Santiago Marlin

Santiago no longer has to worry about unworthy people eating his spectacular catch, so maybe it was good the sharks got it instead. Santiago may not have been able to get his whole Marlin but at least he got to leave with the bone, that is better than nothing because he got to leave with something, he gets to know he did accomplish what he came for and he can hang it as a treasure after that long and hard journey. Santiago went through so much in the story and it is

Sometimes people have to do sacrifices, which appears in the rising action of the book. “‘Fish,’ he said, ‘I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before the day ends’” (Hemingway 54). Why did he have to kill it? Why couldn’t he hold on a little longer? Santiago sacrifices the fish for his self interest. In spite of the fact that he respects the fish, the old man’s determination reflects his belief that his purpose in life is to be a fisherman, and that comes first. As well, Santiago advises himself that he doesn't have Manolin, his beloved companion, with him and must battle against the fish by himself. It has been four struggling days of being pulled by the huge marlin, Santiago decided that that was enough. Even though

In the Old Man and the Sea Santiago catches a huge marlin but loses most of it to sharks before he makes it back to shore, but Santiago was victorious that day. He made it his goal to kill the marlin even if he had to die with it, and he ended up killing it. Santiago also comes back with the spear, head, and skeleton of the fish which is worth it. Santiago was on a mission to catch the fish and defeat it.

In the novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago is an unlucky fisherman who has not caught anything in 84 days.  Yet he sets out alone on the 85th day to try again.  For three days he struggles with a large marlin which he finally kills; but, despite his best efforts, he loses the fish to repeated shark attacks.

and, as a conclusion, suffer a terrible fall. For example, after he kills the first shark, Santiago, who

In addition, Santiago’s death may have been due to the fact that he was a very unlucky man. At the very beginning of the book Santiago is described by his fellow fishermen as a “salao, which is the worst form of unlucky (9)”. Meanwhile, by the conclusion of the book his unluckiness is vastly exposed. The marlin is attacked by sharks, and then attacked again to the point of obliteration. Santiago also loses his knife to the sharks and falls three times on the way

Finally, the author transitions to an excerpt that says "The old man felt faint and sick and he could not see well. But he cleared the harpoon line and let it run slowly through his raw hands and, when he could see, he saw the fish was on his back with his silver belly up. The shaft of the harpoon was projecting at an angle from the fish’s shoulder and the sea was discolouring with the red of the blood from his heart"(46). Here Santiago finally spears the marlin he has been trying to catch for days. He felt "faint and sick and he could not see

Death is the unavoidable force in the novella, the one fact that no living creature can escape. But death, Hemingway suggests, is never an end in itself: in death there is always the possibility of the most vigorous life. The reader notes that as Santiago slays the marlin, not only is the old man reinvigorated by the battle, but the fish also comes alive “with his death in him.” Life, the possibility of renewal, necessarily follows on the heels of death.

He tries to reel it in but he can't. Instead the fish is pulling the boat! He struggles and struggles with the fish for hours. After a while fatigue takes it's toll as his hands clamp up, and his back aches from the line tied around it. The fish surfaces and Santiago realizes that it is longer than the boat he is on! An unexpected jerk leaves a gash in his hand only to add to his pain. After a very long while Santiago shortens the line to harpoon it. He latches the fish to the side of the boat and begind to tow it back to shore triumphant. Then a mako shark approaches and takes a large bite out of the marlin. Santiago kills it with a harpoon. Only later did he realize that the sharks blood would attract more sharks. As more sharks approached Santiago fought with all his might to save his fish but there was too many sharks. By the time he got to shore, he had nothing more than a skeleton. Santiago collapses from exhaustion on the shore but is found by Manolin and calls for help. The community marveled at the size of the skeleton that is still attached to the boat. Manolin takes care of the old man and vows to return to him as an apprentice. Santiago finally gets the repect from his community.

It is ambiguous whether the old man succeeds or fails. At first, it seems that if Santiago has failed. “He sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind” (Hemingway 119). It is almost like he has lost everything that he has worked for. The old man accepts defeat as is, without mourning or grief Fortunately, after all the damage has been taken, he keeps fishing. He built some sort of relationship with the marlin, but was later broken. He has since moved on.

