Is Santiago a tragic Hero?

What is a tragic flaw?

"A man cannot become a hero until

he can see the root of his own downfall."

Aristotle

A tragic flaw is a literary term that refers to a personality trait of a main character that leads to his or her downfall. Tragic heroes typically have to deal with tough decisions and strange twists of fate, and they end up dead or defeated by the end of the story.

Reading for April 25

The Old Man and the Sea

By Ernest Hemingway

Part 7

Friendship Assignment

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway

The Relationship between Santiago & Manolin

Why does Santiago so often wish that Manolin were on the boat with him?

This is a simple question, but I want us to go beyond a simple answer. Review the following conversations between Santiago and Manolin from the beginning of the story. You are going to chose one of these conversations and explain how Hemingway uses dialogue to show the depth of their relationship. Why does he wish the boy were on the skiff with him? Is it for help, or is there more to it than that? How can you tell?

Reading for April 21

The Old Man and the Sea

By Ernest Hemingway

Part 6

Reading for April 18

The Old Man and the Sea

By Ernest Hemingway

Part 5

Vocabulary 1

skiff - scythe - treacheries - intolerable - proprietor - pivoted - la mar 
benevolent - fathom - rapier - humility - gaunt - undulation - plankton
bonito - furled - ineffectual - myriad - pectoral - bight - conscientious phosphorescence - malignancy - filaments

Please match the words above to the definitions below the jump. While some definitions might seem to apply to more than one word, there is one ideal definition for each word. Each one of the words above have been mentioned in the reads we have completed so far.

The "Iceberg" Effect

Writing Style and Depth

Critics, and your teacher, have described Hemingway’s style as ‘the iceberg effect’ – because the extreme simplicity masks hidden depths of meaning (like an iceberg, which is mostly hidden beneath the surface of the ocean).

1) Remind yourself of the passage on page 54, another point at which Santiago is talking to himself. “‘The fish is my friend, too,’ he said aloud ... ‘It is enough to live on the sea and kill our own true brothers.’“ (near the end of Part 4)

This passage is densely packed with meaning, yet it is expressed in very simple vocabulary and sentence structure. The old man is debating:

• the conflicts in his feelings about the marlin

• the conflicts in his feelings about his relationship with nature

• the meaning of luck, fate and chance

• his feelings about himself

• the concept of worth.

2) For each of these bullet points write down the opposing ideas that they contain and the key words or phrases used to describe them.