Who Is Santiago A Hero

During the early days of my childhood, Spider-Man was my favorite superhero and role model. Whenever I watched the movies, I was dazzled by his web-slinging skills, restoring order in the Big Apple, and dual personality. If a problem occurred to me, I would think of what Spider-Man would do. I would also remember what Uncle Ben had said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” All of these factors molded me into a unique person. In addition, Spider-Man helped me to achieve greater things in life. Although not all heroes are superhuman or supernatural, they can really impact a person’s life positively. In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago and Manolin revere heroes who influence their lives tremendously.
Santiago’s and Manolin’s fundamental objectives for respecting their beloved heroes include when Santiago motivates himself during the darkest of times, when Santiago and Manolin discuss the strengths and weaknesses of baseball players, and when Manolin reflects on Santiago’s battle with the monumental marlin.
During grim situations Santiago faces alone at sea, he inspires himself by thinking of his earlier life and the life of Joe DiMaggio. As Santiago struggles to catch the invincible fish far out in the sea, Santiago starts having a flashback about his youthful life when he arm wrestled with his muscular opponent from Cienfuegos, “Blood came out from under the fingernails of both his and the negro’s hands and they looked each other in the eye and at their hands and forearms and the bettors went in and out of the room and sat on high chairs against the walls and watched” (69). Looking back at his former glory, Santiago starts to boost his confidence and power of conquering the testing marlin. Although Santiago has motivation during bleak moments, he has a deep, personal connection with Joe DiMaggio when he compares his endeavor with DiMaggio’s bone spur, “But I must have confidence and I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel” (68). Santiago forces himself to be confident and takes Joe DiMaggio’s bone spur as an example to deal with his prolonged fight with the authoritative fish. After three days, Santiago prevails in the battle against the aggressive marlin after many setbacks. When he looks at his defeated companion of nature, Santiago makes another reference to DiMaggio: “But I think the great DiMaggio would be proud of me today” (97). Santiago is in awe as he looks at the exhausted marlin and owes credit to DiMaggio for his winning his physically demanding struggle with the unwilling marlin, which means the bone spur inspired him to overcome his obstacles. Although Joe DiMaggio is a key player in the lives of Santiago and Manolin, both men share the love of baseball and legendary players from different teams.
Santiago and Manolin observe baseball players’ strengths and weaknesses as they converse while reading the scores in the newspaper.
He meets Manolin in his shack to discuss DiMaggio’s upcoming game, and Santiago displays his optimism when he reads yesterday’s paper: “Have faith in the Yankees my son. Think of the great DiMaggio” (17). Santiago clearly supports the New York Yankees, but he also has faith in DiMaggio because DiMaggio’s father is also a fisherman like himself. When Manolin returns from the Terrace, Manolin declares that the Yankees lost. After hearing the announcement, Santiago still maintains the same level of optimism, and he acknowledges DiMaggio’s weaknesses: “That means nothing. The great DiMaggio is himself again” (21). Santiago’s reaction to the Yankees’ defeat is not dramatic, which means he has seen DiMaggio lose games like this before. In addition, Santiago realizes that all heroes have a weakness regardless of their strengths. After Manolin and Santiago converse about Joe DiMaggio, they transition into comparing the teams of Brooklyn and Philadelphia, which leads to the mentioning of Dick Sisler. When Santiago starts talking about the Philadelphia player, Manolin immediately recalls about Sisler’s playing style: “There was nothing ever like them. He hits the longest ball I have ever seen” (21). Both Manolin and Santiago are amazed at Dick Sisler’s world-famous home run because they are awestruck by such athletic prowess. In addition, Santiago and Manolin are astonished by how different teams such as New York, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia produce spectacular athletes. While Manolin has inspiration from legendary baseball players, his ultimate hero happens to be his guru
Santiago.
When Manolin arrives at the old man’s shack, he notices Santiago’s bruised hands, starts crying, and reflects on Santiago’s battle with the massive marlin. As one of the fisherman measure the elongated marlin’s skeleton, Manolin recognizes that Santiago had achieved this feat:
“He was eighteen feet from nose to tail,” the fisherman who was measuring called.
“I believe it,” the boy said. (123)
When Manolin has this epiphany, he is aware of Santiago’s internal strength despite his old age. Believing in this achievement, Manolin starts to revere Santiago as his own personal hero, which is shown through his tears of joy. Few moments later, Santiago wakes up, and he recounts his tale when the merciless galanos took all of his marlin’s flesh. Although Santiago knows that he did not prevail, Manolin still praises him while being astounded:
“They beat me, Manolin,” he said. “They truly beat me.”
“He didn’t beat you. Not the fish.” (124)
In essence, Manolin is dumbfounded by the old man’s strength, and he is not skeptical of Santiago’s advantages anymore. Manolin takes one step further to demonstrate his maturity and his full devotion to Santiago after he asks Manolin about the authority of his parents:
“What will your family say?”
“I do not care. I caught two yesterday. But we will fish together now for I still have much to learn.” (125)
Manolin breaks away from the authority of his parents, who are the cause of his skepticism on Santiago. Manolin’s parents tell him to move to another boat and not fish with Santiago ever again because he has salao, which leads him to being independent as he catches fish with another group. Despite being in a lucky atmosphere, Manolin is not satisfied with his progress without Santiago. When Santiago returns, Manolin is overwhelmed with joy, and he respects Santiago by showing his willingness to learn more about fishing after seeing him again. From notable athletes to an ordinary fisherman, heroes can appear in many forms to impact the lives of Santiago and Manolin.
The main reasons of Santiago and Manolin for honoring their idols are Manolin’s consideration of Santiago’s marlin contest, Santiago’s motivation during grim situations, and the two men’s conversation of renowned baseball players. Manolin and Santiago admire idols that have a huge impact on their lives in The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Famous heroes are present in many forms and places. They can either reach to the general public or a particular individual. No matter how important they are, they truly have a place in a person’s heart. Santiago and Manolin have iconic figures in their hearts that they truthfully adore. No matter how old I am Spider-Man still captivates my attention with his dominant web, fighting for the good of the society, and living two contrasting lives.