Blog 4

In every great book or story there has to be the hero. There has to be the good guy who wins. The protagonist of the story is usually the hero and that is no different in this story. The protagonist is none other than the main character, Santiago.
The hero, Santiago, makes many accomplishments throught the novel. The old mans greatest accomplishment is obviously catching the huge fish in the middle of the gulf after the long three day struggle(Hemingway 4). He catches the marlin and does what nobody thought he could do. Another accomplishment he does is prove to himself that he is not unlucky and is highly capable of doing everything that he used to do and catch fish.
Santiago has many common traits that a hero usually presents. There is no real bad traits that he pocesses. The whole book the reader is wanting the old man to succeed and catch a fish and break his streak of going without catching a fish. You want the old man to win in both the struggle against defeat and the Marlin. When reading the book you know that not both the Marlin and the old man can both live so the reader is rooting for the old man to come through and catch the marlin.

The traits the old man shows that make him so lovable are that he is caring. He is very caring to the young boy during the 84 days that they can not catch a fish. He lets the young boy tag along on his journeys and help him do things(Hemingway 1). The old man is also very strongwilled. Santiago never gives up. Never giving up is such an important part of the book and such a big part of Santiago's personality.

Santiago possesses the abstract idea of courage. The old man is very courageous throughout the whole book when he is trying to defeat the marlin. The old man pretty much is the definition of courageous when he never gives up, does what others did not think was possible of him, and when he is understanding about the sharks eating the marlin. He is not upset for himself but upset for how the marlins life was ended.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.