The end of The Old Man and the Sea is ironic in that Santiago sees his catch as a sign of good luck. However, the marlin is destroyed by sharks on the way home. He is left battered, broken, and empty-handed.
What happens to the marlin in The Old Man and the Sea?
Santiago, now completely exhausted and almost in delirium, uses all the strength he has left in him to pull the fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon, ending the long battle between the old man and the fish.
He tries several times to harpoon the marlin, but misses, growing weaker and weaker. Finally Santiago draws all his strength, pain, and pride together and plunges the harpoon one last time, driving it into the marlin's heart. The marlin makes a final leap, glistening in the light, then falls into the water, dead.
Again, Santiago wishes that he hadn't killed the marlin. He apologizes to the dead marlin for having gone out so far, saying it did neither of them any good. Still hopeful that the whole ordeal had been a dream, Santiago cannot bear to look at the mutilated marlin.
Why can Santiago not look at the mutilated marlin?
As the marlin bleeds anew, Santiago cannot bear to look at the mutilated fish. He knows more sharks will come, drawn by the blood. For a moment, he tries to console himself that he killed the mako, the biggest he has ever seen. He wishes he was at home in bed and only dreaming that he caught the marlin.
Within an hour, a mako shark attacks the marlin, tearing away a great hunk of its flesh and mutilating Santiago's prize. Santiago fights the mako, enduring great suffering, and eventually kills it with his harpoon, which he loses in the struggle.
Before the boy butchered the fish, the male marlin jumped over the boat and looked at the female marlin laying in the boat. The old man says it's the saddest thing he's ever seen.
Once again, Santiago's life is placed in danger. He realizes that he cannot keep the sharks off the body; the noble marlin will be reduced to bones by the time he reaches the shore. He regrets killing the marlin because it was a beautiful creature that deserved better than to become shark food.
What is the irony at the end of The Old Man and the Sea?
Answer and Explanation:
The irony of The Old Man and the Sea is that, after days of struggling against the marlin, Santiago is robbed of his prize. Sharks attack the dead marlin while Santiago is hauling it home. By the time he reaches the shore, nothing is left but the bones.
Santiago, listening to the words of the leader, discovers something and quickly returns to the church where he stayed to sleep long ago. There at the roots of the tree, Santiago finally gets his treasure after so many good and bad adventures.
What does the end of The Old Man and the Sea symbolize? The last few lines of The Old Man and the Sea depict tourists who do not understand that the skeleton is from a marlin, not a shark. The tourists symbolize modern society and its problems, while Santiago represents a traditional, older lifestyle.
The Old Man and the Sea is rife with religious symbolism. The marlin is no exception. In addition to symbolizing redemption for Santiago's unlucky stretch of fishing, it also symbolizes redemption in a religious context. The marlin is a symbol for Christ and Communion, the symbolic ritual of The Last Supper.
Why does Santiago feel guilty about killing the marlin?
He reminds himself that he didn't kill the marlin simply for food, that he killed it out of pride and love. He wonders if it is a sin to kill something you love. The shark, on the other hand, he does not feel guilty about killing, because he did it in self-defense.
Santiago first pities and admires the fish and then empathizes and identifies with it. He recognizes that just as the marlin was born to be a fish, he was born to be a fisherman. They are brothers in the inevitability of their circumstances, locked in the natural cycle of predator and prey.
Santiago's struggle with the marlin is a struggle to face and overcome his own weaknesses as much as it is a struggle to subdue the great fish. In the process, by refusing to give in to the fish or the weakness of his mind and body, Santiago transcends those weaknesses.
The narrator explains that Santiago has always known that his purpose in life was to travel despite attending a seminary until the age of sixteen. After Santiago finally finds the courage to confess his dream to his parents, who wish for him to become a priest, his father tries to talk him out of a nomadic life.
He attempts to explain to himself his reasons for killing the fish, and admits that his desire to hunt the fish stemmed from the very same quality that led to its eventual destruction: his pride. He then justifies his behavior by claiming that his slaying of the marlin was necessitated by his love and respect for it.
What is the main message of The Old Man and the Sea?
Inspirational Message: "The Old Man and the Sea" delivers an inspirational message about the human capacity for resilience and perseverance, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. Santiago's unwavering determination to achieve his goal serves as a source of motivation and hope.
Even though the marlin makes him suffer, Santiago considers him a worthy adversary and, in a way, feels honor to be possibly taken down by such an opponent. The fact that Santiago does not care which one of them dies reveals the deep respect he feels for the marlin.
What does the mako shark symbolize in The Old Man and the Sea?
The two different types of sharks provide two distinct symbols for Santiago and Hemingway. To the protagonist Santiago, the shovel-heads are unworthy creatures, but the Mako symbolizes death, which Santiago knows he is close to facing. The shovel-heads, to Hemingway, symbolize literary critics.
The end of the marlin's life is the most vital of moments, as the fish comes alive “with his death in him” and exhibits to Santiago, more strongly than ever before, “all his power and his beauty.” The fish seems to transcend his own death, because it invests him with a new life.
What does the old man probably mean when he says I am with a friend?
The old man identifies friendship with that which he reveres – the stars, the marlin, and DiMaggio. He liked to think of the fish and what he could do to a shark if he were swimming free. I should have chopped the bill off to fight them with, he thought. But there was no hatchet and then there was no knife.
Why does the old man repeatedly wish for the boys company?
Why does the old man repeatedly wish the boy were there? That's an interesting question. At first, it seems to be because he needs help, what with the ginormous marlin and all. But you could also argue that it is for companionship, that the old man is lonely.
