Santiago in "The Old Man and the Sea"

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Recommended: The character sketch of Santiago

Many characters in the history of literature, such as Odysseus were obviously portrayed as heroes and were offered accolade. However, some characters are not easily recognized as being heroic. The old man, Santiago, in The Old Man and the Sea is one of them.

The old man and the sea is a novella about an old Cuban fisherman, Santiago, and his three-day battle with a giant Marlin fish. Throughout the novella, Santiago is portrayed in different perspectives. He is tough and refuses to give up at any time. He withholds the will to continue and the courage to overcome what is believed to be the impossible. His persistence and confidence, his absolute determination and his unique way of accepting the reality makes him a noble hero.

His persistence and confidence was clearly demonstrated at the beginning of the novella. At the beginning of the novella, Santiago seems to run out of luck: he has been unable to catch a fish for eighty four days. As a professional fisherman, eight four days without catching a single fish would be shameful, especially for an old man. However, he never once ga...

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