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Through the use of symbolism, allusion and Santiago's internal struggle to survive, Hemingway establishes a steady sympathetic tone.
He did not like to look at the fish anymore since he had been mutilated. When the fish had been hit it was as though he himself were hit.
But I killed the shark that hit my fish, he thought. And he was the biggest dentuso that I have ever seen. And God knows that I have seen big ones.
It was too good to last, he thought. I wish it had been a dream now and that I had never hooked the fish and was alone in bed on the newspapers.
“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” I am sorry that I killed the fish though, he thought. Now the bad time is coming and I do not even have the harpoon. The dentuso is cruel and able and strong and intelligent. But I was more intelligent than he was. Perhaps not, he thought. Perhaps I was only better armed.
“Don’t think, old man,” he said aloud. “Sail on this course and take it when it comes.”
But I must think, he thought. Because it is all I have left. That and baseball. I wonder how the great DiMaggio would have liked the way I hit him in the brain? It was no great thing, he thought. Any man could do it. But do you think my hands were as great a handicap as the bone spurs? I cannot know. I never had anything wrong with my heel except the time the sting ray stung it when I stepped on him when swimming and paralyzed the lower leg and made the unbearable pain.
Despite the fact that the burdensome 3 days of fighting the marlin ended, Santiago still dealt with the "strong and intelligent" dentuso, or sharks. The sharks picked away at Santiago's prize to the point where he regrets catching the fish.
Santiago admires DiMaggio, who symbolizes strength and vitality during difficult times. Both the the old man and DiMaggio were "handicapped" causing their tasks to exacerbate. In Santiago's case, his old and weak body can not withstand the physical abuse of reeling in a monster such as an 18 foot marlin.
Another symbol shaping the story is water. The fact that the the fisherman's entire quest takes place on the water symbolizes life and a new beginning.
In the eyes of the townspeople, it seems as though Santiago had died at sea and resurrected 3 days later a new man, or in his case, a true fisherman once again.
The water symbolism cooperates with the Biblical allusion to amplify a sympathetic tone describing an old man being reborn out at sea.
You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.
Now you are getting confused in the head, he thought. You must keep your head clear. Keep your head clear and know how to suffer like a man. Or a fish, he thought.
Santiago's spurts of insanity effectively contribute to the overall sympathetic tone.
In the closing moments of the campaign, a woman asks a waiter about the marlin carcass flowing in the shallow water. Attempting to explain the story, the waiter replies "Tiburon, eshark," meaning a Tiburon fish was eaten by a shark.
In this instance of the Iceberg Effect, the details are present however they are misunderstood by a particular character, forcing the details to appear irrelavent.
By: Ernest
Hemingway
The following passage occurs after Santiago has battled the Marlin for 3 whole days and begins doubting himself.