Over and over again he is remarked to be a strange old man, and he himself is the one to glorify that. He seems to struggle with the fact that he must prove himself to the other fisherman who mock him and believe him to be a fallen hero. He sets off to sea in his boat one day, but what he does not know that it will be the three most tiring days of his life. He first catches a smaller fish and instead of turning back, he decides to go farther out into the ocean to see what he can catch with that fish. He soon is dragged all over and back by a shiny purple marlin, that is two feet longer than his skiff. The response to Santiago’s poor decision or lack of creativity to harpoon the marlin instead of try to kill it another was as to not attract mako sharks was confusing. He is shown to be a man of intelligence and greatness, yet his decision to kill the marlin in this manner knowing what could happen proves that he had a distinct motive for harpooning the fish. By the words of Gery Brenner, “that motive is self validation-the need to prove himself”(Brenner 55). In the end, after the three day struggle, when Santiago returns to the dock, he is told by Manolin later that he was said to be lost at sea, and everyone was completely taken away by the length of the mangled carcass that he brought in. The take many get from Hemingway’s novel is

The boy came back to Santiago with supper given to him by the owner, Martin, and Santiago replies, "I must give him something more than the belly meat then. He is very thoughtful for us" (20). Hemingway thus reveals the Old Man is not too proud to accept help from others. The Old Man clearly has relatable human qualities to the everyday reader. Although Santiago takes much pride, he humbles himself when the boy utters, ‘“And the best fisherman is you …’ Santiago replies, ‘No. I know others better”’ (23). The author thus demonstrates Santiago is humble about his abilities. He still acknowledges that there is better fisherman than he is, illustrating he has control of any potential hubris. After killing the fish, Santiago thinks to himself about the boy; “The boy keeps me alive…. I must not deceive myself too much” (106). Hemingway thus emphasizes Santiago is not too proud to admit he is dependent on the boy. The Old Man knows he is dependent on the boy and that he would most likely not be alive if it were not for him. He is clearly not ungrateful. After the sharks destroy the Marlin, Santiago notes, “Nothing . . . I went out too far” (120). Hemingway thus implies Santiago views the Marlin as a worthy opponent. Hemingway also reveals that Santiago is aware that his pride led to his downfall. Santiago knew he went too far out, but he still made the irrational decision because he wanted to have pride after

Santiago comments that the marlin is “wonderful,” “strange,” “strong,” “wise,” and “that his fight has no panic in it.”(48-49) Based on his description of the marlin, Santiago loves and respects him as a worthy opponent and brother, “Now we are joined together and have been since noon.”(50) Santiago is not only literally linked to the marlin, but also figuratively because the outcome of this battle will determine both their fates.

After catching the marlin and attaching it to the side of the boat Santiago saw that sharks smelled blood from the fish and were chasing him so he had to figure out a way to kill them with items on the ship. “The line showed clearly on the top of his brown head and back where the brain joined the spinal cord and the old man drove the knife on the oar into the juncture, withdrew it, and drove it in again into the shark’s yellow cat-like eyes. The shark let go of the fish and slid down, swallowing what he had taken as he died” (Hemingway, 2003, p. 108). The old man tied his knife to his boat’s oar to stab the sharks that were quickly coming for the fish. His method worked, however, his “weapon” eventually broke and he had to use another object to kill other sharks. Santiago killed sharks before they took his fish and killed him, thus making him successful because he accomplished

Santiago is a successful fisherman because he brought proof of his capture to everyone. During his voyage to catch a fish, Santiago hooked a giant Marlin and fought against that fish for three days. Although his captured Marlin was eaten by sharks, the skeleton of the fish was the necessary proof needed to show the other fishermen that Santiago was a success. In the novel a fishermen measured the skeleton of the Marlin and called out, “He was eighteen feet from nose to tail” (Hemingway 122). This quote gives proof that Santiago caught a fish, stunning the other fishermen, and providing proof he is still a successful fisherman.