Research

 Theme of Tenacity
in
Hemingway's The Old Man & the Sea

Introduction

          Hemingway is well known by relying on his life story as an inspiration and source for his works that’s why he pictured his life stages and embodied his values as well as his own views of life in the characters he created, and this is clear in a series of works since 20s till the 60s of the 20^th century.

          Staring during the 20s with his The Son Also Rises, in which he tells the story of a group of post-war American expatriates, whom he was one of, settling in France and Spain.

          Going through the 30s in his The Green Hills of Africa, where he tells the story of his journey to Africa.

          Not forgetting the 40s during which his For Whom the Bell Tolls tells the story of Americans, including Hemingway himself, in the Spanish civil war.

          Ending in the 50s by his The Old Man and the Sea, which tells a stage of his life he spent in Cuba as an expansion of a short story published in 1936 about an old fisherman who struggled to catch a Marlin.

          In the novels Hemingway wrote during the 20s to the 40s his protagonist pictures him as a young man with courage, self-confidence and sensitivity while in his later works, specifically during the 50s and early 60 of the 20^th century, not to mention works published after his death, Hemingway mirrored his life as an old man especially in his Caribbean Trilogy, and exactly in his masterpiece The Old Man and the Sea.

          Hemingway yet was rejected form military service due to eyes’ defect, by his great will and determination, joined military service as an ambulance driver then was decorated medal of heroism, this is a rare example for endurance and heroism.

          During the 20-30s of the 20^th century, Hemingway mainly talked about themes of Pain, Despair, war, honor, dignity as well as courage, later from the 40s till his death he wrote about themes of Endurance, and Pride.

          Hemingway, by fusing these themes together, succeeded in producing a whole new aspect he embedded in his The Old Man and the Sea, what is also called Hemingway’s Code, that is Tenacity, the will and power to keep on going, putting every obstacle behind your back and heading your eyes forward.

          In Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, the fisherman’s young fellows represent the weakest link in the chain of life, those who fear facing difficulties and quit trying, allowing their weak soul to prevail over their will and physical strength, advised and urged him to quit his idea of sailing into the Caribbean, but despite of their frustrating words, this old man, depending on his will and determination, faced the wild sea and tamed its roaring surges and achieved his great victory proving that with tenacity he could finish his journey despite that his physical strength failed him once.

          To behave well in the lonely, losing battle with life is to show "grace under pressure"¹and constitutes in itself a kind of victory, a theme clearly established in The Old Man and the Sea in Hemingway’s saying “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”²

Section Two

Generations

          It is already obvious that Ernest Hemingway used to include the crisis of the spectra of age in most of his literary works. In The Old Man and the Sea, he masterly was able to shed lights on this problem in terms of relationship between generations, experience, as well as wisdom, that is why this study will begin by a detailed analysis of each generation individually then by clarifying the nature of the relationships binding these generations.

Old Generation: Old man Santiago

Origin of the name

          In order to form a complete sketch of the old man in Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea we need to start by shedding light on the origin and the reference of his name. Santiago, or San Diego in Spanish, has a reference to Saint James, the Patron Saint of Spain who was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus of Nazareth. San Diego was a fisherman just like Santiago.

          This Christian reference is the basis of the Jesus-like figure characteristics of Santiago exhibited through out the story.

Character Sketch

          Physically: Santiago is an old worn man. His eyes, the key to his unconquerable soul, are blue and “undefeated”³ like the sea. He bears scars as “old as erosions in fishless desert,”⁴ that, for the old man, stand as marks of honor and triumph. His head is old, neck is strong, and shoulders are very old yet youthfully strong and powerful. This old man seems ready to be written off as a “has been,”⁵ but he survives like the land.

          The element of age plays a great if not critical role in shaping the story as a core to which all other elements are related. As for Santiago, old age is an obstacle, and part of the conflict, not to mention being a support and help as experience and wisdom accumulate throughout the passage of years.  

