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Hero of the Novel

The hero of the novel is an old man. His name is Santiago.

He is a born fisherman. He lives in a coastal village near Havana.He is not a common angler. He hooks big fish like Dolphin, Marlin

and Shark. He is strong and gaunt. His eyes are of sea colour. He

has no relations and lives alone. A boy, Manolin looks after him. He

fishes in Gulf Stream with the help of a small skiff. He has simple

and cheap fishing apparatus. The boy, Manolin helps him in

fetching the apparatus to and from his shack. His shack is made of

sturdy fibred guano. There is a table, a chair, a bed covered with

newspapers and an army blanket in his shack. He has decorated

the walls of his shack with the pictures of Jesus Christ and Virgin

of Cobre. His shirt as well as the sail of his skiff is patched with

floor sack. His sail is so tattered that the writer calls it The flag of

permanent defeat. The people call him salao because of his

continuous hard luck. He has been without fish for eighty-four

days. For the first forty days the boy, Manolin was with him but

then his parents send him to another boat because they have

become fed up with his skiff that always returns empty. The boy

Manolin loves him very much and does not want to leave him but

he is bound to obey his parents. Now he tries to help the old man

by serving him with food, beer and sardines (for bait).

The old man is an ordinary sailor but the light of determination in

his eyes makes him someone special. He calls himself A Strange

Old Man. He is no doubt a strange old man so far as his courage

and endurance is concerned. After eighty-four desperate days of

fruitless struggle he is still ready to test his luck and to go fishing

to regain his reputation as a successful fisherman and also to

remove the slur of being Salao. Following are some of the

important aspects of his character that make him hero of the noveland representative of the whole human race:

His loneliness:Santiago, the hero is leading a life of loneliness. He is leading

his life courageously. He has formed the habit of talking to

himself overcome his feeling of loneliness. He thought aloud and

talked to himself to console and comfort himself. He has put the

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photograph of his wife under his clean shirt in the corner

because it makes him too lonely. His cry during the heroic

struggle,I wish I had the boy. To help me and to see this

indicates his feeling. He talks to sea, to fish and to the bird.

The writer wants to show that need of a companion is natural. Aman can live alone but cannot avoid feeling lonely.

His passion of love:The old man is kind hearted and loving by nature. His

behaviour with the boy indicates his love. He even loves the

birds that could not catch any fish. He invites a bird to take

rest in his skiff. He thinks that fish are mans brother. He feels

sorry for the huge Marlin, as he says when he was trying to

beat the fish he says

His expertise:

The old man is not only a fisherman par excellence but also a

confident explorer of the sea. He is one of those very few people who

stand in no need of the conventional apparatus like a compass or a

wireless set for guidance. He can locate his position in any part of the sea

with the help of trade wind. When the fish drags him into the high seas,

he is not at all afraid. Another fisherman in his place would have cut off

the line and sailed back, but he says,Fish I will stay with you until I

am dead. He is so daring not because of stupidity but because of his

sound knowledge and his well placed confidence.

His sense of humour:The conversation between Santiago and Manolin is lighthearted

and perfectly enjoyable. His address to the bird especially his remarks

what the birds are coming to, his taunts and threats to his own left

hand. His promises to say, Our Fathers and Hail Marys as well as his

remarks consider them said are all very amusing. He says to the second

shark,Go and see your friend or may be its your mother,and he

says to himself you talk too much old man, are all humorous.

His Reveries:The old man is alone on the sea. The boy Manolin has been taken away

from him and he has no radio to bring him baseball or music. Quite naturally,

he takes to self-communing. His deliberations sometimes become his reveries or

a vocal stream of the subconscious. Although talking during fishing is

injudicious yet he cannot help doing so. He talks to the bird that alights upon

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his line to take rest, to the hand as it cramps. His conversation on these

occasions is amusing and witty and at the same time thought provoking.

His dreams:

The writer has employed symbolism to convey his messagecompletely.

His struggle: His optimism: His unscathed pride:

His symbolic significance: His sense of religion:

His past memories: His confidence: His resolution: