty fifth day, he sat out alone to Gulf Stream. By noon, a Marlin takes his bait. The marlin was too colossal for him so he was unable to pull it up to his boat. Santiago waited while his body was throbbing and aching. Two days and two nights passed, still he was unable to pull it out. On the third day, Santiago releases the strength left in him to pull the Marlin out and stabs the giant with a harpoon and ends the battle. He heads home while daydreaming about the high price the fish is about to bring him. The blood trail of the Marlin attracted sharks. Santiago kills one shark with his harpoon but he lost his weapon in the process. He made a new one and slays five more sharks but they kept coming until they have eaten the great marlin and they didn't stop until only the bone was visible. Disappointed and tired, Santiago heads home and falls into a deep sleep. The next day, a group...
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...The novella The Old Man and the Sea written by Ernest Hemingway describes the journey of an unlucky fisherman named Santiago. He is unlucky because he is a fisherman who has not been able to catch a fish for eighty-seven days. This is ironic because he is a fisherman who cannot catch a fish. Throughout the course of the book, Santiago is faced with many circumstances that change him in many ways. In the novella, the theme is luck. Luck is prosperity or good fortune. Due to the challenges and circumstances that Santiago is faced with, his views on luck change during the course of the book. “The Hemingway Code Hero” by Professor Yeo, Kyung-Woo, Ph.D states that Hemingway usually creates characters in his works based characteristics of a Hemingway...
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...In Act I of The Old Man and the Sea the reader is introduced to Santiago, an old man who loves fishing. Also in act one, the reader is introduced Manolin, a boy who is not related to the old man, but was taught to fish by Santiago. Santiago has not caught a fish for eighty-four days and it is bothering him. The other fishermen call him unlucky and make fun of him. Santiago ignores all of the comments and remains unfazed, but the question whether he is too old to catch a fish arises. The boy goes to buy some sardines for Santiago. Afterwards, they discuss fishing for the next day and baseball. They later go to Santiago’s house which is a small hut. They talk about their non-existent dinner and baseball. Santiago also mentions that his longest streak of not catching a fish is eighty-seven days and he cannot deal with going that long again. Santiago falls asleep and dreams of Africa and lions on the beach. When he awakes Manolin has gotten dinner for them from Martin. They say they must pay him back when they catch their big fish. Act II begins with the duo heading down to the docks in the morning, but the moon is still outside. Manolin gives Santiago the sardines and he casts out to sea. Santiago pasts by flying fish and birds and make a comment about how the “can be so cruel” (29). Before light hits, Santiago casts out his lure. As Santiago was fishing, he notices Portuguese man of war being eating by turtles. He catches some tuna so that he can eats. Then he gets a pull on...
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...beginning of the novel, Santiago has been fishing for eighty-four days and has not caught a fish. This symbolizes defeat in Santiago’s life. Santiago does not intend on giving up, but instead he has determination and tells himself that he will go fishing every day until he finally catches a fish. Santiago has a lot of pride in himself, and I find this to be a very rare trait, especially in today’s world. The theme of The Old Man and the Sea is to never give up in any circumstance, because you never know what might happen next. Santiago never gave up and went fishing every day until he hooked the marlin, and he stayed with that marlin until he was able to kill it. When the sharks began to attack Santiago’s boat so they could eat the marlin, Santiago knew it was hopeless and that he would lose the fish, but he still fought them off as long as he could. Even though Santiago was defeated in his fishing trip, he emerged as a hero to not only himself, but to all the people around him as well. The Old Man and the Sea has a few characters. First, there is Santiago who is a fisherman that has not caught a fish in over eighty days but refuses to give up. Santiago is the “Old Man” in the story’s title and knows more than most people about fishing and the water. Santiago is a very humble man and he has a lot of self confidence in all of the things that he does. Manolin, who seems to be Santiago’s apprentice, is a young boy that helps Santiago with his fishing. Ever since Santiago has been having...
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...In the novella “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago is portrayed as a hero because he shows courage, respect, endurance and determination. Santiago doesn’t let his old age keep him from doing the things he loves, and he takes pride in fishing. In the story he says, “Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, but that was the thing that I was born for”. The other fisherman make fun of him and say that Santiago is unlucky because he is unable to catch fish despite his hardest efforts. He had gone more than 80 days without catching a fish, but had faith that a fish would come. In the novella, Santiago states “my big fish must be somewhere.” After not catching anything for 84 days, he decided to go out on his own, far into...
