Santiago A Hero

Heroes are made everyday, this is especially true in the case of Ryan White, a young teenager from Indiana who contradicted HIV from a blood transfusion. He was subject to terrible reticule from his peers and suffered the effects of his disease. In the events leading up to his death, he became the face of the HIV awareness movement before finally passing away at the young age of 18 in 1990. His ascendance to becoming a hero was made possible by his martyrdom for those affected by HIV, and those who merely didn’t understand it. His ability to rise above the rest of us and distinguish himself from others is reminiscent of many pieces of literature. In The Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago’s ascendance to heroship is shown …show more content…
Santiago’s humble nature lends itself greatly to his ability to ignore the fact that he has become unlucky and is missing out on a fortune. However, Manolin, who sees Santiago as his hero, tries to convince him that he should be proud: “‘Queva,’ the boy said ‘There are many good fishermen and some great ones, But there is only you.’” (23). Despite Manolin’s constant praise and appreciation of his hero, Santiago continually denies his honest words and moves along with his daily activities. This constant state of humility lends itself to a myriad of other very positive characteristics, all of which are traits of the modern hero in our society, but the most important qualities of his personality are reflected based off of his physical description in the beginning of the novel: “Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.” (2). The emphasis on Santiago’s eyes opens up a gateway to his inner personality, and it reflects the same traits that he has while he acts on other characters and nature. He remains completely undefeated and cheerful in the face of such a drastic negative change in his life. The fact that he is able to do this makes him an even more viable candidate to be anybody’s hero. His constant cheer and optimism make the capturing of the fish in the future possible as he is able to maintain a perfect mindset while under pressure and stress from the catching process, and even before he finds his fish, he still believes that he will find it: “My big fish must be somewhere.” (35). Santiago’s constant hope for the future is instrumental in his rise to becoming a hero once more, despite is destitute slumbers in fishless days. Another group of traits also make Santiago’s ascendance possible through