Who Is Santiago A Hero

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Ernest Hemingway’s protagonist in The Old Man and The Sea is is said to be a spiritually fulfilled man who knows his true existence. In William Handy’s quote about The Old Man and The Sea, Handy points out that Santiago is a spiritually fulfilled man, but while reading the book the reader is shown that Handy’s statement is not entirely true. Handy also points out that the old man has achieved true existence during his life. Readers will find out that Santiago has achieved what Handy calls true existence in life. The readers also find out that Ernest Hemingway gives Santiago a hero form that most normal heros do not have. “Normal” meaning a man or woman that saves lives everyday and wears a tight suit. Santiago shows that he has multiple…show more content…
Handy described the old man as a man who has achieved true existence in life. Although Handy was not completely right about Santiago, he was able to prove that Santiago was a man of his word and that the old man knows what he is fighting for in his life. William Handy even describes Santiago as a new dimension of a hero in the title of his review. Santiago is the type of hero that does not need to save people’s lives to be titled as a hero. He is a hero because he has no uncertainty of being and does not have to question himself or anything to feel accomplished and complete. Since the old man does not question himself he is able to present himself as a man able to do anything. So literary critic William Handy has to be correct when saying that Santiago from The Old Man and The Sea is a man with no uncertainty of being and knows of true existence. However, Handy is incorrect when saying that the old man is one who is spiritually fulfilled. The old man tends to question what sin is and does not have a true understanding of sin. “I have no understanding of it and I am not sure that I believe in it. Perhaps it was a sin to kill the fish. I suppose it was even though I did it to keep me alive and feed many people. But then everything is a sin. Do not think about sin. It is much too late for that and there are people paid to do it.” (Hemingway, 105). Handy cannot be correct about Santiago being spiritually fulfilled if the old man does not even go to

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