The character of Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea
Freddy Edenborough Year 8
rnest Hemingway presents Santiago as an ordinary, old fisherman at the beginning of the story. However, Hemingway later develops his actions and characteristics as heroic; Santiago becomes a symbol for the doomed yet noble battle between a human soul and the trials and evils of a brutal but beautiful world. Santiago is depicted as an old man who, in turn, shows bravery, courage, determination and willingness to endure suffering. Hemingway describes the oldman in his late sixties or early seventies, and a man of much experience. The pain Santiago endures is caused by his attempt to catch a massive fish, which tows him far out to sea, testing the limits of his physical strength and his mental willpower. In the scene where Santiago is arm-wrestling with the ‘negro’, it says, ‘blood came out from under their fingernails.’ This image shows the extremity to which the men take the fight, and howmuch pain they are willing to endure. The idea of blood coming from ‘under their fingernails’ is almost like pain or death or violence is something inside of them, which comes to the surface when they fight. Alternatively, it could suggest that in the macho world these men inhabit, being ‘a man’ – a word that is repeated on almost every page of the book – means never backing down, no matter how much it hurts or even if it breaks you. In A Farewell To Arms , Hemingway said that, ‘the world breaks all men, but afterwards many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills’, which I think describes Santiago. At the end of The Old Man and the Sea Santiago and his boat are broken, but he seems peaceful and like he has found his strength again. Santiago is not just tough physically, but emotionally too. Throughout the story, he treats and respects the fish as if it were a person, but at the same time is totally unfazed by the fact that he is causing the fish immense pain, even though the more pain he causes the fish, the more pain it causes him – almost like he is actually fighting with and hurting himself: ‘Then he was sorry for the fish; but he never relaxed in his E
determination to kill him’. This also reflects the harsh lives of poor Cubans in the early 1950s, where fishermen like Santiago had to constantly sacrifice their bodies fishing to feed their families, and had to be willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Santiago seems to be a voice for Hemingway’s unique philosophy on life and death. He says to the fish, ‘I love you and respect you, but I will kill you before this day ends.’ The most unusual word in this sentence is the word, ‘love’; men do not normally love fish. Possibly their beauty reminds him of his dead wife, who he clearly misses as he has kept her religious symbols in the house even though he does not
In the macho world these men inhabit, being ‘a man’ – a word that is repeated on almost every page of the book – means never backing down
believe in God. But the idea that you could sincerely love something but still kill it suggests an unusual outlook on death – that a ‘good death’ can be a beautiful and noble thing. Santiago’s ‘conversation’ with the fish continues; he asks him: ‘you’re going to die anyway, do you have to kill me too?’ The casual tone of this question suggests he thinks of death as something inevitable, and so not something to fear. At no point in the story does Santiago seem to be afraid of dying, and at times almost seems to be
10
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker