The old man, or Santiago - Characters, The Old Man and the Sea | The Old Man and the Sea - Summary, Themes & Characters - Novels PDF Download

The Old Man’s Struggle

Yes, we know, everyone’s wondering why the old man spends three days with a fishing line stretched tight across his back, bleeding from three places and eating raw, unsalted and nauseating fish bait. It’s a good question. The easy answer is that the old man hasn’t caught a fish in eighty-four days and he’s pretty much going to starve to death if he doesn’t catch something soon. But we don’t really see starvation as much of a threat. The old man doesn’t eat much anyway, and Manolin’s got his back. So there are far, far bigger things at stake here.

But, you say, what could possibly be bigger than the basic human need to eat? Plenty. Let’s start with pride, or the need to prove oneself. The old man used to be El Campeon – the "Shaft" of the fishing community. And now he’s just an old man that young guys laugh at. That’s not a chip on your shoulder – that’s an entire bag of Doritos you’re carrying up there. The old man has to prove that he’s still got what it takes.

The Old Man’s Name

Let’s start here. We only hear the name ‘Santiago’ four times: three from the boy, and one really interesting occurrence when the old man is recalling his epic arm wrestling match. That the boy calls him ‘Santiago’ makes sense – "hey old man" isn’t exactly a name for your mentor and fishing guru, is it? But the other time we hear his name is from the narrator, and it’s only once. We are told of the time in Casablanca when the old man "was not an old man […] but was Santiago El Campeon [The Champion]." Hmm. It looks like the old man has come to be defined by his age. And it looks like in his battle with the marlin, he’s trying to be The Champion again, instead of the old man. But he never loses his name; he’s still "the old man" by the end of the text. So did he fail? Or can he be "the old man" and El Campeon at the same time?

The Old Man and Hunger

The old man is never really hungry. He doesn’t eat, and he tells the boy he is used to fishing and competing in otherwise physically exhausting tasks without a morsel. Amazing. It makes the old man almost superhuman.Or, you could say, it makes him like an ascetic, a person who denies himself indulgences generally for religious reasons. Where’s the religion part, you ask? What a great essay topic!

Moving on. The old man does at times eat, just not for the reasons that normal people do. He takes no pleasure in the act, and repeatedly forces himself into it for the sole purpose of gaining strength. The old man is single-minded in this goal. It gets more interesting when you compare him to the marlin, who is trapped by his own hunger (that’s how fish get caught, right?). The marlin got screwed for eating the bait, but the old man ends up eating the same fish he used for bait – just like the marlin. It’s almost as if the two are being compared…

The old man, or Santiago Timeline

• The old man hasn’t caught a fish in 84 days.
• He sits on the terrace with Manolin.
• They reminisce.
• He and Manolin pretend to have dinner and talk about baseball.
• The old man falls asleep.
• He is woken by the boy and they eat.
• The old man talks about the lions in Africa.
• He dreams about the lions.
• He wakes up and then wakes the boy.
• He sets out on the fishing trip.
• The old man muses on skill being better than luck, and the quality of his eyes.
• He watches the sea turtles and jellyfish and characterizes them.
• He catches a tuna and uses it for bait.
• The old man talks to himself
• He hooks the marlin.
• The agony of holding on to the fish lasts overnight.
• He recollects having hooked a female marlin when her companion was there.
• He wishes the boy were there.
• The old man hooks another fish and cuts it loose (no time to deal with that now).
• The old man muses a lot about the fish, how he wishes he could see it, how it is his brother, etc.
• The fish surges and cuts the old man below the eye with the line.
• Another night passes.
• The old man feels he really ought to eat the disgusting and raw tuna.
• The old man gets a cramp in his hand.
• He believes a man is never alone at sea.
• He wishes the boy were there again.
• He gets excited because the fish is jumping.
• The old man is overwhelmed by the fish’s size.
• The old man prays.
• The old man talks about the lions.
• He compares himself to DiMaggio.
• He recalls the arm wrestling in Casablanca.
• He hooks a dolphin and clubs it over the head. If only the marlin had gone that easily...
• His cramp goes away.
• He looks at the stars and does what most people do when they look at stars: muses on them.
• He forces himself to eat some food.
• He takes a nap and dreams about the lions and is happy, or as happy as one can be when staying in Hotel Agony by the Sea.
• He is woken up by a sudden jerk from the fish.
• He forces himself to eat again.
• He harpoons the fish to death. Yay.
• The old man is nervous about the blood in the water as he heads home.
• He harpoons the first shark to death, but loses the harpoon in the process.
• He ties a knife to the oar tip for a weapon.
• He muses on whether or not it was a sin to kill the marlin.
• More sharks come. These are the stupid kind.
• He kills them, but they take a big chunk of dead marlin with them.
• His body starts to fail him as he tries to club the following sharks to death.
• He makes it home with the skeleton of the fish and heads to bed, resting on the way.
• He wakes and chills out with the boy. They talk about the extravaganza.
• He asks for the newspapers.
• He gives the fish head to Pedrico.
• He dreams about the lions.