The strongest point that all these three post-Spanish Civil War

protagonists of Hemingway (Jordan, Cantwell and Santiago) share is

their “resoluteness”. Each of them finds himself in a greatly
disappointing and helpless situation, but with his resoluteness he
stands up against all odds, and finally attains a moral transcendence
over misfortune and death.
Another aspect worth noting about these three later protagonists
is the telescoping of time. In the case of Robert Jordan, his whole life
is intensely realized in three days time. Cantwell avails himself of the
few days left in his life with his girl and tries to live a complete life
before he dies. Santiago struggles with the marlin and then with
sharks on the sea for three days and learns what he had not learnt in
his whole life.
Compared to Robert Jordan and Cantwell Santiagos realizations
in life are much more mature and extensive in scope. While Jordan
saw an inherent fraternity in the whole of mankind and was thus
committed to it, Santiagos vision of life is much larger, more complex.
The oldman's feelings and concerns are not monopolized by the
homo-sapiens alone. They are shared by the fish, the birds, the
turtles, and the distant stars as well. Thus the old man’s sphere is
much larger than Jordan’s, with his cosmic vision of life as against the
global in the case of the latter.
The sad plight of the sea-turtle draws the old man’s attention
when he finds them mercilessly butchered by people while their hearts
keep beating still. The old man promptly identifies himself with the
creature and thinks, “I have such a heart too and my feet and hands
are like theirs” (OMAS, 34).
Then Santiago welcomes the little warbler and says in a tone full
of love and concern:
“Take a good rest, small bird,” he said. “Then go

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