Old Man and the Sea - A Saga of Human Endurance

Ernest Hemingway's  'The Old Man and the Sea' is a story of the triumph of courage and endurance in adverse circumstances. The story is based on Hemingway's own life where he rose to fame tackling all the obstacles that hindered his path.

Santiago, the protagonist of the story, 'The Old Man and the Sea' is an old Cuban fisherman who has little luck in fishing. He sets out to fish on the eighty-fifth day as he believed that this day would bring him luck. But fate had other things in store for him. Santiago hooked a giant marlin on his harpoon. But on the way, sharks attacked the marlin and tore off a huge piece of flesh from it. He returns home disappointed. But in the end we see that Santiago is not one to brood upon failure. He dreams of his youthful  days in Africa where he had seen lions frolicking on the beach. He stays true to his statement  - ' A man can be destroyed but not defeated.'

Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea' exemplifies the phrase 'grace under pressure'. Santiago never lost his calm even when the sharks attacked his prized catch. When the other fishermen made fun of him and considered him as 'salao' -  the worst form of misfortune, he stays true to himself.  

The story is a lesson on human fellowship and the final victory of endurance and courage. Santiago failed to secure a big catch. But his struggle and perseverance shines throughout the story. When the marlin wounded him, he says, ' But I will show him what a man can do and what a man can endure.' The marlin is treated as an equal to Santiago. It is a two-hero saga. But the characters resist each other's attempt to kill and refuse to bow down to defeat.

Santiago can be termed as Hemingway's code heroes. A code hero is a person who has undergone difficult circumstances and grown old being a part of it. His only failure was that he fell victim to his ambition. The struggle at sea was a lesson to him and is a lesson to the readers. It exhorts us to to accept failure but never be weighed down by it. Constant perseverance and hard work will triumph over adverse circumstances