Character: Santiago

Santiago is a sad old man who has gone eight four days without catching a fish (Hemingway, 17) and if you do not catch any fish then you will not catch any respect. He becomes the laughing stock of the town until his lucky day when he hooks a Marlin. Even though he gets some respect back, he does not make any money of the fish because it was eaten by sharks. But even after all this happens his spirit does not appear to be broken or affected by his great loss.

Throughout the book he shows much courage and strength especially for his age. He shows a lot of courage by fishing alone. The other boats have two, maybe three or more people in them and they still struggle to catch a big fish. Santiago catches this great marlin after a long struggle and all by himself (Hemingway, 98). Santiago also shows much sadness in this book also. When he hooks the big fish, he is sad because he knows he will have to kill the great fish or be killed by the bearing sea(Hemingway, 52). The big fish is a worthy opponent for the experienced fisherman even though he does not catch many fish.

The old man talks to him self throughout the entire book and it is kind of sad. This makes me think that the old man is a little lonely in the boat by himself. He used to have the boy to talk to until he had to leave the old man's boat for a more prosperous one. Occasionally the old man will talk to the fish and say how tough he is but that he will lose the fight, but i think that he wants to have someone to talk to especially the boy. The boy is the old man's only friend and he is also the only person who takes care of the old man. In the story, it never talks about the old man eating except for when the boy feeds him, which leads the reader to believe he does not eat that often if at all when he is on his own.

The old man is the type of character that we are supposed to feel bad for because he seems so helpless. But in fact the old man does very well on his own. He is smart, strong and courageous and the only thing that the old man cares for in the entire world is the boy which he can not have because all of the townspeople say that he is a bad fisherman.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 2003. Print.