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1-Page Summary of The Old Man and the Sea
Overview
There is an old fisherman named Santiago in Cuba. He has gone eighty-four days without a catch, and he’s very thin because of it. His hands have deep scars from handling fish on the cord, but they’re all old scars. The boy who helps him with his boat every day, Manolin, has left to work for another man after forty days because his parents thought that Santiago was unlucky and didn’t want their son to be around him anymore. Despite this fact, though, Manolin still comes back every day to help out the old man.
Santiago tells Manolin that he will go far into the Gulf to fish, but they must get going because tomorrow is a school day. He has everything packed in his boat and Manolin helps him carry all of it over to the old man’s simple home that only has a bed, table, and chair on the ground floor. They chat for some time before Manolin leaves briefly to buy some food. Santiago falls asleep while waiting for his friend.
When Manolin comes back, he wakes Santiago. They eat the food that Manolin brought. During their meal, they realize how poor Santiago’s living conditions are and decide to bring him a shirt, shoes, a jacket, and a blanket for winter. After talking about baseball for a while, Manolin leaves to be woken in the morning by Santiago.
Santiago dreams of Africa, where he traveled as a shipmate in his youth. He thinks about the time when he lived along that coast and heard the surf roar and saw native boats riding through it. The old man wakes up from this dream, goes to the boy’s house and takes him out on his boat for coffee. They talk about Santiago’s luck at fishing before going back home to get some supplies for his trip.
Santiago leaves the shore early in the morning, before sunrise. He rows out to sea and is soon over a deep spot that’s seven hundred fathoms below. There are lots of shrimp, fish, and squid there; he also sees flying fish and birds above him. The birds make him feel sorry for them because they’re so delicate when compared to nature’s cruelty. Nature can be very cruel at times but she can also be kind and beautiful.
Santiago keeps fishing, going past where he has previously caught fish. He sees a bird dive and catches up to it, but the bird is unsuccessful in catching anything. Santiago notices that the school of dolphin are swimming fast and decides to follow them. The dolphins swim too quickly for him or the birds to catch them. Santiago moves on hoping to find another group of fish or perhaps even a marlin tracking those dolphins. After some time he hooks into a tuna which then leads him into catching another one so he can eat later if needed
The first bite is hard, and the line drops sharply. The next tug is more tentative, but Santiago knows exactly what it is. He thinks that the fish must be very large because of how deep down he was when it bit his bait.
The marlin nibbled at the bait for a while, refusing to take it. Santiago spoke aloud to encourage the fish to accept the bait. He said, “Come on…make one more turn. Just smell them. Aren’t they lovely? Eat them good now and then there is tuna.” The marlin finally took the tuna and pulled out a great length of line.
Santiago is fishing at sea when a marlin takes the bait. Santiago pulls hard on the line to bring it up, but it does not work and he drags along behind. He wishes he had Manolin with him to help out because they would have been able to catch more fish if they worked together. The sun goes down and Santiago loses sight of land as he continues to pull on the line. He says that “I’ll stay with you until I am dead” (52). At some point in time, Santiago expresses ambivalence about whether or not this is what he wants, saying that “Fish,…I love you and respect you very much” (54), but then later adds that “Before this day ends,…you will be killed dead.”