          Psychologically: Santiago is a man of contrast; in him humility and pride co-exist. He is proud of his skill which expresses his manhood. His pride motivates him to demonstrate his uniqueness, proud but not vain and needs not to low himself to achieve humility, he does not consider himself as “the best fisherman”⁶ and when pulled by the marlin, he admits his “lack of preparation.”⁷

          With sympathy Santiago wishes that he could feed the fish, his brother, but he is determined to kill the marlin, to bring it home to the port despite of its greatness, and glory in order to prove “what man can do and what man can endures,”⁸ to prove to the boy, Manolin, that he was “strange old man”⁹ for “thousand times he had proved it meant nothing.”¹⁰ Then brings the marlin’s skeleton attached to his boat into the harbor, and barely makes his way to his shack where he falls on what he calls bed with arms out stretched, palms facing up and slumbers. Next day, other fishermen make sure whether his fish is record breaking or not.

          Here Santiago is sketched not as an ordinary fisherman but as superb one who masters fishing skillfully and that is clear in “it is better to be lucky,”¹¹ “but I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready,”¹² 

          In this universe, there are no limits for experience, nature provides numerous opportunities of experience, and it is up to every individual to take the chance or lose it.

          Greatness of experience and inevitability of loss are bound together that’s why it is not enough to have will only, one needs technique. The former enables man to live while the latter enables to live successfully.

          Although experience might bring its tragic price, Santiago with his philosophy of life believes that man should study the world he was born in, and when he succeeds handling himself skillfully then he will live in this world. For him life is an art, a game with rules, rituals, and methods, sometimes he wins, others he loses, but when he learns them, he is lead to mastery.

          In this man both of age and youth exist, his body is an old man’s one in many of its folds, while his soul, ambition, and pride are as fresh as a young bud.

          Santiago’s nostalgia in addition to his imagination, dreams and longing to his youth are all fusion together forming some sort of great ability and endurance leads him to refuse loss of any kind and keeps on in his life.

Young Generation

          In analyzing this generation, two divisions emerge, Manolin on one hand, and Manolin’s Father, fishermen, and Tourists on the other.

Manolin

          Manolin is an old boy in appearance, and a man in thoughts, yet pure of what ever typifies adolescence, a devoted friend, and faithful disciple. The boy dares not to go far from the shore; he is humanistic, helpful, and passionate. He is Santiago’s companion in fishing. In some way he represents the life that follows death, and caring individual. The shifts of loyalty from the old man to his father then back to his old master Santiago initiates the boy’s humanistic figure.

Manolin’s Father, fishermen, and Tourists

          Manolin’s father and the fishermen regard materialism first, fishing for them is a mere occupation, a source of money, and to them one is not a man if he possesses no money. They view Santiago and the boy not really as men, as for Santiago for catching no fish for eighty-four days, as for Manolin for his age, even they make fun of the old man thinking that he is a silly old man for admitting neither defeat nor failure, this reminds us of Don Qui-xote, yet views the world differently, who was mocked for having faith in himself.

          Tourists as well are superficial in their observation and not participating in action, they regard things superficially without infiltrating to the deep essence where mysteries of life and death lie whom they dare not to face.

Relationships among Generations

Old and Young, Manolin

          The relation between the boy, Manolin, and the old man, Santiago, is one based on love, loyalty, and respect rather than competition. Both of them value human relationship above materialism. Their relation is as one of the Christ and one of his disciples, the old man teaches Manolin fishing and the boy loved Santiago.

          On one hand, the old man treats Manolin as an adult and he does not patronize him, on contrary he teaches the boy the tricks of fishing as well as his philosophy in both life and fishing. On the other, the boy does not act as a boy; in fact his concern toward Santiago is of human to human that results in melting the limits and breaking the boundaries of age among generations concerning respect, trust and understanding.

          The boy is sure that Santiago is not as the other fishermen, he is different and more human than the others, he believes in Santiago, as the old man believes in himself, despite of the fate and what other men say about the old man “there are many good fishermen and some great ones. But there is only you.”¹³ For all that, they have faith in each other and that is what Hemingway implies in “I know you did not leave me because you doubted,”¹⁴ to which the boy answers saying about his father “hasn’t much faith”¹⁵ and that he made the boy leaves Santiago’s companionship.

