The Old Mans Pride

Pride is the best and worst indirect emotions of humankind that carries two
sides, the positive and the negative side. On the positive side, pride refers to
a humble and content sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices and
actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent
self-reflection, and a fulfilled feeling of belonging. On the negative side, pride refers
to a foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one's personal value, status or
accomplishments. We can find the example of pride in The Old Man and the Sea. This
pride later on, will lead the main character to the most impressive self-proving that
leaves a trace to the readers mind. Now we come to the analysis of this novel to know
whether this pride is on the positive or negative side.

The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel written by the American
author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Bimini, Bahamas, and published in 1952. It was
the last major work of fiction by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime.
Many consider this novel to be Hemingways best work. The Old Man and the
Sea was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and it was cited by the Nobel
Committee as contributing to their awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to
Hemingway in 1954.

The Old Man and the Sea tells a story about an epic battle between an old,
experience Cuban fisherman, Santiago and a marlin. Three days struggling against the
marlin and finally caught it only to have it devoured by sharks. Santiago, the old man
with cheerful and undefeated blue eyes finally defeated and returns home with the
fishs skeleton attached to the boat. Before we start deep analysis about the theme of
pride in the novel, let us discuss the elements of the novel first to help us understand
the story.

Elements
1. Setting
The setting of place of the story is in a small fishing village near Havana, Cuba and
the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The setting of time of the story is in late 1940s.

2. Point Of View
The story narrated by the third person and omniscient. It can be proved by how the
narrator describes the details about characters inner thoughts. The narrator knows
the thoughts and feelings of all the characters in the story (God-Like).
3. Characters
Major Characters:
Santiago is the main character in the story. He is an old, experience Cuban
fisherman who has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish and being called
salao, which is the worst form of unlucky. Santiago is described as a thin and gaunt
old man with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck and the brown blotches on his
cheeks. He has cheerful and undefeated sea-colored eyes with confident loving
gaze. According to Manolins point of view, although Santiago is old, he still has
powerful shoulders and strong neck. Santiago lives in a shack with a bed, a table,
one chair, and a place on the dirt floor to cook with charcoal in it. He is so poor
that he wears a shirt that has been patched so many times. Maybe thats why
everyone in his village always looks down on him. However, Santiago is an
optimistic and very confident person. There is no such thing as giving up in his
principal life. I think something that makes Santiago has self-confidence is his
experience. He has been through so many experiences until hes old and he has so
many tricks. Thats why he always convinces himself that he is a good fisherman.

Manolin is Santiagos young apprentice whom the old man took first out on a boat
when he was five years old. There is no physical description about Manolin, he is
only described as a boy. Manolin only shows up in the beginning and at the end of
the story. However, his presence is important because he really respects Santiago as
a fisherman and a friend. He really admires Santiago that he said to santiago:

And the best fisherman is you.

No. I know others better.
Que Va, the boy said. There are many good fishermen and some
great ones. But there is only you.

Unfortunately, because of Santiagos bad luck, Manolin has been forbidden by his
parents to sail with Santiago. However, he still cares about Santiago and visits him
every day. He makes sure that the old man has food, blankets, and can rest without
being bothered. I think Manolin is closer to Santiago than with his own father
because his father always treats him inferiorly. Manolin is a real human being, he is
so loyal with Santiago that in the end of the story, he abandons his duty to his
father, swearing that he will sail with the old man regardless of the consequences.

Minor Characters

The Marlin is the fish that Santiago caught which we know at the end of the story
measures eighteen feet. This fish is later destroyed by sharks.
 The people at the Terrace are fishermen who make fun of Santiago.

Joe DiMaggio is Santiagos favorite baseball player. Although he never appears in

the story, he has an important role in the story because Santiago admires him as a
model of strength and commitment, and he always thought of DiMaggio whenever
he needs to reassure himself of his own strength. DiMaggio is a center field for
New York Yankees and plays perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his
heel. Thats why Santiago really admires him and sometimes compares himself
with DiMaggio.

This is the second day now that I do not know the result of the juegos,
he thought. But I must have confidence and I must be worthy of the
great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the
bone spur in his heel.

Perico is the owner of the bodega in Santiagos village. He never appears in the
novel but he serves an important role in the fishermans life by providing him with
newspapers that report the baseball scores.

Martin is the owner of the Terrace. He does not appear in the story. Like Perico, he
also has an important role in the novel because according to Santiago, he is kind
and deserves to be repaid with belly meat of a big fish.

4. Plot
The plot of the story is linear plot because the story follows sequence of the events
from the beginning to the end.

5. Conflict
Outer Conflict
The first outer conflict happens between the old man and everyone in his village.
Everyone else in the village except the boy thinks that Santiago have ran out of
luck because he has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish. He has been
called salao which is the worst form of unlucky. People even make fun of him
because he cant get a fish and maybe because he is poor. However, Santiago
doesnt angry with them because he has the boy that still loyal to him and
acknowledge that he is a good fisherman. The second conflict happens between the
old man and nature. This nature consists of the sea and sharks which make Santiago
face the difficulty to catch the marlin. The sea seems to not cooperate with Santiago
in catching the marlin. The third conflict happens between Santiago and the marlin.
Although the marlin is included in nature, Id like to separate it with nature because
 the marlin has greater role in the story. For three days, Santiago struggles against
the marlin because the marlin is so big that Santiago is unable to pull the fish in
easily.

