Day Five Reading Log

The fifth day of the story begins with Santiago finally being home.  Manolin sees him at his shack and goes to get him coffee.  The other fisherman have discovered the skeleton of the marlin and measured it to be 18 feet long.  When Santiago wakes up he and Manolin talk and Manolin says he is coming back to work with Santiago.  Santiago discovers that there had been a search for him with the coast guard.  The old man goes back to sleep and Manolin goes to get him food and telling Pedrico that he can have the marlins head because of the assistance he has provided previously.  While sleeping the old man dreams of the lions once again.

            This day is a happy ending for Santiago.  Though he didn’t get to bring the fish in he was still praised for the skeleton and the size of his catch.  He also gets his fishing partner back, which means a lot to Santiago because Manolin is like a son to him.   Manolin apprenticing Santiago will make sure that Santiago’s legacy and experience will live on.  

Day Four Reading Log

On the fourth day of the story and the third day of Santiago’s journey he is awoken by the marlin jerkin him.  The fish is jumping in and out of the water badly hurting Santiago.  He eats the other fish he found in the dolphin because he knows he needs sustenance to keep fighting the fish.  The fish is circling and Santiago fights to pull him in.  Eventually he pulls the marlin to the side of his boat and then kills him.  He attaches his fish to the boat and begins to head home.  He thinks the DiMaggio would be proud of him and he thinks about the money he could get at the market for this huge fish.  A mako shark came to his boat smelling the blood the marlin lost and takes a bite.  Santiago spears and kills the shark, but has lost his rope and harpoon.  The shark ate some of the fish and caused more blood to spill out probably attracting more sharks.  The old man still struggles with killing the marlin, but has no qualms about killing the shark.  Shovel nose sharks arrive to feast on the marlin and at first Santiago can fight them off, but still loses some meat.  After a fighting off many sharks and losing lots of meat, one last pack of sharks came and stripped the marlin of all its meat.  He leaves the skeleton of the fish attached to his boat and takes his other supplies back to his house. 

            In this section symbolism comparing Santiago to Christ is used twice.  This is significant to the stories symbolism and themes.  The sharks are introduced and are full of symbolism.  These represent tearing down others successes.  Imagery is still a prominent part of the storytelling and adding to the quality of the novel.

Day Three Reading Log

On the morning of the third day Santiago is spending time with a small bird when the marlin unexpectedly moves and cuts his hand.  Both of his hands are now cut and he decides to eat the tuna to gain strength.  The old man had thought he was alone in the ocean but then realizes that he could never be alone when he was on the ocean.  After this revelation the marlin leaps into the air and Santiago realizes how big it is.  The marlin is the biggest he has ever seen and is two feet longer than his boat.  As the day goes on and the marlin slows back down Santiago begins to pray, wanting to try everything to catch this fish.  Santiago begins to struggle with the decision to kill the fish.  He believes that the fish is noble and great.  As the day continues he begins to think about DiMaggio again and what he would do if he was battling with the marlin.  Later that night he catches and kills a dolphin.  He eats some of the meat and one of the fish he found inside of it.  He considers the stars, the moon, and the marlin his friend, but is glad he doesn’t have to hunt something as precious as the stars and moon.  He still struggles with killing the marlin, but he knows he needs to.  He thinks of the many people it will feed, but thinks the fish is too noble for them to deserve to eat it.  Realizing he should be sleeping he eats some of the meat of the dolphin and one of the fish he found inside of it and then goes to sleep.  He dreams of dolphins, his home, and the African lions again.

            Santiago’s character gains even more facets.  The reader realizes his kind-hearted nature because he thinks of everything as his friends.  The marlin also is developed more being described as great and noble.

            The significance of this day is the battle Santiago has within himself about the marlin.  He feels the fish is very great, but he needs to kill it because that is the way life works.  The symbolism of the marlin being strong and beautiful and also representing Santiago is noteworthy figurative language.

