Inner Conflict – An examination of the duality of Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea through his vocal expressions and thoughts.

Abstract

Hemingway’s code heroes are a breed of heroes mostly recognized through their stoic behavior. This stoic behavior stemming from a code used as a shield from earlier psychological or physical trauma. This thesis seeks to make a comment upon how following the code could cause an inner psychological turmoil within one of Hemingway’s code heroes through closer examination of the thoughts and words spoken by Santiago in The Old Man and The Sea (1952). Since the novel contains almost no other characters than Santiago himself, and that he for most of the novel never interacts with others, the novel becomes more introspective and therefore a pattern of conflict between desires of Santiago and the expectations that he puts upon himself through his code. Through a closer reading of Santiago’s thoughts and vocal expressions it will be revealed that the code is not only a stoic shield for the wounds of the past, but also a lingering wound upon his psyche. That is to say, while the code has been the crutch that Santiago has leaned upon, it is also something that needs to be shed in order to grow. So, after an exhaustive loss at sea and a long introspection, once the old man returns to land chooses to give up his code in order to heal.

Hemingway’s code heroes are a breed of heroes mostly recognized through their stoic behavior. This stoic behavior stemming from a code used as a shield from earlier psychological or physical trauma. This thesis seeks to make a comment upon how following the code could cause an inner psychological turmoil within one of Hemingway’s code heroes through closer examination of the thoughts and words spoken by Santiago in The Old Man and The Sea (1952). Since the novel contains almost no other characters than Santiago himself, and that he for most of the novel never interacts with others, the novel becomes more introspective and therefore a pattern of conflict between desires of Santiago and the expectations that he puts upon himself through his code. Through a closer reading of Santiago’s thoughts and vocal expressions it will be revealed that the code is not only a stoic shield for the wounds of the past, but also a lingering wound upon his psyche. That is to say, while the code has been the crutch that Santiago has leaned upon, it is also something that needs to be shed in order to grow. So, after an exhaustive loss at sea and a long introspection, once the old man returns to land chooses to give up his code in order to heal.