Old Generation versus Young Generation

          In comparing the old generation, Santiago, with the new one, Manolin’s father with the fishermen as well as the tourists, it is obvious that the fisher men have neither faith nor experience. They neither treat Santiago seriously, nor had the soul to fight. They practice fishing not as a pattern of life but as a source of money for living. They also treat the sea as a male enemy whom they must defeat.

          They are superstitious as their faith in defeating the imposable is weak that is why the father bids his son not to sail with the cursed old fisherman.

          On the other hand the tourists; they cannot understand the glory of Santiago’s struggle.

          Mere spectators of the struggle of life, they have neither dignity nor pride or even will that alone can redeem men’s inevitable defeat. While Santiago who appears to be faithful in his quest of living, he is a man who has unconquerable soul enables him to fight, fall, rise again, and keeps on fighting till the end. For this man fishing is his life and he treats the sea as the female beloved whom he knows, and to him she represents life. He does not believe that he is cursed; he neither blames the wind nor curses the currents for not catching fish.

          He is not like the tourists for he not only participates in life but he draws the sketch of his life by his own hands. In his struggle against the great Marlin, the sharks, and his physical weakness, he never gives up in fact at the close end of the story his friend, Manolin, and him start preparing for the next fishing journey.

Manolin versus Young Generation

Manolin has a strong believe in his master, he never doubted despite leaving his master as his father obliged him to do, he is faithful to his master and that is what he will show at the end of the story when he declares that he will sail with the old man what ever his father’s decision was.

          Manolin has more humanistic qualities than other fishermen, Santiago, Manolin believes, is his friend and master on the other hand his father as well as all other fishermen do not consider Santiago as a man. Those fishermen have no faith neither in the old man nor in themselves, they believe that such an old man would never catch a fish and that is what he proved wrong when he brought the skeleton of the great marlin attached to his boat.

Chapter Three

Religious Connotation

          Hemingway focused on embodying a religious connotation expressing faith, pride, and humility, as well as emphasizing the heroic idea, to depict a Twentieth century Jesus figure in the old man as he is obliged to prove himself again and again to the unbelievers, other fishermen, and to set a noble idol to his young disciple.

          Santiago is, as Jesus, a fishermen, and teacher of his disciple Manolin. Both of Jesus and Santiago have humility. Both men know pain of torn hands and the back lashed suffering.

          The great commons amongst the two men begin, as Hemingway craftily sketched, in the time of testing began at noon on the first day and ended at noon of the third. The comparison goes further to include the whole crucifixion image. Beginning with the struggle of Santiago with the fish which could refer to the suffering of Jesus, then to the physical suffering, cramped and cut hands, and bruised shoulders is a suggestion to Jesus’ experience in which, according to Christianity, he was tortured then nailed through the hands to a wooden cross, this is clear in “settled comfortably against the wood and took his suffering as it came”¹⁶

          When the sharks arrive, Santiago is portrayed as a crucified martyr in which he makes a noise as one made by a man having nails driven in his hand.

          The image is extended to include the struggle of Santiago as he walks and stumbles along the way leading to his shack and the mast on his shoulders; it is just like Jesus as he was forced to walk dragging the wooden cross over his back on the hill of Calvary where Jesus was crucified.

          The image when Santiago falls exhausted on his bed, or what he calls bed, and sleeps with arms stretched out and palms of hands facing up is compared to that of Jesus crucified. 

          Here Santiago’s suffering is a kin and paralleled to that of Jesus. It may refer to a conflict within, and the connotation emphasizes the heroic mould in which the old man is cast.

          As the image of Jesus depicts his conviction, resolution, and stoicism, which are all heroic in nature, when compared to Santiago’s, it finds a Jesus-like man.

