Preview

The Character Of Santiago In 'The Color Of Water'

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
141 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Character Of Santiago In 'The Color Of Water'
This book is about a man who never give up. After empty handed for eighty four days at the ocean of Cuba. His perseverance brought him the record of capturing biggest fish of the village.

Santiago, the old man and the protagonist of this novel. He is brave, determined, and optimistic. He maintain his life sturdy instead of letting others getting in the way. Santiago's courage is inseparable and integral from his honor. Santiago kept the fear and the allegation out of the way. He does the best that he can, without any complaints. The entire struggle, not only showcases his Indefatigable actions, also shows his determination to change.
The major symbol is the sea, which can be reflect to people’s life. Both sea and life are full of challenge

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    The story is non-chronological and is told out of order, mimicking the way that memories are often not remembered sequentially. In addition, the story is told like clockwork, told repetitively through memories that essentially keep Santiago alive twenty-seven years after his death. Although most of the chapters end on an exclamation similar to “They’ve killed Santiago Nasar!” the story is reconstructed again, with a new memory or voice telling the story, adding more pieces to solve the puzzle of Santiago Nasar’s murder (García Márquez 71). Santiago’s murder is retold in each chapter, but Santiago becomes ‘resurrected’ in the next where his last moments are replayed, up until the last chapter of the novel. The last sentence of the novel ends with the line “He went into his house through the back door that had been open since six and fell on his face in the kitchen”, again ending Santiago’s life, but this time ending the loop of Santiago’s death and his following resurrection (García Márquez 120). The novel ends with no conclusion, paralleling the fact that Santiago’s murder has no conclusion or resolution. Santiago dies with his innocence still in question, but the circumstances of his death causes Santiago to still be remembered and, therefore, to still be…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Major Works Data Sheet

    • 1216 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Santiago - He is a protagonist and an old man who is seen as unlucky in the beginning of the story. Santiago then goes fishing farther out than any of the other fishermen. He is determined and perseverant. He is lonely.…

    • 1216 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout this novel, Coelho uses archetypal men. The men he uses are the Alchemist, his father, and the King of Salem. Wise old men symbolize the ‘savior’, ‘redeemer’, and the ‘guru’. The first of the three wise men that Santiago encounters is his father. His father had wanted Santiago to become a priest, but despite those wishes he had; he still gave Santiago his blessing when he told him he wanted to travel and become a shepherd. The second wise man Santiago encountered on his journey was the King of Salem. This man motivates Santiago to follow his personal legend. He tells him that his recurrent dream is true and he should follow the dream to the pyramids of Egypt. The final and most important wise man Santiago came upon in his journey was the Alchemist. The Alchemist was the one to “push him” to stay on the right path of following his personal legend, rather than staying with Fatima in the oasis. He guided him through the desert and taught him many things along the way, including about the Soul of the World and how everything is connected. “You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit, it’s because it wasn’t…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Symbols play and important role in the meaning and depth in this story and contribute to the main themes of materialism…

    • 1820 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Old Man and the Sea

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When Santiago goes on his little adventure, he has to have perseverance to continue with his goal. During the day, the Old Man offered to himself that he “could drift, he thought, and sleep and put a bight of line around my toe to wake me. But today is eighty-five days and I should fish the day well’ (54). Even though Santiago knows that he could just relax for the day, he chooses to have a good day of fishing well. He would rather have a chance of catching a fish with hard work than to be at ease for the day. Santiago thinks to himself “What will I do if he decides to go down, I don’t know. What I’ll do if he sounds and dies I don’t know. But I’ll do something. There are plenty of things I can do” (78). Santiago is…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Helen Keller, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trail and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved”. Through this quote, she shows that people behave differently from each other due to their experience and event that they have faced. Santiago in the old man and the sea remains as a hero through his experiences. Written in 1956, Jan in silver sword has also faced many struggles before he comes to meet Ruth’s parents. Comparing them shows that though both Jan and Santiago have been through hard time and have become a hero, they do not have the same characters. Jan and Santiago share the same characteristics such as being bold, caring and lonely. However,…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Old Man and the Sea

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The constant struggle makes Santiago realize that he is no longer as young as he thinks he is and…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Alchemist

