Santiago and Manolin

Manolin and Santiago had a father-son relationship. Manolin was always looking out for Santiago in different ways. He would make sure Santiago had food, and if he didn’t Manolin would run down to the local café and pick something up for him. In the beginning of the book, Manolin attempts to give Santiago some of his bait fish so that Santiago will not have to spend his own money. Santiago is stubborn, but he eventually accepts Manolin’s offer. Manolin and Santiago even held father-son conversations. I thought that it seemed almost like a fatherly bonding time when Santiago pulled out a newspaper and started talking about baseball to Manolin. I think that Manolin’s relationship with Santiago is better than the one with his real father. Manolin’s parents forbid Manolin from going fishing with Santiago after an eighty-seven day streak of catching no fish. I think that by doing that, Manolin’s parents weakened his relationship with them and helped to fortify Manolin’s relationship with Santiago.

After Manolin brings Santiago food, they reminisced about the days they used to fish together. Manolin proves how much he looks up to Santiago by saying that he is the greatest fisherman. Manolin knew at that time that Santiago had not caught a single fish for more than eighty days, but he believed Santiago was still the best fisherman of all. I think that the way Manolin looked up to Santiago was like a son looking up to a father or grandfather. Manolin wanted to fish with Santiago again, but Santiago refused his help and insisted that he could do it himself. I think Manolin’s offer to once again sail with Santiago also proved how strongly he looked up to Santiago because Santiago had the worst of luck when it came to catching fish. I found it heartwarming that Manolin would give up catching fish and making money on a larger boat to help Santiago on his much smaller, less successful boat.