Self Reliance In The Old Man And The Sea

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Recommended: Character sketch of Santiago in old man and the sea

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway builds itself upon a central component, the Hemingway Code Hero. Specifically, Hemingway uses the Hemingway Code themes of self-reliance, personal competition, and courage most effectively throughout the book. Santiago, a Cuban fisherman and the main character of The Old Man and the Sea, has gone 84 days without catching a fish, a disastrous situation for a fisherman who depends on the fish for food and money. In addition to food Santiago also wants to substantiate his claims that he is as competent a fisherman as the others. As Arvin R. Wells puts it, “The old fisherman fishes as much for a chance to prove himself as he does for a living, and, though he fails to bring the giant marlin to market, …show more content…

He can’t do this forever. But four hours later the fish was still swimming steadily out to sea, towing the skiff, and the old man was still braced solidly with the line across his back” (Hemingway 45). It is quite evident from this thought that Santiago is tired and does not want to deal with this fish much longer, but despite this Santiago is still at it four hours later. In the Hemingway Code, under self-reliance, it states that one must be skilled in a particular area. In this quote, Santiago shows his skill when he doesn't give up knowing from all of his experience that he must finish the job. In this situation, Santiago can give up and drop the line, but he does not do this because he knows that it is necessary to follow through and catch this fish so he can provide for himself. Throughout the book, Santiago displays numerous times that he can be self-reliant, overcome obstacles, and keep to the Hemingway …show more content…

Despite being put in situations where he could take the safer route, he takes them in stride and makes decisions that the Code and his life experiences fully support. When the book starts, Santiago talks to the boy Manolin about the baseball great, Joe DiMaggio, “I wanted to take him fishing but I was too timid to ask him. Then I asked you to ask him and you were too timid” (22). When one first reads these sentences, it seems that Santiago failed to ask DiMaggio to come out fishing with him. This is true, and Santiago does fail in this aspect of the Code, but this is not what it shows us. It can show us that when Santiago fails, it is because he has an adequate reason to do so. DiMaggio is a hero to Santiago because of this Santiago would never want to humiliate DiMaggio with his fishing ability. Santiago shows grace under pressure when a normal man would take DiMaggio fishing for a chance to prove himself. Santiago does not need to prove himself; he already knows what his abilities are and wants to show respect to the people he idolizes. Later in the book Santiago thinks to himself, “I could just drift, he thought, and sleep and put a bight of line around my toe to wake me. But today is eighty-five days and I should fish the day well. Just then, watching his lines, he saw one of the projecting green sticks dip sharply” (41). Santiago is actively thinking about giving up a little bit and

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