The Old Man and the Sea - 14

Santiago, the old man in the novella The Old Man and the Sea is a very classic hero. Classic heroes have two similar traits about them. They want to understand things that are greater than themselves, and they have something in their life that leads them to their downfall.

The old man did try to understand things about the world that most people disregard. The old man was grateful for life itself, and spent much of his time focused on things of this world that he could learn about- like grappling with death. When the old man was out at sea battling the huge fish, he was grappling with death. The old man had decided that it was alright with him if he died in the process of trying to catch that fish because he would know that he died doing everything that he could to defeat the fish and that would mean that he was just an unworthy opponent.

Also, it was the old man's pride that led him to his downfall. It was because of his pride that he had his greatest loss, which was the loss of the fish. He felt that it was him that was the reason for the fish dying and him that lost the life of the fish and then he did not even get it back to shore in one piece. He killed the fish for it to become shark food. The old man felt guilty of this, as he rightly should.

The old man would never have killed the fish in the first place if it was not for his pride. I even venture to wonder if it was worth it. If taking that journey and killing that fish was worth it to the man. He did not have to prove anything to himself. The man knew that he was a good fishermen, and he did not care what the other men thought, so catching that fish was only for his own satisfaction. But I wonder if it was worth it. The old man sliced his hands while he was trying to catch that fish, and he will have permanent scars from it. The old man was so weak and weary and tired after catching the fish. It would take an old man like that weeks to recover from that fishing excursion. I wonder if it was worth it. The man ached all over and hurt his back badly. These aches would not just go away with one night's rest. The man was going to hurt for a very long time after. And I wonder if all of that was worth catching that fish just to prove to himself that he can do it.

Hemingway, Ernest. "The Old Man and the Sea". New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.