Themes In The Old Man And The Sea, And Casablanca

The making of a good character begins with his or her backstory and the memories that make the character who he/she is. In the stories TOMATS (The Old Man and The Sea) and Casablanca, Santiago and Rick Blaine both have memories that they hold on to but the two characters backstories have many contrasting aspects to each other. Santiago’s memories are of his boyhood, which of full of joy and happiness and Rick’s deepest memories are of sadness, heartbreak and Ilsa, his/former love. Throughout their character arcs, both characters let their memories dictate their actions both emotionally and as motivation and at the end of both men's journeys both characters come to terms with their past. Both characters emerge as heroes and become better men …show more content…
At the end of Santiago’s story, Santiago had finally caught the fish and he was finally at peace. The final sentence of the book was; “The Old man was dreaming about the lions.” Santiago had finally found peace at the end of his journey and after catching the biggest marlin ever caught, he could finally rest and embrace his past. Santiago used his memories to overcome all the odds and at the end of his story he was considered a hero for his catch which was only made possible by his memories. Rick also comes to terms with his past and moves on from Ilsa. At the end of Rick’s story, acknowledging the great importance Victor Lazlo has towards the outcome of the war, Rick gives the two plane tickets to Ilsa and husband sacrificing his own rite of passage to America with Ilsa. He did this because he was able to forgive Ilsa for leaving him for she had heard that her husband was still alive. Upon forgiving Ilsa, Rick came to terms with his past which was the cause of his selfish decisions. Rick makes the ultimate sacrifice, knowing very well that he could be arrested and this is reflected when Victor Lazlo says to Rick; “Welcome back to the