A. Character of Santiago
i. as Christ figure or saint
ii. as sinner
iii. as Code Hero
B. Correct Action
i. We must face death & darkness (metaphor for death)
ii. We must obey the laws and rituals which we set up
iii. We must realize we will be defeated but we must try not to be destroyed
C. Relationship with Others
i. with Manolin: as father & guide; as fallen guide.
ii. with marlin: as brother (symbol of self); as opponent (as symbol of otherness)
iii. with shark: as noble death; as ignoble sin
iv. with sea (nature): as mother; as death; as a battlefield or testing ground; as greater
than individual man; as less reasonable than heroic man
v. with Joe DiMaggio: as Code Hero
vi. with community: they support him & judge him
vii. with God: as enigma; as non-entity; as one who tests & to whom one pays tribute
D. Nature of Life
i. as a constant test between death and individual
ii. as a moral battle between good and evil
iii. as a confusing enigma where life, death, good, evil are all intermixed
Definition of Code Hero
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. 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.
p. 10 "He hasn't much faith." --
p. 18: "When the boy came back. . . . He was barefooted." --
p. 23: "Que va," the boy said. "There are many good fisherman and some great ones. But there is only you."
p. 23: "But I know many tricks and I have resolution."
p. 26: "Que va. It is what a man must do."
p. 27: "The old man drank his coffee slowly..."
p. 32: "But, he thought, I keep them with precision. . . "
p. 38-39: "The bird is a great help . . . The old man hit him on the head for kindness and kicked him. . . "
p. 46: "He had pushed his straw. . . He tried not to think but only to endure."
p. 46: "I wish I could see him only once to know what I have against me."
p. 48: "No one should be alone in their old age," he thought.
p. 48: "Then he began to pity the great fish he had hooked. . . "
p. 50: "His choice had been to stay in the deep dark water. . . "
p. 50: "Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman. . . "
p. 54: "Fish, I love and respect you. . . "
p. 55: "Take a good rest, small bird. . . But I am with a friend."
p. 59: "I wish I could feed the fish. . . "
p. 63: "He is a great fish and I must convince him. . . "
p. 64: "I wonder why he jumped. . . "
p. 64: "He settled comfortably against the wood and took his suffering as it came. . . He was comfortable but suffering."
p. 65: "He commenced to say his prayers mechanically."
p. 66: "I'll kill him though. . . "
p. 66: "The thousand times that he had proven. . . "
p. 66: "I'd wish he'd sleep. . . "
p. 67: "Now that he had seen him once. . . "
p. 67: "If you're not tired, fish, you must be very strange."
p. 68: "This is the second day now. . . Man is not much besides the great birds and beasts. . . "
p. 69-70: "The odds would change back and forth all night. . . He was sure then that he had the negro, who was a fine man and a great athlete, beaten. . . "
p. 70-71: "For a long time after that everyone had called him The Champion. . . But his left hand had always been a traitor. . . "
p. 75: "The fish is my friend too. . . "
p. 84: "It is not bad. . . And pain does not matter to a man."
p. 87: "I could not fail myself and die on a fish like this. . . God help me endure."
p. 88: "I must hold his pain. . ."
p. 92: "Fish," the old man said. . . Keep your head clear and know how to suffer like a man. . . "
p. 94: "Then the fish came alive with his death in him. . ."
p. 95: "Keep my head clear. . . "
p. 99: "Now he knew there was the fish. . . "
p. 101: "The old man's head was clear and good now . . . "
p. 103: "He did not like to look at the fish anymore. . . "
p. 103: "But I must think, he thought. . . "
p. 103: "But man is not made for defeat, " he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated."
p.104-105: "It is silly not to hope... If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. . . "
p. 106: "I killed him in self defense. . . "
p. 107: "Ay," he said aloud. . .
p. 107: "Galanos," he said aloud. . .
p. 110: "They must have taken a quarter out of him. . . "
p. 112: "Now they have beaten me. . . "
p. 115: "Half fish," he said. . . "
p. 115: "Fight them," he said. "I'll fight them until I die."
p. 116: "He lay in the stern..."
p. 119: "The old man could hardly breathe now. . . "
p. 120: "The wind is our friend. . . "
p. 121-122: "He unstepped the mast. . . "
p. 124: "You keep it if you want it. . . I want it."
p. 125: "The hell with luck. . . "
p. 127: "Up the road in the shack. . ."
Essay Assignments:
Option #1: Write a short story in the style of Ernest Hemingway, copying his style and his sense of what a code hero is.
Option #2: Write a satire of a Hemingway short story, parodying one or more short stories or novels by the master.
Option #3: Write a critical analysis of The Old Man & The Sea; again, while you may use outside sources, try to keep your thesis and proof original.