Literature connects to the human world, literature portrays humans through character, lives, and mood and brings the reader into the psychological dimensions of human life. Many aspects appear in literature, such as history, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and so on. Literature and psychology manage human reality and also support their dimension each other. Every human has different needs in their life. The human needs have already been explained and theorized by Abraham Maslow. Abraham Maslow’s theory named as Hierarchy of Needs.

This study analyses the needs experienced by the main character and the characteristics of self-actualization portrayed in The Old man and The Sea novel by Ernest Hemingway. This study used the descriptive qualitative method. The data are taken from the novel, such as dialogues, monologues, and narratives. Some steps were used to collect the data, such as reading the novel, identifying the data, and reducing the data.

This study found the hierarchy of needs in the main character based on the Hierarchy of Needs Theory by Abraham Maslow. The first one was the fulfillment of the needs experienced by the main character Santiago. The main character experienced all the needs: physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging needs, and esteem needs. The next was Santiago, as the main character satisfied the self-actualization needs. He became a self-actualized person. Besides, he satisfied five of the self-actualization’s characteristics: perceived reality more efficiently, acceptance (self, others, nature), spontaneity simplicity naturalness, the continued freshness of appreciation, and imperfections.

Keywords: Hierarchy of Needs, Self-Actualization, Characteristics of Self- Actualization, The Old Man and The Sea.