Definition of Code Hero
According to Ernest Hemingway, the code hero is a man who lives correctly, following the ideals of honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful. The code hero or heroine (like Catherine Barkley) must perform his or her work well to create a kind of personal meaning amidst the greater meaninglessness. Still, life is filled with misfortunes, and a code hero is known by how he endures those misfortunes. Ultimately, the code hero will lose in his conflict with life because he will die. But all that matters is how one faces death. In fact, one should court death, in the bull ring, on the battlefield, against big fish, because facing death teaches us how to live. Along with this, the code hero must create and follow certain rituals regarding death because those rituals help us. The bullfighter must have grace and must make his kills clean. He must face noble animals. He must put on his suit a certain way. Similarly, a fisherman shouldn't go out too far. He should respect the boundaries the fish have established for fishermen. Religion is helpful only in that it provides us with rituals. But religions are wrong when they promise life after death.
If an individual faces death bravely, then he becomes a man, but he must repeat the process, constantly proving himself, until the ultimate defeat.
Ironically, the code hero can also be afraid of the dark in that it symbolizes the void, the abyss, the nothingness (nada) that comes with death.