16. SANTIAGO’S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Q. Give a graphic picture of how does the old man physically look? OR “Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were cheerful and undefeated.” Discuss. OR Draw the outward appearance of the old man.
Answer: Santiago, a typical Hemingway’s hero, was an old but master fisherman. He was a simple person without any touch of a romantic hero. “Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were cheerful and undefeated.”
His eyes were blue like the sea. If we symbolically analyze, we can say that his eyes were as vast and deep as the sea. They had the strength which a sea has. They were as mysterious as the gray water of the sea.
The old man was proud of his eyes. He called himself “A strange old man.” He had strange shoulders. They were very old but very powerful. His appearance showed his power of endurance and patience. He looked to be a person who was ready to fight a big battle with anything which came on his way. However, there was no sign of love on his face when his face was down. He was mostly barefooted. We can say that Santiago was a common place and ordinary fisherman, with limited desires and a few ambitions. (Words: 175)