          Jesus, who sacrificed his life and existence for the sake of the greater glory of mankind, exemplified transcendence by turning loss into gain, defeat into triumph, even death into renewed life. Death which is never an end in itself, it is just a new beginning in which there is always a chance and possibility of the most vigorous life, this connection of contradictions is stressed by the image of crucifixion.

          But despite of all the commons between the two men, Jesus and Santiago, there still a large measure of differences among them, to Jesus, God is father, according to Christianity, and Man’s duty is dedicated to the service of God. While to Santiago, who is a man of contradictions, God is little more than a bare name, to Santiago the duty is as a commitment to the true expression of age.

Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner

          As Santiago was paralleled to Jesus, again he is symbolized in another religious image to Samuel’s Coleridge mariner in his The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

          In his experience with the great Marlin, Santiago’s sympathy, love, and brotherhood which he showed and which the old man feels for all creatures were part of his nature. Santiago, who has nothing to atone for because he feels sympathy, love, and brotherhood for every creature, possessed wisdom and grace long ever, love dominated Santiago’s hunt of the fish which was a process undertaken with reverential respect for the brother, as Santiago described the Marlin, rather than a pray. Whereas wisdom was not part of the Mariner’s experience in which his egotism is revealed in his reckless, thoughtless, senseless, and unjustified act of killing the harmless albatross that followed the ship the mariner was on board. This mariner spent life atoning for his misdeed for killing the albatross was without reason. The Mariner when surrounded by death, as the ship becalmed in the tropical, stagnant ocean, the impulse of giving thanks for all his life. His wisdom and love came as a result of his experience.

Saints James Lesser & Francis of Assisi

          As many critics referred to the origin of the name of Santiago and its reference, as mentioned above, Santiago may refer to Saint James and there may be a strong connection between Santiago and the “fisherman, apostle, and martyr from the sea of Galilee”¹⁷ mentioned in Saint Matthew’s gospel as follows:

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothern,

Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And they straight way left their nets, and followed him.

And going on from thence, he saw other two brothern, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.  ¹⁸

While the boy, Manolin, he could refer in his master-disciple relation with Santiago to one of Jesus’ disciple that is Saint James who slept while Jesus watched Golgotha, the place of the skull in Hebrew. The skull here could refer to the skeleton of the Marlin.

          While Saint Francis who received the stigmatization when his hand and feet were perforated with wounds resembled to Jesus’ and a lance wound is alleged to have appeared miraculously in his side.

Shovel-Nosed Sharks

          The shovel-nosed sharks symbolize the destructive forces of nature and of Jerusalem whose feudality and jealousies led Jesus to be crucified. Their role in the story is to fix the idea that justice should serve whoever breaks nature’s rules.

Numbers

          Even numbers in The Old Man and the Sea are not used arbitrarily. Each number used has a specific reference and specific religious connotation. All the numbers three, four, seven, forty and their multiples emphasize a biblical quality and have sacred significance in both of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

          Three in the New Testament refers to the concept of trinity; that is the Father, Son, and The Holly Spirit. While in the story, Santiago’s struggle with the Marlin lasts for three days. Number four, refers to the perfection, as the Hebrew word YHWH, in English Yahweh, stands for God, which could be translated as “I am that I am”¹⁹ or “I am who I am”²⁰ and could be transcribed as /'jα:weɪ/, and forty which refer to the forty years Moses spent with the Jews lost in Sinai as well as the time Jesus spent resisting temptation in the wilderness.  and has four letters, where as Hemingway used a multiple of four, that is forty, as well as four itself in the journey of the fisherman with the boy without success which lasted forty days, and other forty and four days fishing alone also without success. Not to mention number seven which, in Christianity, refers to the seven days during which god created the universe, but in the story of the old man it has three references, first the times the Marlin challenges the old man beginning by grasping the hook ending with the jump the Marlin made before Santiago catches him. Second reference is that Santiago killed seven sharks. Third and last significance is the times Santiago was obliged to lay the mast down during his walk from the harbor until reaching his shack which could be resembled, as mentioned before, to the Jesus.

          All the religious connotations involve Santiago during some sort of conflict, once with loss, other with the Marlin, another with the sharks, and once again with life.