Inner Conflict
The inner conflict is happens between Santiago and himself. Santiago is old but he
still has the spirit to be a fisherman. He must gather all his strength so he can catch
fish and prove himself and that nature can stop him. Santiago also has to fight
against his guilt for catching the marlin. He respects the marlin like a brother but he
still has to kill it.

After reading the whole story and knowing the elements of the story, I can say that
this novel is truly great. No wonder it received an award. Hemingway is exploring
many themes in the novel. Nevertheless, the theme of pride is the one that interest me
because I think Hemingway creates a strong theme of pride in the novel perfectly
through symbols, conflicts and characterization.

People sometimes misunderstand pride. Some believe that pride is something that
should be taken lightly, while others may live their life fully on pride. Here, Im going
to analyze the pride within Santiago.

Santiago is very prideful. He has showed his pride in the beginning of the story. He
refuses to admit that he is poor by lying to Manolin that he has food. When Manolin
offers to buy Santiago four sardines to use as bait, he also refuses to take it, but after a
bit of negotiation he agrees to take two sardines. Santiago is humble enough to accept
some help from Manolin but he is still too proud to take all of the sardines. It can be
proved from the line:

He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility. But he

knew he had attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it
carried no loss of true pride.

The narrator writes that after Santiago accept sardines from Manolin. From that line,
we know that basically Santiago has both pride and humility. The difference of pride
and humility is a thin line for some people and so is for Santiago. We see more of
Santiago trying to balance humility and pride when Santiago says that he has a pot of
yellow rice with fish for dinner but later accepts the stew that Manolin brings for him.
He also refuses when Manolin offers to help him on his boat and tells Manolin that he
should stay on the lucky boat even though Santiago truly needs the help. Later on, he
keeps saying I wish I had the boy when he is sailing to catch fish. This shows us
that Santiago is a very prideful yet humble old man.
 Hemingway also shows Santiago pride when he is about to catch the marlin. At
first, it is too elusive for Santiago to catch, but his pride is too much to just let it go.
The marlin resembles a worthy opponent for Santiago and he even thinks that
DiMaggio would be proud of him because he can deal with such a marlin with his
current condition.
My head is not that clear. But I think the great DiMaggio would be
proud of me today. I had no bone spurs. But the hands and the back
hurt truly.

Later on, Santiago himself admit that he is killing the marlin for pride to prove that he
is a fisherman and still a good fisherman.
You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he
thought. You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman.
You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love
him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?

Santiago is proud this challenge tests him to his full potential and eventually leads to
success, until he loses it to the sharks. By losing the marlin, Santiago's pride is again
affected.
He took all his pain and what was left of his strength and his long
gone pride and he put it against the fish's agony.

This sentence shows despite winning against the marlin, he feels that killing the
marlin is wrong. Santiago is a very humble person and this all is different than what
he believes. Instead of taking the victory for what it is worth against the marlin, he is
brought down by the fact that he killed such a marvelous animal, which is against his
normal motives. The symbol of the marlin takes a toll on Santiago's pride more than
anything else in the story.

Furthermore, Hemmingway can show the theme of pride through

characterization of Santiago. First, Santiago is quite against killing for pride. He feels
this pride is what ruined him and the marlin.

Half fish, he said. Fish that you were. I am sorry that I went too
far out. I ruined us both. But we have killed many sharks, you and I,
and ruined many others. How many did you ever kill, old fish? You do
not have that spear on your head for nothing.
 When the sharks finally take all the marlin from Santiago, he blames his pride
for killing the marlin in the first place, believing it could have been prevented.
However, pride is the thing that can make him survive through the whole journey.
This allows him to fight his battle at sea and keep him determined. He feels he had
come too far to let it all go to waste, and that if the marlin were to die because of him;
he should make it out as a tribute to the marlin.

Santiago's pride is what defeats the marlin in the end. Although he returns to
his village without the trophy of his long battle, he returns knowing that he acquitted
himself proudly and manfully. Santiago stands as proof that pride motivates men to
greatness. Without pride, that battle would never have been fought, or more likely, it
would have been abandoned before the end. So, we already know that Santiagos
pride is in positive way. For him, pride also enables him to achieve his and complete
self. Furthermore, it helps him earn the deeper respect of the village fisherman and the
admiration from the boy.

In this novel, Hemingway seems to suggest that victory is not a requirement for
honor. Instead, glory depends on having the pride to see a struggle through to its end,
regardless of the result. Even if the old man returned with the entire marlin, his
moment of glory, like the marlins meat, would lasts in a very short time. The glory
and honor Santiago comes not from his battle itself but from his pride and
determination to fight.