Human Nature In Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea

A tactic that authors use more often than not is to adopt certain characteristics and features that mirror human behavior or human nature in order to further convince and assure the readers that the story or work of fiction is realistic. The writers attempt to create characters that are wholesome – which means (in this context) being the most human like, with natural characteristics and flaws, as well as expressing genuine, convincing and believable traits in order for their audience to be able to relate to them.
Ernest Hemingway provided a myriad of insights to display human nature in The Old Man and the Sea. It should be noted that throughout the novella, Hemmingway never had to blatantly express the qualities of his characters, Santiago

These strong, human qualities are articulated by the unfailing determination of the old man to catch the Marlin even though he had failed to catch a fish every day for the past three months, as well as be abandoned (although not intentionally) by his only supporter and friend, the young boy, Manolin. His failure to catch any fish, as well as being subject to the disappointment and pity of those around him were enough to act as demotivators for Santiago. Striking against the odds, and rising from the ashes, Santiago set out to sea determined to catch the Marlin, showcasing his cut throat resolve. In the days stranded out at sea, fighting the Marlin and then later the Mako Sharks, Santiago’s behavior attributed to the humanoid attitude of

This is because it contains a variety of raw, utterly human emotions, and usually presents the ‘drive’ for the protagonist to accomplish an unbeatable task. In the Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is driven by his wounded pride to fare out far into sea in order to kill the Marlin. He succumbs to his pride and kills the marlin, and then questions it “You killed him (the marlin) for pride and because you are a fisherman…If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?” .A more humanlike attribute has never been