Santiago's Mental Endurance example essay topic

The Old Man and the Sea is a heroic tale of man's strength pitted against forces he cannot control. It is a story about an old Cuban fisherman and his three-day battle with a giant Marlin. Through portraying tests of endurance, fatigue, old age, solitude, impending death, to which Santiago is subjected. Hemingway make Old Santiago become the finest and best of the code heroes. In fact, Santiago is the clearest representation of the code hero in all of Hemingway's novels because he is not wounded permanently or disillusioned. Santiago possesses all of the Hemingway-code-hero qualities and be able to execute three prominent qualities: skill in doing what you do well, grace under pressure, and endurance.

A quality of a Hemingway Code Hero is skill at what one does. The old man is definitely a skilled fisherman, and thus he fits this quality of a Code Hero. The old man uses the sea current to help him maneuver his boat, and by doing so demonstrates a large amount of skill. Only a skilled fisherman would know how to use the current to help him move around. "He was letting the current do a third of the work" (p. 30). Another time it is evident Santiago has skill, is when he uses a bird overhead to determine in what area he should fish.

He knows that the bird overhead is a sign that there are fish below. "He rowed slowly and steadily towards where the bird was circling" (p. 33). Only a skilled fisherman would look for clues around him to determine where to fish. Santiago uses his great skill at fishing to raise the marlin he is battling with during the course of the book.

This marlin is longer than his boat and weighs over 1,500 pounds. Even in Cuba, where there are many large fish, this marlin is of historic proportions. Despite the marlin's huge size, Santiago uses his skill to raise it, and kill it. He does this by waiting for the fish to circle, and come close to his boat, rather than trying to pull on the line to raise it. "The fish came over onto his side... his bill almost touching the planking of the skiff... he raised the harpoon... he felt the iron go in" (p. 93-94). Only a skilled fisherman would not try to force the fish to come up, and run the risk of jarring the line loose from the fish.

Santiago has enough skill to know when the perfect time to attack the fish is. After Santiago kills the marlin, and is towing it alongside his boat, sharks come to attack it. Santiago wishes to protect the marlin, and because of this, he uses his immense skill to combat the sharks, so they cannot harm the marlin. Santiago is so skillful that he knows exactly where to put the harpoon into the sharks so they will die.

"He rammed the harpoon down onto the shark's head at a spot where the line between his eyes intersected with the line that ran straight back from his nose" (p. 102). Only a fisherman with skill would know where to place the harpoon so that the shark would die immediately. Santiago demonstrates that he is a very skilled fisherman. Another prominent quality of a Hemingway Code Hero that Santiago has is grace under pressure. Santiago is in numerous situations where most people would panic, but he remains calm. A time when this is apparent was when the marlin towed him so far out to sea that land was no longer visible.

Rather than act hastily, Santiago stays calm, and chooses to continue his battle with the marlin. "He looked behind him, and saw that land was no longer visible. That makes no difference, he thought" (p. 46). Many people would have not remained calm, and would have cut the line from the marlin, but Santiago has grace under pressure, and makes the choice that is right for him. Another time Santiago has grace under pressure is when the marlin makes a sudden surge, and knocks Santiago off of his feet. "The fish made a surge that pulled him down on his face and made a cut below his eye" (p. 52).

This would frighten most people, but rather than acting hastily and cutting the line, Santiago does not panic, gets back on his feet, and continues his battle with the marlin. Santiago also remains calm after he has caught the marlin, and sharks are trying to eat the fish. The average person panics when he sees large sharks swimming to his boat, but Santiago keeps calm and prepares to fight them off. "He prepared the harpoon... while he watched the shark come on" (p. 101). Even when his harpoon breaks, Santiago has grace under pressure, and rather than panic, he moves to his next option, an oar with a knife attached on the end. Throughout the book, Santiago demonstrates tremendous grace under pressure.

Santiago also shows that he has great endurance, another quality of a Code Hero. Santiago doesn't stop at just having physical endurance, though. He also shows great mental endurance, and stays focused. Santiago shows that he has tremendous endurance when his hands are cut up to the point that they turned into mush, but he still fights with the marlin.

He refuses to give in to this incredible pain, and carries on. "He cleared the harpoon line, and let it run slowly through his raw hands" (p. 94). His endurance is evident when he continues his battle with the marlin, despite the fact that he has barely slept, and he has been at sea for three days. Most people would collapse if they went three days without much sleep, but Santiago has enough endurance to continue his battle with the fish.

"The sun was rising for the third time since he had put to sea" (p. 86). Santiago even begins to see black spots. He is so fatigued that he can't even see straight, and yet he still battles with the marlin. "The old man had begun seeing black spots before his eyes" (p. 87). Santiago has been fighting with this marlin for such an extensive period of time that he cannot see normally, but he has the endurance to continue this battle. On top of his physical endurance, Santiago possess tremendous mental endurance.

Even though he has been out to sea for days, the man still has the mental endurance to keep focused on his task at hand, raising the marlin. "You must keep your head clear" (p. 92). This man's attention span lasts for days, while most people's only lasts for hours. Many times Santiago will begin to lose his focus, but he has enough mental endurance to remind himself to remain focused, despite the fact that he has been at sea for an extensive period of time. "Now you are getting confused in the head he thought... keep your head clear" (p. 92). Rather than give in to the tiredness, Santiago retains his focus.

Santiago's mental endurance is shown when he is battling the sharks, trying to save the marlin. He has enough mental endurance to focus on killing the sharks, and this even after not sleeping for days, and he is enduring the pain of his excessive hand wounds. This ability to focus under life-threatening situations when very tired definitely shows that Santiago has great mental endurance. Santiago shows that he has great endurance, both mentally and physically.

Santiago has great skill, grace under pressure, and endurance, and because of these qualities he is a Hemingway Code Hero. The Hemingway Code is a way of life for Santiago, and he achieves a sense of self-worth by having many traits of a Code Hero.