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages

    2. Santiago, the main character in the book, and is characterized as an out going Shepard in a city near an ancient castle in Andalusia. Santiago, a boy, is unshakeable, creative, and has no interest in money or wealth, but wants to succeed in the dreams he most cares about. He is also a character that learns fast and no matter the challenges he faces he never gives up. For example, the owner of the store that Santiago worked in even said, "The boy's very presence in the shop was an omen, and, as time passed and money was pouring into the cash drawer, he had no regrets about having hired the boy." (79). Through Santiago's mentally quick and motivational ways, he can achieve any challenge given to him.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Despite knowing that he hasn 't caught any fish in 84 days, he continues to go out in his boat every morning, never with a negative attitude. His persistent actions show his ability to go on every day even when the odds were against him. After catching the marlin and being out so far for almost two days, Santiago is extremely tired, but he won 't give up to the fish, or go to sleep. "He felt very tired now and he knew the night would come soon" (Hemingway 67). Even though he could have slept, he mostly stayed awake with the fish, and kept all of his courage so that he would be able to get home with the great marlin. His courage showed when he had to stay in the ocean alone for three days with little protection, and his small food supply. He could have turned back to shore safely at any time, but he didn 't. Santiago faced possible death at any moment, but his courage allowed him to continue on his journey. When the sharks attack the carcass, he does everything in his power to fight them off when it 's obviously a battle lost from the start, but he gives it his all. After loosing his harpoon when fighting with the sharks, he still continues to go on and make a new weapon (out of the few materials on his boat, for example an oar and his knife) and uses all of the energy he has left in him to protect the…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Alchemist

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The character Santiago allows us to see this journey, following personal legend. One of the most important aspects in understanding this journey are the archetypal characters Coelho has created. On their own they are not as significant but when the male characters and what they contribute together the message becomes clearer. Paulo Coelho uses archetypal men.…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Santiago's Character

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Describe Santiago's character in regard to the adversity he faces. What political or historical person could you compare him to? Explain.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In Whale Rider

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Niki Caro has used symbols in her movie Whale Rider (2002) to explore ideas by using elements to express a certain feeling, instead of getting the actor to show the feeling through words. The movie Whale Rider follows a young girl named Paikea living in a small Maori coastal town in New Zealand. It is about the challenges Paikea faces being a girl and how this affects her relationship with her grandfather. This essay discusses three symbols that Niki Caro has used in her film. These includes; Koro’s staff, the Waka (Paikea’s father’s boat) and the sea. All of these symbols are part of a common theme; hope.…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The old man is a person who will not give up easily. Even though he was old and tired he never gave up on catching the Marlin. He is humble, yet exhibits a justified pride in his abilities. Throughout his life, Santiago has been presented with contests…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    He still feels vulnerable from his previous losses, and specifically choses companions and relationships that make him feel secure in himself. Isolated and in denial of his insecurities, Santiago interacts with Manolin, the young boy from the village, who serves as Santiago’s only true friend. Manolin “loved [Santiago]” because “the old man had taught the boy to fish” (Hemingway 1). Beyond a partnership or friendship, the relationship between the old man and the boy appears almost familial. While at sea Santiago frequently comments on his feelings of isolation and mentions several times that Manolin would make the journey easier and more enjoyable. At his loneliest, he wishes for Manolin, the person he depends on, yet will not admit that he needs the boy, only that he wishes he had his assistance and company. Manolin takes care of Santiago in simple and caring ways, such as when he “took the old army blanket off the bed and spread it over the back of the chair and over the old man’s shoulders” (Hemingway 4). He sees Santiago struggling, but carefully plans his kindness so he does not offend Santiago or assume the old man’s incapability. The men obviously feel very familiar and comfortable with each other. However, William Cain argues that because of Santiago’s self imposed distance from the rest of society, he has cut himself off from meaningful relationships, including Manolin. Believing that “the old man would take to the sea whether Manolin existed or not” seems plausible, but it does not refute the idea that Manolin plays a role or comfort in the old man’s otherwise isolated existence (Cain 5). The old man may care for the young man, but he has no familial obligation to him and the old man has the right to live the way he wants and behave as he sees fit. While at sea, Santiago makes many efforts to…

    • 1318 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As David Banach once explained in a lecture based on the Existentialist’s view, “The modern conception of man is characterized, more than anything else, by individualism. Existentialism can be seen as a rigorous attempt to work out of the implications of this individualism” (Taylor 52). The Existentialist conceptions of freedom and value arise from their view of the individual. Sartre’s existentialism explains “existence is self-making-in-a-situation” (Fackenheim 130) which outlines that one’s identity is not shaped by culture or by nature, but to “exist” is exactly what forms such an identity. Since we are all ultimately alone, like isolated islands of subjectivity in an objective world, we have absolute freedom over our internal nature, and the source of out value can only be internal. Santiago’s pride in the novel The Old Man and the Sea is what enables him to endure, and it is perhaps endurance that matters most in Hemingway’s conception of the world- a world in which death and destruction, as part of the natural order of things, are unavoidable. But through Santiago’s conquering of his inner struggles, he is able to decide his beliefs and values to construct his future; which enables him to achieve his most true and complete self. Ernest Hemingway portrays his character’s journey as not of one man and his struggle, but of Man and his struggle. The theory of existentialism is developed in the novel through the focus of the mood, the character’s inner and physical…

    • 1859 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays