The Old Man and the Sea and Islands in the Stream with Tom Hudson - Hemingway Hero
Uploaded by shorty22 on May 06, 2002
As individuals grow older, they learn to live by a set of codes, which make up the person’s characteristics. This code of conduct could come from a single person, a family, or society itself. It’s a way to live your life, have goals to reach for and standards an individual should obtain. The author Ernest Hemingway led his own life by a set of codes, which also influence the characterization of his protagonists. The influence is strongly shown in his works, The Old Man and the Sea with protagonist Santiago, and Islands in the Stream with Tom Hudson.
A large part of the Hemingway hero codes, was that in some way, the character was afraid of darkness. This was because, to the men, it was similar to death, and they feared they would face it without ever proving themselves. In The Old Man and the Sea, you see the fear in Santiago when he refuses to sleep. Santiago began to grow weak, but still would not close his eyes to rest. He often would fight with himself on the issue; he knew he must sleep to gain strength. “I could go without sleeping, he told himself. But it would be too dangerous” (77). Throughout the book, Santiago remains awake; as does Tom Hudson in the movie Islands in the Stream. While watching, there was hardly ever a time you could see Hudson sleeping. He was always awake and thinking about his life; it was his way of relaxing. He would also often watch his children sleep throughout the night, but never himself. That was the way that Hemingway felt a man should be, because sleeping to the characters was the elimination of a man’s consciousness.
Another large feature in a Hemingway hero was, on a daily basis, he must do things to prove himself as a man; which meant facing challenges and battles that came to them. Santiago faced a battle with a large fish, with all odds against him. He would die before he gave up the fight to kill this fish. “I will stay with you until I am dead fish” (53). Santiago was dedicated and persistent with the fish, no matter what happened. Tom Hudson was the same way throughout the movie. Many times, he faced the chance of dying in the battles that arose to him. He took the refugees into a Cuban River area, with a Cuban...