What is a Code Hero? Would you call Santiago a Hemingway Code Hero?

The Hemingway Code Hero Hemingway defined the Code Hero as a “man who lives correctly, following the ideals of honor, courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful.” The Code Hero measures himself by how well he handles the difficult situations that life throws at him.

Hemingway character or code hero himself would never speak of a code. He is a man of action rather than a man of theory. We call him the code hero because he represent a code according to which the hero, by  observing it, would  be able to live properly in the world of violence, disorder, and misery to which he has been introduced and which he inhabits. The code hero thus offers certain principles of honor, courage and endurance which in a life of tension and pain make a man a man and enable him to conduct himself well in the losing battle-that is life. Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea is the code hero at his best.

Santiago brings us the message that while a man may manner of his losing. After Santiago had caught a huge marlin, the sharks came and ate it up. But Santiago did catch the marlin, he did fight well, he did all he could and it was a lot, and at the end he was happy. The great thing is not the victory but the struggle.

Santiago is the embodiment of all that is noble in life and, as such, he is perhaps the most perfect of all the Hemingway heroes. He is an old man, defeated according to his society but still full of confidence in himself. His only fault is that with old age comes a loss of strength, but all the knowledge is still with him.

Another factor which illustrates fully the essence of the code hero is Santiago’s supreme courage in the face of overwhelming odds. With his strength gone and his mental powers diminishing with old age, the old man’s fight with the great fish assumes the role of a supreme test of his greatness. His courage is echoed in his simple words:'' Fish....I'll stay with you until I am dead''. He has hooked the biggest fish he has ever seen or heard of; consequently, it was to be the greatest test of his skill. This naturally involves a great deal of suffering on the part of the code hero and the great pain that Santiago endures serves to emphasize the strength of his character.

The final element of a code hero seen in Santiago is his determination to fight against the sharks until the end. Santiago never loses his courage and he fights until the better end, even though he knows that there is no hope to bring in his fist. He is struck down by forces bigger than a single man can combat, but he leaves behind a code of honour and virtue which bring a beauty and nobility to his loss, and also, he has set a great example of courage for others to strive after and follow.

Thus Santiago stands as a great and noble example of Hemingway code hero.