Chapter Four

Code Hero

          Hemingway, as usual, established the heroic impulse in his protagonist by relying on what many critics agreed to call Hemingway’s Code Hero by which Santiago is clearly identified as a hero despite the loss.

          The universe where Santiago lives is a mere arena where the greatest serious conflict takes place, where heroic deeds are possible, and where heroes are born. It is not free of tragedy, it is not free of pain, but all these can be diminished before hat man can do, and what his will, ambition, and insistence enable him to do. In this universe a hero dare not less than an ordinary man dares, a hero exposes himself to grief danger, and risk the possibility of defeat without fear, and without disgrace.        

          Hemingway’s realistic technique is a result of the instability of state exhibited in the giving and taking-away process depicted in the old man’s loss and success during his life journey and especially during his eighty-seven days journey. Here Hemingway, employs what is called Tragedy of Deprivation in which the building-up, giving I mean, process is almost perfect, in this story the old man’s success is so good for his age and for the wild conflict with the great Marlin, and necessary to create the tragic impact when the taking-away process follows, that is when the sharks tore the flesh of the fish away. In order to bring the downfall about, the author must give his hero a great success.

          As death is the end of all things in life, the first concern of Hemingway’s hero is to avoid death, life must continue but for Hemingway’s hero avoiding death means not escaping from it, this hero is not afraid to die. The Hero often encounters and confronts death and what emerges from this heroic clash is what is usually termed the grace under pressure.

          Despite of fearing death, hero is not afraid to die that is why in facing death hero must act in an acceptable way.

          Fearing death means respecting life, believing that death is the end, and facing the unknown. Before death, man should not tremble, on contrary, if man wishes to live, he lives intensely when he is faced with death, which will revoke the sleeping inner power of man, testing his manhood, contribute an intensity and vivacity to the life he is leading presently.

          This is when hero shows coolness, grace, courage, as well as discipline to show the grace under the pressure, but for a man who has not faced death it is possible for such man to withdraw before even an ordinary test.

          For Santiago, going so far out, is what made the difference, and led the old man to a savage contest with possible death. Being very old, having little food, having little strength, loneliness, and loss are the elements of the downfall, not to mention the great rival, yet with determination, tenacity, and wisdom, Santiago set core, that is proving himself once again, around which every thing rolls. He was able to obtain balance between his physical strength, which let him down, and his mental power, which was there for the old man and which brought life again in his veins, the power that made him go for the chance armed with courage to fight with dignity to the last end against the greatest odd ever against which he achieved victory.

          For such heroes, sleeping itself is a kind of obliteration of one’s consciousness. Night establishes the problem and the crisis of the conflict because darkness of night may imply the obscurity man will face after death.

          Hemingway’s hero rejects courage, honesty, and bravery for being abstract qualities, and for them a single temporary act of courage does not mean that man is courageous by nature. They, as Hemingway made them, care for absolute values that are constant.

          What will serve man is an innate faculty of self discipline, and if a man has discipline to face one thing one day, he will still possess that same degree of discipline on another day and in another situation.

          Santiago is an old man of long years of practical knowledge about fishing, and sea, a man who practiced self-discipline for many years. He needs to depend on no one but himself when he is so far out, battling the Marlin.

          He feels panic neither when he has no food, he instead depends on raw and repugnant tuna to regain strength, nor when his hand cramps, the same one he curses and uses as best as he could. It seems that his courage increases as he is tested by the fish and by the liabilities of his age. His courage increases in every contest as it is based on wisdom and experience.

          In code hero loyalty is an important concept. In The Old Man and the Sea sense of loyalty is expresses between the young boy and the old fisherman.

          The impact of death, in the code hero, shapes the concepts of the hero, in confronting death man perform certain acts that involve what ever he learned in his life. A man like that will not talk about his concepts, for it is violation of these concepts just because expressing oneself for such man is not by words but in actions especially the one involving courage.

