The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway
In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway creates his hero who endures the elements of nature and overcomes the more powerful forces of human nature. In what would be his last novel, Hemingway succeeds in creating his truest hero by pitting a weak old man against the strongest and most uncontrollable villain of all, nature. In his work and in his own life, Hemingway is obsessed with man's survival in a world of immorality. In his work, he strives to create a hero of the times. His characters are not heroes in the traditional sense. They did not perform noble deeds or save others. They basically save themselves from destruction. Their struggle is with their own endurance and survival.The code by which Hemingway's heroes must live (Philip Young termed them "code heroes") is contingent on the qualities of courage, self-control, and "grace under pressure." The typical Hemingway hero as a man "who is wounded but bears his wounds in silence, who is defeated but finds a remnant of dignity in an honest confrontation of defeat." Furthermore, the hero's great desire must be to "salvage from the collapse of social life a version of stoicism that can make suffering
His own natural instinct and determination drive him to keep fighting the sharks away from his marlin. Hemingway's writing paralleled his own life experiences which gave him his main characters an autobiographical element (Longman, 2). Manolin has faith in Santiago because he taught him to fish. Even though he loses the fish to the sharks, he finds the courage to face defeat and return home with dignity. The marlin's courage and strength is glory to Santiago and he is sorry he has to kill him but his pride outweighs the injustice (Lewis, 201). They say he is cursed, but he still believes in himself and thinks he has something left to prove. James, the fisherman, apostle and martyr") (Lewis, 200). Manolin's parents will not let him fish with the old man anymore because he has not caught any fish and they need the money. The boy accepts the old man with all of his weaknesses and bad luck. When the sharks come and eat his catch, his grief is almost unbearable not because of losing the fish but from his respect of the giant fish which he calls his brother in nature (Gurko, 162). "His faith in himself gives him courage and the will to survive. He does not panic when his hand cramps, he curses it and sues it the best he can. In the end, Santiago emerges as a hero because he lives up to all the elements of Hemingway's hero code. Hemingway's heroes must also rely on self-discipline and skill for endurance.
Common topics in this essay:
Santiago Christ-like,
Gulf Stream,
Ernest Hemingway,
Joy DiMaggio,
Contemporary Authors,
Santiago Baker,
Illinois July,
Death Gurko,
Unlike Hemingway's,
St James,
hemingway hero,
contemporary authors,
hemingway's heroes,
contemporary authors 34194,
code hemingway's,
role model,
confront death,
hemingway heroes,
catch fish,
fish hemingway,
own life,
|
Acceptance Essays