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...Dillard describes a teacher “now in her sixties, who is increasingly stunned” by nature, more so than the children she is teaching (Dillard 1). Similarly, Santiago has love and compassion for various sea animals. He feels bad for turtles when they are butchered for he has “such a heart too” (Hemingway 36-7) Santiago and Dillard’s character are both teachers, Santiago teaching the boy to fish, and the latter is an academic teacher. They have spent their lives learning, and now that they have completed educations and are passing on knowledge to a younger generation, they have a deeper insight to nature. They can focus their energies on observing things that may seem arbitrary such as sea turtles or brightly colored leaves. This focus is also expressed when Santiago describes young men who regard the sea as a “contestant...or even as an enemy” (Hemingway 30). The younger men have a more brutal relationship with the sea, and although they may appreciate it, they appreciate it in a way that someone may respect the strength of their opponent in a fight. Aged and experienced, Santiago has a more understanding relationship with the ocean, and “works with the sea,” letting it aid him as he sails (Out Too Far 81). Neither is necessarily the more correct way to fish and work with nature, but the way that Santiago fishes is with an attitude that expresses his understanding of the ocean from years of working with it. When he describes the careful techniques he uses to fish it can...
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...for the character to succeed, never cared about succeeding; the character failed in a big way because it was a story about failing; the point was not to advise the reader ‘don’t do it like this’; the point was, ‘there are important lessons people should learn about failure and humiliation. Answer Both the stories, Old Man and the Sea and Fear and Trembling have similarities. The main character go through hardships, suffering till the end, Santiago with catching the fish but losing it and Amelie getting hired at Yumimoto as a translator ends up cleaning bathrooms there. I believe that Hemingway never really cared about succeeding. I agree that the character failed in a big way but the point was not to advise the reader ‘don’t do it like this’; the point was, ‘there are important lessons people should learn about failure and humiliation.’ Santiago does not catch a single fish for consecutive eighty-four days and then when he goes determined that he must, he does. But if Hemingway showed that Santiago caught the fish after three days of non-stop struggle and came back a hero, it would end up being just like every other story, a cliché. These kinds of stories are what bores people because not only is it unrealistic but many cannot relate to it. Not every...
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...Literature. The American Academy of Arts and Letters also rewarded him with the Award of Merit Medal in 1954. At first sight, the story seems to be the utmost easy novel of an old fisherman named Santiago, who set out to sea to fish. Unfortunately, for him, his luck runs out on that mission. Yet through his faith and perseverance, he comes out victoriously. The novel is enriched with significant religious overtones such as the characters, events and symbols, which have created a deeper meaning. “The Old Man and the Sea has engendered some lively debate in literary circles. Critics have concentrated on everything in the novella from the verity of Rigel’s early evening appearance over Cuban skies in September (Weeks 192) to William Faulkner’s judgment that Hemingway discovered God while writing”(Bradford 158-62). “Biblical imagery literally abounds in The Old Man and the Sea according to Donald Heiney. Santiago as a Spanish name translates to Saint James, likewise San Pedro that translates to Saint Peter. James and Peter were disciples of Jesus. In addition, these disciples were fishermen in the bible precisely The New Testament. “Santiago de Compostela is the patron saint of Spain and is also greatly revered by Cuban Catholics” (Hemingway86). The fish also produced biblical images as well; Santiago addresses the fish as a “brother”… (Hemingway 48), however, he was determined to capture and kill the marlin. This scenario reminds me of Cain and Abel in the bible, when Cain deliberately...
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...In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway and the movie The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger have many similarities in the main characters. The main similarities that Santiago and Billy Tyne share are their pride, the losses they both have, and how they are both treated throughout their days of being a fisherman. Santiago is the main character in the novella, The Old Man and the Sea. He is an older man who is a fisherman where recently he has not caught any fish for eighty-four days. His pride is to keep fishing and trying to catch something so people in his village would stop laughing at him because he has not caught a single fish for a long time. Even though he has not caught anything for that amount of time and listens...
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