Day Two Reading Log

Waking up the next day Santiago retrieves Manolin from his house and they begin their day.  They have coffee and Manolin gives Santiago the bait he promised.   Santiago feels confident about the days prospects and drinks his coffee knowing it will be the only sustenance for the day.  While at sea he begins contemplating about the ocean and its creatures.  Santiago refers to the ocean as “la mar” rather than “el mar” ,the masculine version, like some of the younger fishermen do.  People who love her call it “la mar” while the fishermen that call it “el mar” think of the ocean as an opponent.  Santiago thinks of it as feminine and when bad things happen she cannot help it.  As he goes further out to see he sets his lines with precision and accuracy, each one done the same way.  His lines are always straight up and down.  He uses the birds to detect where fish are.  Using the birds he ends up catching a tuna and realizes that he talks to himself, even though he isn’t crazy.  As he watches his lines he notices a slight pulling and knows there is a huge marlin eating the sardine.  The marlin finally gets hooked on a line after nibbling at his other lines.  Santiago couldn’t bring the fish up and the marlin started to pull the boat.  After being pulled for four hours with no tiring, he has lost sight of land.  He still feels strong and begins to wonder where he is and how baseball went today.  He calls the fish and dolphins his brothers and begins to pity the marlin.  He continually wished Manolin was there.  As the sunrises the marlin is still swimming strong but Santiago promises himself that he will kill the fish before the end of the day.

            This day introduces a new character the marlin.  The marlin is a strong and resilient fish.  The marlin and Santiago are very similar.  This day enforces Santiago’s character traits.  He is very determined, while also being caring and compassionate to nature. 

            Santiago having no breakfast or other food before he starts his journey is surprising to me.  It is difficult to understand how he could survive working outside all day with no nourishment.  Catching the marlin is one of the most important events in the book.  The marlin represents so many things and the struggle with Santiago is significant.  Santiago relates to the fish and thinks of it as a brother.

            Symbolism is a prevalent literary element in this section.  The marlin has a lot of symbolism.  He represents Santiago, age, and wisdom.  Another more broad representation is the marlin and the struggle with Santiago is a symbol for all struggles people go through to try and obtain success.  There is also imagery in this section that helps the reader understand how Santiago fishes and his experiences. 

Vocabulary:

Carapace- A protective, shell-like covering likened to that of a turtle or crustacean

Day One Reading Log

The first day of the story introduces the old man, Santiago, and the young boy that helps him, Manolin.  It tells of Santiago’s history and that Manolin used to work with the old man until his parents made him go fish with another man forty days into Santiago’s unlucky streak of not catching fish.  Manolin helps Santiago by carrying his supplies home with him and getting food even though Santiago is too prideful to ask for assistance.  Manolin helps the old man even though he has no obligation to him.  Some fishermen laugh at the old man because of his bad luck, while the older fishermen feel bad for Santiago.  Day one of the novel explains how the fish market works; how the fish and sharks of butchered.  Santiago and Manolin reminisce about their past fishing expeditions.  Manolin wants to get the old man four baits but the prideful Santiago compromises with the boy to giving him to pieces of bait.  Santiago lives in a small shack with minimal furniture and only two pictures that had belonged to his wife, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin of Cobre.  The boy and the old man go through a routine everyday where Santiago lies to Manolin about food and fishing supplies he doesn’t have.  The next day will be Santiago’s 85^th day without catching a fish and there is foreshadowing about 85 being a lucky number.  This day also introduces the old man’s thoughts on Joe DiMaggio, a Yankee baseball player, Santiago’s admiration for him and how he thinks they would understand each other.  Once Santiago goes to bed he dreams of Africa, but when he usually wakes when he smells the land breeze, that night he continued dreaming.  He dreamed about lions dancing on the beaches of Africa.  His dream of the lions is significant in some way.  The lions may represent youth and strength, which could reflect the traits Santiago wishes he still had.

            Santiago’s character is introduced as an old fisherman in the Gulf Stream who is poor, yet prideful.  It explains his 84 days unlucky streak and provides his appearance as having many wrinkles, scars, and skin cancer from a lifetime of fishing.  Manolin is the young boy Santiago loves like a son.  He always tries to help Santiago and the reader can tell he is a kind and caring person because he has no obligation to Santiago, but continually tries to makes his life better. 

            Santiago’s dream is significant because it helps the reader detect Santiago’s personality and it foreshadows to events that will probably happen where Santiago could uses the youthfulness and the strength of the lions.  Santiago saying that 85 is a lucky number which impliess that something important will happen tomorrow.  The novel mentioning Joe DiMaggio has some significance because Santiago looks up to him.

            This story has lots of descriptive imagery which helps immerse the reader into the setting and story.  The imagery tells the reader how tough Santiago’s life has been be describing his appearance and also explaining his living conditions.  Even through all the sad and tough images given there are also a lot of beautiful scenes depicted, like his dreams of Africa and the lions playing on the beach.