Santiago as a Code Hero / Protagonist/ Christ image :

Santiago is an aged Cuban man, a skilled fisherman by profession. His neck is wrinkled from the sun, and
his hands bear the scars of many fishing battles; only his blue eyes remain bright and cheerful. By
personality, Santiago is brave, confident, cheerful, determined, and optimistic, not letting anything in life
rattle him. Even when he does not catch a single fish for eighty-four days, he refuses to be discouraged.
He has had streaks of bad luck in the past, and he is hopeful that the next day will bring him better luck.
In fact, he makes up his mind to go far out to sea and try his luck, optimistic that he may catch a really
large fish.

Santiago is alone in the world; his wife has passed away, and he refuses to have a photograph of her in his
hut, for it makes him feel lonely. His constant companion has been Manolin, a young boy that he has
tutored in the ways of fishing and the sea since he was a small lad of five. The boy is devoted to the old
man, bringing him coffee and making sure that he has something to eat; he also helps him with his fishing
gear. Unfortunately, Manolin’s parents have forbidden the boy to go out on the boat with Santiago any
longer. After not catching fish for forty-four days, they have decided the old man is bad, and they do not
want it to rub off on their son. Santiago misses Manolin’s company, for he thinks of the boy as a son.

Santiago is an expert fisherman, skilled and meticulous. He makes careful preparations for each outing on
his boat and is always prepared when he makes a catch. He is in tune with the natural environment,
watching the weather, the currents, birds, and fish to help him know the best spot for fishing. He wisely
drops his bait at different depths, hoping to land a catch with variety. During his career, Santiago has
caught many trophy fish, some of them weighing over one thousand pounds. Before the giant marlin,
however, he has always had someone on the boat to help him with his catch. When he is battling the
marlin and the sharks, he thinks of Manolin several times and wishes the boy were on the boat with him
to help.

Physically, Santiago is a tough man. When he was younger, he would arm wrestle for sport and always
win. One time, a match lasted for more than twenty-four hours, and even though his hands were bleeding,
he refused to give up. He finally won the match and was called the champion. This basic sense of
determination is what makes him continue to fight the giant fish for three long and grueling days. Even
though his hands ache, cramp, and bleed and his shoulders burn with pain, he will not slacken the line or
let the fish defeat him. In fact, he is the perfect representative of Hemingway’s Code Hero, a man who
fights to the end no matter the odds and who displays great grace and courage during the battle.

Despite his great strength and abilities, Santiago is a humble man. He lives in poverty, owning a small
shack with no running water; yet he never complains. When things do not go his way, he does not blame
outside sources, but looks for the cause within himself. He even says that he has probably not caught a
fish in eighty-four days because he has not gone out far enough on to the sea. When his giant fish is eaten
by the sharks, he blames himself for not fighting harder and not bringing better weapons with him on the
journey. He even worries that perhaps he has killed the giant marlin out of pride and apologizes to it.

Although Santiago is not an extremely religious man, he is a Christian. A picture of Jesus and the Virgin
Mary hang in his hut. He also prays to God for help several times during his three-day ordeal and
promises to say his Our Fathers and Hail Marys in appreciation for any assistance that he receives. More
importantly, Santiago is Christ-like, constantly displaying the Christian virtues of love, kindness,
patience, and humility. Throughout the novel, Hemingway depicts the old man as a Christ figure. At the
end of his journey, he feels shame and humiliation, much like Christ before his crucifixion. When he
arrives home, he carries his mast across his shoulders, much like Christ carried his cross. When he finally
lays down to sleep, his arms are stretched out straight, his palms are turned up, and his hands are
bleeding, much like the image of Christ on the cross. Of course, Jesus’ followers were largely fishermen,
just like Santiago, and Christ bade them to become fishers of men. In the novel, Santiago is not just a
fisherman, but an example of Christian caring to Manolin and a symbol of grace under pressure to all who
read about him.