Santiago is the protagonist in The
Old Man and the Sea. He is loving,
kind, honest, and forgiving. When other
fishermen were making fun of him, he would not hold a grudge but rather would
forgive them and forget all about it.
When Manolin brings him supper that came from a man in town by the name
of Martin, Santiago was very grateful and said that he would give Martin the
belly meat of a big fish (Hemmingway 6).
This is generous of his, especially considering that he has not caught a
single fish for eighty-four days. Some
days the only nutrition he has comes from coffee. He does not mind though, and he remains
optimistic that eight-five will be his lucky day. He is also very reflective and compares
himself to the turtles and the marlin that he catches. Santiago’s character also shows a good deal
of determination. After being at sea for
several days by himself with little good food and not knowing how long he will
be gone or even if he will return, Santiago still kept pursuing the giant fish,
willing to die for it. He also manages
to stay strong enough to fight off multitudes of sharks. “I’ll fight them until I die” (Hemmingway 43)
he says. The reader may question the old
man’s sanity while out at sea because he talks to, answers, and commands
himself in addition to the fish. He,
however, does not consider himself crazy.
“If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am
crazy,” he said aloud. “But since I am not crazy, I do not care. And the rich
have radios to talk to them in their boats and to bring them the baseball.” (Hemmingway
14) Santiago is seen as caring when
Manolin says that he will help the old man when he goes fishing. Santiago cares for this boy and wants the
best for him so he tells him to stay with the “lucky boat” (Hemmingway 3). Finally, in the face of disappointment at
losing the biggest fish he had ever seen, Santiago is able to shake off the
regret and move on with his life.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and
the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1952. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment