Il Faut D'abord Durer Nobel Prize winning author Andre Gide once stated: “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore”. To move beyond the safety and security of the shore certainly takes courage and determination. In literature, heroes are often portrayed as individuals who exhibit these qualities. According to the Oxford Online Dictionary, a hero is defined as “a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities” (www.oxforddictionaries.com). In other words, heroes are often admired and idealized for courageous acts or nobility of characters. They are the main characters of books, films and ancient Greek myths. Nevertheless, in addition to the traditional hero, the …show more content…
He won the Nobel Prize in 1954 and many of his works are considered classics of American literature. One of his most famous novellas The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952 and tells the story of an aged Cuban fisherman named Santiago, who struggles to fight against a giant marlin in the Gulf Stream of the coast of Florida. One of the major themes throughout the novella is the idea of manhood and heroism. The hero that Hemingway presents, also known as a code hero, often adheres to a set of principles for conduct. The “code” dictates and defines the hero as a man who has the ability to act honorably and to display qualities of perseverance and bravery even in the midst of a losing battle. In Ernest Hemingway’s classic novella titled The Old Man and the Sea (1952), the protagonist Santiago is a quintessential Hemingway’s code hero whose qualities of honor, courage, and determination leads to his achievement of inner spiritual success. This argument can be demonstrated by the honorable and dignified lifestyle that Santiago leads, the endurance and courage that he displays in the face of adversity, and finally, his unwavering determination to defeat the marlin bring it back to shore despite the …show more content…
The simplicity of Santiago’s house demonstrates that the old man lives in poverty and can barely support himself. He has no possessions, no food or money, yet he never complains. This serves the purpose of drawing a clear distinction between external, material success and inner, spiritual success. Santiago does not focus on the material world or take pleasure in simple luxuries and comforts. While he lacks the former, his inner strength and indefatigable spirit prove him to be worthy of the latter. It is his inner spiritual success that helps him to transcend hunger and poverty. He believes that what he accomplishes or fails externally is far less important than how he conducts himself with inner nobility and integrity. Santiago has faith and confidence in himself and his refusal to be discouraged or overcame by adversity enables him to always act honorably. Also, Santiago is well respected in the community because of his extensive fishing career and his great skills. Many people care for him and provide him with daily
In the novel, The Alchemist, Santiago is an archetypal hero who embarks on the most common forms of a hero’s journey. From when he received his calling from his dream, the gypsy woman, and the king, his denial and refusing of the call with his thoughts of assurance of a stable livelihood, his acceptance and beginning of adventure, his help throughout the ways with the aid of the mystical alchemist, to finally the trials that he faces from the start to the conclusion. Therefore, so Santiago is what now, and always has been considered to be the all-known hero.
The Three Spanish Coins: As mentioned in the scrapbook they represent to Santiago more than material wealth, they convey to him that though his parents were against his decision of leaving priesthood for the act of mere traveling, his father somewhat understood his dreams. Had it not been for the three spanish coins he may have never possibly began his adventures as a shepard and may have never had the idea of pursuing his legend. But those are simply possibilities and the larger picture lies at the basis that he had received the approval of his father before he had decide to leave everything for a new life. On another note the coins may have been a prediction to what was to come for Santiago, just as his dad found the coins Santiago was destined to find Spanish coins in the treasure too.
According to “The Hero’s Journey”, societies throughout history have lifted up exemplary individuals. There is almost always one individual who is a perfect example. He is the guy that leads others and is looked up to. The greeks valued a character that they could aspire to be. Also from “The Hero’s Journey”, the hero seems to be invincible and incorruptible. The hero is tested, but he always seems to prevail. In real life, this can be seen as a world leader or a famous warrior. As quoted from The Odyssey, “ He fought only to save his life and to bring his shipmates home.”(561). The hero always fights for good causes and for others. You never hear about a hero being selfish or foolish. They are always pure and just, so they are often well known and popular among the
Santiago’s early behavior of transcendentalism are evident when he nullifies and rejects his parents’ longing for him to become priest, and instead decides to remain a shepherd of Andalusia and learn the indecipherable language of the world. When Santiago’s father tries to persuade Santiago that travelling with a herd of sheep does not impact and change a person, Santiago replies, “But I’d like to see the castles in the towns where they live,”… “Well, I’d like to see their lands, and see how they live” (Coelho 9). Santiago’s early rejections of becoming a priest and perusing his life as a shepherd clearly demonstrates that Santiago’s comprehension and understanding of life does not include the following a decided future, but exploring and discovering the world with own eyes. Furthermore, when Santiago decides to define his Personal Legend by voyaging to the Pyramids of Giza, he is faced and challenged with many hardships that will require critical thinking and extremely important verdicts. When, for example, held hostage by Moorish chieftains and given the daunting task to disintegrate the Moorish military camp by transforming into the wind, Santiago communicates with nature’s elements, “I learned the alchemist’s secrets in my travels. I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the same hand, and we have the same soul” (Coelho 146). Eventually, Santiago learns that all aspects of biotic and abiotic existence are controlled by a creator, and maintained by the Soul of the World. Manifestly, Santiago’s adventures revolutionized him into a prudent, wise man and reflect the
The act of following dreams brings one closer to God. Santiago acknowledges the fact that every day of his journey has been incredible because he has discovered new and inspiring things “that [he] never would have seen had [he] not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve’” (Coelho 130). Santiago also learns not to let fear get in the way of his personal advancement. Possessing fear as he pursues his Personal Legend “should not be an option because paralysis inhibits life’s progress” (Sylvia, “The Alchemist”). Santiago learns that fear should not inhibit his progression in
First of all, the author shows that through persevering through adversity anyone can achieve their dreams. During the book Santiago continuously faces problems that he will have to overcome to achieve his Personal Legend. In this scenario, Santiago is in the city of Tangier when he is suddenly robbed of all of his money, by a thief who promised to take him to Egypt. However instead of thinking of himself as a victim of a thief he decides that “I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure” (34). Santiago was able to persevere through a situation that many people would not have been able to overcome and not able to continue their journey. Being able to persevere through
In the novel, Santiago sets out on a journey of self-discovery, in the journey there are significant moments and experiences that helped him on his journey of self-discovery. The significant moments that helped Santiago on his journey of self-discovery was his meeting with the king that helped Santiago set off on his journey of self-discovery, then he met Fatima who helped Santiago know love, and finally Santiago’s meeting with the Alchemist who helped him finish his journey of self discovery.
Coelho incorporates many internal struggles into Santiago’s life in order to prove that they don’t restrain people from achieving their personal legend. Through the use of the hero’s journey, Santiago faces many internal struggles such as when he attempts to understand
Santiago had been rewarded with the treasure earned when completing his journey, “In my dream there was a sycamore growing out the ruin of the sacristy… there were precious stones, gold masks adorned with red and white feathers.” (Coelho 170). Santiago was able to accomplish his personal legend, which he had to go through many stages in the journey that got him closer to completing his goal. In this final stage of his journey was a good thing to accomplish, because he’s gone through all of the stages that had been placed there to challenge and see if he actually wants to accomplish it, so he did not give up and gained trust in himself to keep going. This is an important part of the journey because this had taught him to not give up and trust in his heart to accomplish his personal legend, such as when others believe that it is hard to accomplish what they want to complete and do in their life.
Throughout the book, he shows a level of ferocity towards his goal to achieve his personal legend by overcoming obstacles in his life. Although he changes, he is still thoughtful. He represents innocence because while he was in his journey, he witnesses the cruelty of the world around him. As he is the protagonist in the story, he is patient and he trusts in his destiny and his fate. Santiago represents mankind because in each person’s life, they either change mentally, physically, or emotionally. Santiago may symbolize us trying to figure out the questions that are hard for us to solve: What is my purpose in life? What is the meaning in life? Santiago also represents the youth of today. In the beginning of the novel, his father wanted him to become a priest similar to parents wanting their children to have careers they like, but Santiago later tells his father that he wanted to travel the world. His father was disappointed, but he gave his son his blessing almost like parents giving their children their
Santiago is a heroic figure because he was always kind to others. He was always helping someone with something. For example: when Santiago was working at the Crystal shop, he helped the Crystal Merchant, improve his business. When Santiago was leaving the Crystal Shop, the merchant stated “You brought a new feeling into my Crystal Shop”(61). The Crystal Merchant is talking about how much Santiago has changed his business. Santiago has helped the merchant’s business by making a display case to put outside the store, cleaning all the crystal and adding new things, such as the tea. Santiago also helped an Englishman by helping him find the Alchemist. The Englishman wanted to speak to an alchemist. The Englishman stated “I need you to help me find out where the alchemist lives”(90). Because the Englishman requested for help, Santiago helped him. It took over half a day to find the alchemist, but fi...
In the story Santiago’s bravery is unsurpassed but it is not until he hooks the “great fish” that we truly see his valor and perseverance. Through Santiago’s actions Hemingway teaches the reader about bravery and perseverance in the face of adversity. He demonstrates that even when all is lost and seems hopeless a willful heart and faith will overcome anything. Santiago had lost his “luckiness” and therefore the respect of his village. Through the description of his cabin we also suspect that Santiago is a widower. Although Santiago has had many troubles he perseveres. He has faith in Manolin, in the Yankees, in Joe DiMaggio, and most importantly in himself.
In The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman, pits his strength against forces he cannot control. We learn from Santiago's struggles how to face insurmountable odds with bravery and courage. Though we find an indifferent and hostile universe as Santiago's stage, his unwillingness to give in to these forces demonstrate a reverence for life's struggles. Santiago's struggle is for dignity and meaning in the face of insurmountable odds. His warrior-like spirit fights off the sharks full-well knowing the fate of his marlin. Santiago loses his marlin in the end, but his struggle to keep it represent a victory because of the dignity and heroism with which he carries out his mission. However, as Santiago acknowledges, he is almost sorry he caught the marlin because he knows the animal and he have a great deal in common as fellow beings in nature. However, he only caught the marlin "through trickery" (Hemingway 99). Santi...
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...
... minds of many with the great strength and patience: the passion that Santiago has for life, for nature, and for the harsh judgement of fellow fisherman.