          Santiago emerges as a hero proving his manhood despite of age, weakness, and conflict unlike many others who physically appear to be strong yet they are really less than men for lacking personality. This is a fact when realized; real men can be separated from half men without considerations of age. Now the real problem is neither death nor old age, in fact it is how to avoid losing courage in facing these two devastating powers of nature, the solution lies in our hands, it is out faith, endurance, tenacity, and trying what ever the result is, what matters is that one is convinced that he did his best rather than dying with the fact that he stepped down once.

Stages

Success, Too Good to Be True

          While observing the meaning of success, a comparison between the triumph of Sergius in George’s Bernard Shaw Arms and the Man over the Serbian Army supplied with fake ammunition on one hand and Santiago’s success in catching the great Marlin on the other. Sergius achieved victory, but a false victory it was, a victory due to luck and the cold blood killing of unarmed soldiers. While Santiago’s success, even if it did not last, is a great one as the old man who passed the limits of the ability of his age, and his reluctance and caught the fish, it was a battle to prove oneself.

          Also in distinguishing between true success and false one, what is revealed is that false success is that witnessed by many other fishermen, including Manolin’s father, their success is catching fish for no reason but money, there is no pleasure in their triumph, while true success is not a matter of winning, it I not success itself, it is enjoying the contest, proving oneself whatever the result is whether one wins or loses just like Bluntschli when he tried to win Riana’s heart again without being certain that she would accept or reject him.

          For Santiago, catching the worthy opponent, great Marlin, after three days fight with his old age, weak body, loneliness, and over all that his bad luck was too good to be true, it was so good to an extent that it would be unreasonable to let it last for ever, that is why Hemingway let the sharks spoil the Marlin. Nature has fixed rules and boundaries that are not to be crossed, but when crossed justice must be served. Here catching the fish is the boundary and Santiago is guilty of breaking these rules by crossing this boundary as well as going so far out, that is why he must be served by executing force on nature symbolized here by the sharks. The sharks he fought against, the same who snatched his prize of victory from his hands in a moment of physical weakness.

          The classic idea of hero is that hero is a man with one success at least. Despite being put is shadow as a result of Hemingway’s code hero in this story, it must be included and that is what Hemingway also worked to achieve. In order to bring a hero into existence is only achieved by involving him in a serious conflict in which he achieves victory.

          For Hemingway, involving el campeon in a conflict with a fish is not that serious that is why Hemingway compiled age, weakness, bad luck, loss, isolation, loneliness, as well as the greatness of the rival, the marlin, in order to establish the hero-worthy conflict. For a moment, one would wonder that if a young fisherman is not able to survive against such circumstances then what about the old worn Santiago; and he could simply ask how an old man is able to contest with a fish larger than his boat. Hemingway does not give enough time to find answers for such questions as he immediately, if not previously, has established the points of strength in this man. The experience and tricks he possesses as well as the wisdom, ambition, inspiration, and most the important end; that enables him to stand against the imposable.

          Instigated by ambition, inspiration, and end, the old man uses his experience and tricks supported by faith, and wisdom to achieve success.

          He not only has a conflict with nature by fighting the great Marlin but he has other conflict within to prove his ability to himself once, to Manolin second, and to the other fishermen third one, and another one to prove that despite age he is still the same Santiago.

          His first conflict begins eighty four days ago, when he was not able catch fish since. His contest with an opponent physically superior, the greatest opponent he ever contested against.

          The second conflict is to prove to himself, his disciple and friend Manolin, and other fishermen that he is a real man, one who is worthy of living, one who deserves being described as there is only you as Manolin noted before.

          The last conflict was with old age. Old age here is a friend as well as a foe. As it affects the physical power and reduces it to some level of weakness, fatigue, and exhaustion or offering the old fisherman all his tricks, experience, and wisdom.

          His success is not mainly over the fish, it is a success over a friend and a foe, triumph over hard headed rival, success with competitive and the prize was the great marlin.

Fallen Hero

          As the great triumph is achieved, we come again to what Hemingway opened his story with, the loss, for Hemingway’s hero, loss is possible if not obligatory.

