Santiago
is considered by many readers to be a tragic hero, in that his greatest
strength—his pride—leads to his eventual downfall. Critical analyze the role of
pride in Santiago’s plight.
Aristotle once said that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." On this same account, Hemmingway’s novella narrates the story of a tragic hero, the old man. He makes judgment error that inevitably causes his own downfall. The cause is his excessive pride, hubris. The old man’s hubris causes him to be passionate, optimistic and determined individual. These character traits lead him to his own downfall towards the end of the story which culminates into his plight. Therefore, excessive pride of the old man causes his downfall in the end of the novella.
The
old man’s pride helps him become a passionate being which causes his downfall
later. Passion is a feeling of intense enthusiasm towards or compelling desire
for someone or something (Wikipedia, n.d). Similarly, the old man, in the
novella, strongly desire to fish as he boast himself of being a good fisherman,
in the past, despite his old age. This
led him to go fishing far in sea all alone as he says, “I must be
worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the bone
spur in his heel.” (Hemmingway,
2004, p. 13) .
This clearly shows that old man’s passion in fishing. He believes that like his
hero DiMaggio, every individual should endure harsh experiences in order to succeed.
Hence, his passion to go fishing far in the sea causes him in his empathetic
state later.
Determination
of the old man which is born in him out of pride is another factor of his
plight. Kibin (n.d) wrote, “The old
man’s pride is the state of being very confident and determined to accomplish
and not accepting help in the process.” This is true for the old man as he goes
eight four days without fish. Later, he sets his journey beyond
all people in the world to look for great fish himself. He denies sardines from
Manolin, and the boy’s request to go with him to fish. This clearly shows that
old man still is determined to handle things on his own without having to
depend on anyone. In another word, he
remained prideful and did not want people to help him rather he would get his
things himself. Thus, this determination let him wish to seek boy when he
becomes weary and realizes that his old body is no level to the power of the
fish. He constantly says in remorse, “I wish the boy was here.” However, he again
too says, “Man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (Hemmingway, 2004, p. 93) . Thus, he has a
stronger sense of determination.
Optimistic
notion is another result of pride, in the old man which made him to be a tragic
hero. The old man goes salao for
many days yet he is very positive about getting out of salao. According
to Merriaam-Webster dictionary, optimism is feeling or showing hope for the
future. This is the old man, Santiago who feels hopeful where he says
“Eighty-five is a lucky number.” (Hemmingway, 2004, p. 9) . The old man is
confident and positive because he has a pride of catching great fish every
three week, so in a way, he feels that he is a good fisherman. Hence, this pride of being positive takes him
to hunt great marlin where he shows off his pride of killing great Marlin and
ironically refer to it as brother. However, he loses it to sharks sadly which
resulted as a result of his positivity about the situation.
In
conclusion, “The Old Man and The Sea” is about a tragic hero, Santiago. He is a
tragic hero because of his pride which leads him to be in a pitiful state. His pride made him passionate, determined and
optimistic individual. Firstly, he harnesses the interest to go fishing despite
his old age. This is because he knows that he still has energy of a young to
fish. Secondly, he is determined to go out fishing all alone without anybody’s
assistance until he desperately yarns for boy. Lastly, his pride let him to be
positive about fishing which stimulates all his desire to catch great Marlin.
All these attributes of pride in the old men let him to be called a tragic hero
as he returns with bony fish.
Kibin. (n.d). The themes of pride in the Old man and the sea, novel
by Ernest Hemmingway.
Retrieved May 21, 2019, from http://www.kibin.com>essay-example.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d). optimistic definition. Retrieved May 22,
2019, from http://www.merriam-
webster.com>optimistic.
Wikipedia. (n.d). Passion (emotion). Retrieved May 22, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Passion_(emotion)
No comments:
Post a Comment