How Is Santiago Presented In The Old Man And The Sea

Section #1 Demonstrate Understanding Santiago, the protagonist and fisherman in the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, is an old and impoverished man who lives in a small fishing village near Havana, Cuba. Although an expert fisherman, he had not caught a single fish in eighty-four days. However, he refuses to be discouraged and is consistently hopeful that he will have better luck the next day. When Santiago takes his skiff out further into the sea in hopes of catching a bigger fish, he is fortunate and hooks an enormous marlin. His dedication and pride prevents him from letting go of the giant fish which pulls him out far into the sea, and he endures a struggle that lasts three days with it. As his battle with the marlin progresses, Santiago begins to identify with the fish and feels
His pride of having caught the fish and dedication towards collecting his prize leads to him pushing himself to the limits of his mental and physical endurance. Despite his determination and skills, Santiago is also very humble. He lives very simply in a shack with no running water; he never complains about his lifestyle. When things do not go the way planned, he does not blame outside sources, but instead searches for the cause within himself. When he hadn’t caught a fish in eighty-four days, he says that it is likely because he had not gone far out into the sea. He also blames himself for not fighting more and bring better weapons when the marlin is eaten by sharks during his journey. He also recognizes his pride, and apologizes to the marlin, worrying that perhaps he had killed the fish out of pride. Also, although he returns home after his long ordeal with all of the marlin eaten by the sharks, he does not feel defeat, but rather a certain triumph of knowing what he had been through and the awe