The Old Man and the Sea

Santiago is introduced as an old man who has not caught a fish in 84 days. The village has lost faith in him. Manolin, the boy who loves him, has been moved to a luckier boat but still cares for Santiago — bringing food, talking baseball, keeping faith.

Santiago rises before dawn, collects his gear, and rows far out into the Gulf Stream — past the point where other boats fish. He sets his lines with extreme precision and watches the world wake up around him.

A great marlin takes Santiago's bait. It does not surface — it simply begins pulling the skiff north and west, into open ocean. Santiago braces the line and holds on. The creature is too large to fight directly. He can only endure.

Three days and nights of endurance. Santiago fights exhaustion, pain, and solitude. He thinks about DiMaggio, talks to the fish and the stars, eats raw fish to stay alive, and deepens his bond with the marlin. On the third day, the fish finally surfaces and circles. Santiago kills it.

Lashed to the skiff, the marlin's blood draws sharks. Santiago fights them with his harpoon, then a knife, then an oar, then the tiller. By nightfall, the carcass is stripped to bone. He sails into the harbor with nothing but a skeleton eighteen feet long.

Tourists at the café see the skeleton and don't understand what it is. Manolin finds Santiago asleep, weeps, brings coffee and newspapers, and vows to fish with him again. Santiago wakes briefly, then sleeps again. He is dreaming of the lions.