Question four asks ”Who is the "hero" in this book and what are some of his/her traits and what does he/she accomplish, and how is he/she portrayed? Also does the hero represent an abstract idea such as goodness, truth, courage or evil?”. The book I will be answering this question for is Old Man and the Sea. The hero in the book is the old man, otherwise known as Santiago El Cameon.(Hemingway) One of the most of obvious and important trait of Santiago El Cameon is that he is old because that is what the book is based around. Other traits of Santiago include his love of fishing, huge strength in heart, soul, and mind, his weak body, and his large love and care for the young boy Manolin. Santiago is portrayed at first as an old and unlucky man who is not a very good fisher anymore. As the books goes on, he begins to be portrayed differently. I, the reader, saw that he was not as weak as the author led one to believe in the beginning. The next thing that was portrayed at first was that he was unlucky which was changed in a big way when he caught the biggest fish anyone had ever seen. Although there was no actual fish meat left, the town still saw him as lucky to have caught him and still be alive. The last part about him loving fishing was changed to being shown as not just love but a way of life for him. The only way of life Santiago knew how to live. The hero, Santiago, shows the abstract idea of courage. He showed it when he took the first step on that boat to go out to sea alone knowing how old and frail he had become. He continued to show it when he kept traveling out farther and farther into the sea knowing the dangers it would entail. The most notable time it was shown was when he caught and brought in the big fish and began fighting off the sharks.(Hemingway) Santiago is the evident hero in the book and displayed large amounts of courage.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.
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