Santiago's Loneliness

Numerous scientific studies prove that animals and humans are not as different as one may think. The same responses are made, and the same emotions are felt between both groups: joy, sadness, and fear among others. Humans also experience emotions that are typically thought to be animal-specific. The flight-or-fight instinct is an example of this. However, despite these facts, many people continue to mistreat and greatly undermine them. In The Old Man and the Sea, a novel by Ernest Hemingway, an old fisherman communicates with the sea life around him to appease his loneliness while attempting to reel in an impossibly large Marlin. Hemingway personifies the sea and sea life to reveal Santiago’s kind and respectful character.

Throughout his journey,
The Wise Fisherman knows that the ocean can be unforgiving, explaining “if she did wild or wicked things she could not help them” (30). He forgives her for the hardships she has bestowed upon him, understanding that she cannot control her actions. This attitude parallels his attitude toward catching the Marlin. Just as he recognizes the struggles the ocean has placed upon him, he sees how the birds battle against her forces daily, too. He believes that “their sad voices are made too delicately for the sea” and is “sorry for the birds” (29). Not only is he sorry for the birds, but he also expresses heartache regarding the treatment of turtles, remarking, “Most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle’s heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered. But the old man thought, I have such a heart too and my feet and hands are like theirs” (37). Unlike the other fishermen, Santiago takes into account how the animals feel because he is aware that they are not actually so different from himself. The Old Man’s empathy and respect for his environment prevent him from being cruel and lashing out against it when it does not work in his
Many times the Fisherman refers to him as “my brother” (45). Even though Santiago has tasked himself with capturing the Monstrous Fish, he treats him with respect. He takes time, despite being in the busiest of situations, to admire the fish’s beauty: “He was bright in the sun and his head and back where dark purple and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender” (53). Santiago, even with having to be so focused on the task at hand, takes a moment to marvel at the beauty of the adversary he has assigned himself with besting. After the Old Man conquers the Great Fish, he makes sure to pull him along on the side of the boat: “If I were towing behind there would be no question. Nor if the fish were in the skiff, with all dignity gone, there would be no question either. But they were sailing side by together lashed side by side and the old man thought, let him bring me in if it please him. I am only better than him through trickery and he meant me no harm” (99). Santiago pulls the fish in beside the skiff, not behind it for the specific reason of wanting to spare the dignity of an animal who is already dead. He is showing a degree of respect most would reserve only for humans after death. When the sharks ravage the perished beast, the Fisherman feels an intense bout of sadness and regret upon realizing the consequences of