Grace Under Pressure

Most of Hemingway’s heroes are loners, operating outside the context of family, community, country or the past. Their successes are not victories over hostile forces, but demonstrations, even in defeat, of courage, which Hemingway once defined as “grace under pressure.” The old man exemplifies Hemingway's ideal of exhibiting "grace under pressure," as he refuses to submit to the overwhelming obstacles presented by the sea. Santiago's attitude seems to be that although he is faced with tragedy -- he will not cease struggling. It is clear that in, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago demonstrates “grace under pressure” during the eighty-fourth and eighty-fifth day, having to deal with the loss of his fishing companion and with catching the marlin, the three-day struggle on the sea with the great fish, and the final victory, and at the same time the loss of the marlin.


He shows that he is under pressure because he has gone eighty-four days now without catching a fish. In ...