The Old Man And The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

A hero can be defined by many as selfless, humble, and noble, however code hero encompasses specific traits. Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrate code hero within their novels, The Old Man and the Sea and the Great Gatsby, through the attributes of their main characters. In the Old Man and the Sea, the hero is Santiago, a local fisherman. Whereas the hero in Great Gatsby, is an elite upper class named Jay Gatsby. A hero can be defined in many ways depending on perspective and background, however all code heros share these four traits in common: honor, humility, courage, and endurance.

Endurance was shown through persevering through hard times without giving way. Endurance was present in The Old Man and the Sea through Santiago’s

A prominent case of Santiago being honorable in The Old Man and the Sea is when he was catching the marlin and believed “there [was] no one worthy of eating him” (75 Hemingway). This showed the respect that Santiago not only had for others besides himself, but for nature as well. His respect extends beyond the average not only once, but multiple times throughout the novel. He showed a lot of “love and respect” for the marlin before he killed him. Before the death of the fish, Santiago apologized to him, therefore delivering respect to the creature whose live he is about to take. Similarly, Gatsby exudes honor through treating not only those who are of the same wealth as him, but also those who are below his wealth, such as Nick. Gatsby treated Nick the same as “he would have treated a scholar” (95 Fitzgerald), showing that Gatsby will give respect to any man, not just those that fall within his class. Another action of honor that only a true hero could do was take the blame from Daisy after the car accident involving Myrtle. Gatsby had true respect and politeness regarding Daisy and he honorably took the blame, which consequently, made everyone think he was the

Santiago in The Old Man and the Sea displays humility during the scene with the shark attacks. He was humiliated when he [insert quote here]. Another event in which Santiago was ashamed and humiliated that he could not supply himself with food. His lack of game for fish caused him to go hungry, however he would not admit that to the boy. The boy knew that there was “no pot of yellow rice and fish” (Hemingway 16), so the boy retrieved food for him. The old man, as well as Gatsby, was to endure humility as a hero. Gatsby experienced an event of humility during his tea date with Daisy. His act of going outside and standing “in a puddle” (86 Fitzgerald), soaking wet in the storm while Daisy was present was his first act of humility in front of his new friends. A sensitive, insecure side of Gatsby was shown when he was trying to draw in Daisy, which led to overconfidence and more humiliation. He began to feel comfortable with her and was humiliated and hurt when Daisy chose Gatsby over Tom [insert quote from chapter 7]. Both of the main characters from the highlighted books have experienced humility as a true code hero