Summary Of Old Man In Cuban

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Plot: In Cuba, on the coast, lives an old man named Santiago who makes his living as a fisherman. He’s gone 84 days without catching a fish, but during those first 40 days he had a boy with him, Manolin. Although the boy’s parents forbid him to go out and fish with the the old man, every day Manolin spends time with the old man helping him to carry his equipment, take care of him in his old age, and to even just talk about fishing and baseball. As Santiago and the boy bring in the things of Santiago’s skiff, he tells Manolin that he is going out far the next day, feeling that it will be the lucky day to catch a big one . The old man and the boy continue to talk in Santiago’s small simple house with a dirt floor, bed, table, and chair. Though…show more content…
They then go enjoy a cup of coffee at the Terrace, a restaurant by the sea that serves fishermen, where the owner is very kind to Santiago and the boy. While the old man remains, sipping his coffee, Manolin goes to fetch sardines for Santiago. When Manolin returns with the bait, they both head down to the water where they lift and slide the skiff into the water, saying their goodbyes and good lucks. Santiago leaves before the sun rises and soon rows over the “great well”. He spots birds diving for flying fish and feels for sympathy for the winged creatures, comparing their fragile bodies to the cruel, unforgiving sea. The old man keeps going and soon sees a man-of-war bird, realizing it had spotted something, he follows the bird and drops his lines in hope of catching the fish it was in search of. Soon after, a large school of dolphins also pass, but they are traveling too fast to be captured so he moves on, hoping to catch a strangler or a marlin tracking the school. After a short wait, he reels in a small tuna, but then feels a bite on one of the steeper lines. The first bite is hard, but the Marlin, who is deep in the water underneath, is then a little more cautious with the next few bites. As Santiago speaks out loud to himself, ignoring the fishermen customs since there are no others around, the Marlin takes the…show more content…
The sharks take his club so the old man resorts to fighting with the tiller and even that breaks. There is now nothing left of the poor Marlin, but bones. Now, Santiago focuses on going home while sharks continue to gnaw at the fish’s skeleton. When the old man finally arrives back to shore, the rest of the village is still fast asleep so he carries his mast home all by himself. Santiago soon realizes his true exhaustion after falling and having to site five times before collapsing on his bed in his small home. In the early hours of the morning, Manolin goes to Santiago’s shack and sees the old man asleep, his hands still bloodied. The boy leaves to get them coffee, crying the whole way, while the other fisherman measure the Marlin to eighteen feet, two feet longer than the skiff. When Manolin returns back to the small home the old man is awake. Together, they discuss fishing and all the things Santiago had missed while away. Eventually Manolin begins to ask again about joining the old man and is finally able to convince Santiago to allow him to go out onto the sea with the old
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