Blog #30 Character Analysis: Marlin (The Old Man and the Sea)

One of the main characters in the story is not a person, but a fish; a marlin to be exact. The marlin was a purple color, had fins, a huge tail, and a long body. Santiago, the main character, hooks the fish halfway through the book. The fish is large and mighty, but Santiago does not find this out until the fish jumps out of the water. For a long time the fish just swam under the water and did not come up at all. The fish represents struggle in the book. More than anything Santiago wished for the fish to jump just to see what kind and size of fish he had to deal with. The marlin caused a lot of pain to the old man, but the old man was smarter than he was. When the marlin came out of the water is really when the old man figured out just what he had to do to kill the marlin. See the fish was very strong, so the tougher the old man fought, he kept going at the same pace. He swam constantly under the water which is part of the reason the boat drifted so far into the sea. When the fish started to become calm, that is when Santiago started to calm down. The marlin started circling and that is when Santiago took action and killed the fish. I think that the fish showed the true strength of Santiago. When the marlin was strapped to the side of the boat being attacked by the sharks, both Santiago and the fish felt defeated. The fish was helpless the rest of the story, the rest was up to Santiago. When the skeleton was finally brought onto the dock, the amazing Marlin turned out to be 18 feet long. Even though the marlin is not a person, he still represents an abstract idea, which is struggle and defeat. He helps the old man overcome his challenges and gain back pride.

 Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. Cuba. Scribner’s Publishing. 1952