Santiago Being A Code Hero

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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In Mr. Hemingway's stories, the protagonist frequently finds meaning in a certain "code" or rules of living. One of the best characters to exemplify this "code" hero is the aging fisherman from the Old Man and The Sea, Santiago. By living as a loner, passing on knowledge to a new generation, and not seeing success as result oriented, but effort oriented, Santiago is an apt example of this concept.

Santiago, due to Hemingway's outstanding usage of characterization, can befit one requirement of a "code" hero, being a loner. To begin with, with the exception of Manolin, the old man lives in his dilapidated shack without the visitation of his fellow fishermen. Due to his old age, Santiago feels alienated from society, as he cannot connect to the younger fishermen who have different values, such as considering the sea a masculine adversary and using modern technology instead of the human mind.

In addition, being branded a "salao" further adds to his loneliness and misery. This action is paramount in prompting Manolin's concerned parents to order the only companion of Santiago to abandon the already lonely old man, by serving on a more profitable boat. Finally, the blue-eyed man has no one that he can turn to for companionship or help during the three-day ordeal with the marlin. In this ordeal, the protagonist must perform all the duties involved in fishing (i.e. slave work, holding on to the line), while fighting bitter loneliness, as he is alone in the ocean away from all the other fishermen that could possibly help. However, this does not imply that he does not desire help or companionship, in fact, he states time and time again, "I wish I had the boy"(P.51), as a call for help in his lonely state. Through out...