Once a person learns enough from his teacher they become more self-reliant. In The Old Man and The Sea, Ernest Hemingway demonstrates the themes of self-reliance and tutor & tyro. Although the controlling idea of the novel is self-reliance, Santiago still serves as a tutor to the boy.

Today, many people rely on others to take care of matters for them and help them, however, Santiago relies on only himself. Santiago's flair dwarfed other fishermen.

Santiago shows poise in many challenging situations. He also exhibits self-reliance since he is an impoverished man who has few friends. Santiago likes solving his own problems because he believes he can do something if he puts his mind to it. An example of this was when the old man is out alone on the sea, and he is trying to get a big catch.

He sees many along the way but keeps his...