The Old Man And The Sea Is Santiago A Hero

As one read various stories, the reader sometimes identifies the main character as a hero. In The Old Man and the Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway, Santiago, an old man, is the main character. Although Santiago is the main character, his position as an ordinary man is more suitable than being a true hero. When one compares Santiago’s journey to the archetypal hero’s journey, Santiago is not considered a true hero because he did not have a clear call to adventure, a victory’s reward, or the result of restoring the world. Santiago’s beginning his journey is not a call to adventure but rather a choice to go on the journey, which demonstrates a lack of an element of the hero’s journey. The journey can be considered to begin with a call to adventure if Santiago starving for eighty-five days is perceived as disparity for …show more content…
After a archetypal hero’s quest, the hero causes the lives of himself or herself, along with many others, to change for the better. The lack of impact of Santiago’s journey is proven as Hemingway describes the marlin as “garbage waiting to go out with the tide” (Hemingway 126). Hemingway describes the insignificance of Santiago’s journey through the explanation of the marlin’s end state. Hemingway causes readers to question the purpose of writing the novella if the main character only returns to the village without a catch. Since Santiago continuously fails to secure any catches, the cycle continues again. There is no development or change to the village. Instead of growing in strength, the old man returns to his original state. Although Santiago can be considered a hero because of certain perspectives such as how he exists in an ordinary world, the aspects of Santiago being an ordinary man outweigh Santiago being a true hero because he does not have a call to adventure, a reward, or the outcome of restoring the