          The success was too good to be true and here comes the moment when Ernest Hemingway brings his hero back to reality by letting him fall down from top to failure.

Here the old man, immediately, when he sees the sharks, realizes the upcoming defeat but he never gives up easily, he fights his battle to the last.

          He battles with the sharks, kills seven of them, loses his weapon and finally loses his battle with pride. Inn this process the author masterly was able to depict the image of a fallen hero, fallen from triumph to loss despite of his resistance. He was a fallen hero whose trophy was snatched away.

          What made this a downfall is that the end that the triumph was its means, he wanted to prove that he is a fisherman and a great one despite age, that he was not a useless man living in his fantasies as all fellow fishermen believed, and most important that he wanted to prove to his disciple that he is what his student believes.

Rise of the Fallen

          After the great loss the old man has nothing to do but going home and that is exactly what he did in the darkness of night. Looking again at the core, the code hero I mean, the idea that death is the beginning, here if death is a significance to defeat, it would fit that Santiago, the fallen hero, will rise from his fall to look up for future with more determination to achieve victory and prove himself once again.

          The hero, with tenacity and insistence, rises once more to prove himself despite of proving himself many times before as he believes that each time is a new challenge in which hero must prove himself.

Chapter Five

Tenacity

          The old may not be described as a strong man, yet he is not weak, but over all that he knows that he has the will power, the perseverance, slaying power, fortitude, or what is called guts and resolution. His faith is clear as he rouses a question “why innocent should suffer?”²¹ but man needs no answer because he already has the faith which is the perfect answer for such question.

          With the tricks he learned through out his life, he believes that he can make it whatever the contest is and whoever his opponent will be. He is so optimistic by temperament, his optimism is rooted in faith and confidence in the future and in him, it is rooted in common sense, and Santiago says that it is going to be a good day because of “this current.”²²

Despite of all his misfortune he has the will to continue and the courage to try as well as to transcend what is believed to be imposable.

Tenacity of the Old Man

Against the Passage of time

          Santiago is in a critical battle with the passage of years. As he grows older through years, naturally he becomes weaker more than before that is why he is in a conflict with the greatest power of nature to prove that he is still the same old Santiago once wrestled the Negro back in Casablanca.

Against the Great Marlin

          What can be seen is that a man who insists to beat one or even more than one power of Mother Nature. In a normal struggle one either wins or loses that is why in Santiago’s fight either he wins, that is when he will be a hero and at the same time odd for breaking what we call laws of nature, or he loses, that is when he will become an ordinary man but neither of these two options fit Santiago, both are prejudice, that is why Ernest Hemingway successfully mixed the victory with the loss to create a sense of balance in power in order to give his main character both of triumph and acceptance among ordinary people and at the same time saves him from being odd in this world.

          In the fight against the Marlin, elements of loss and triumph are mixed that is why tenacity is required. During the three-day fight Santiago’s physical power is reduced, his faith in his ability is shaken, and temptation of rest prevails at the same time the old man’s imagination as well as inspiration, that is moments of youth including the negro, and lions, as well as memories of the boy work as motifs to the old man pushing him to do what his fellow old men finds imposable depend on his tenacity.

Destroyed, yet Not Defeated

          For Santiago who is a man with ambition and motifs of success, a man whose ambition and aims are too big for his weak body to endure. His body is weak with limited endurance that leashed his unlimited prospects.

          When man is beaten, hurt, injured, or even led to death but despite of all that is not hindered, one who keeps on trying to the last moment, for him such man is not defeated for he is not defeated mentally. Such man one who did not achieve victory yet not defeated, he is a man who is destroyed physically, just because his body let him down, but psychologically is still fighting, one who rise up to try once more if he lived from his fall.

          He is destroyed just because he went out so far and when his luck ran out, he clashed in a battle with the great Marlin but with insistence he refused to be defeated that is why when he met the sharks, he went in a desperate battle with the sharks who snatched his prize away leaving him the bare bones of what was great marlin, but finally he rose up from his fall with more determination to achieve victory in the future.