The Old Man and See

In a small fishing village in Cuba, Santiago, an old, weathered fisherman has just gone 84 days without catching a fish. On the 85th day, he is determined to catch a big, impressive fish. For years, Santiago has been fishing with a young boy named Manolin. M.started fishing with the old man when he was only 5 years old. Santiago is like M second father, and has taught the young boy everything about fishing. M is extremely loyal to Santiago and makes sure that the old man is always safe, fed and healthy. M parents, however, force the boy to leave Santiago and fish on a more lucrative fishing boat. M   does not want to leave Santiago, but must honor his duty to his parents. On the new boat, M catches several fish within the first few days. He sets out on his old, rickety skiff. Alone on the water, Santiago sets up his fishing lines with the utmost precision, a skill that other fisherman lack. Finally, he feels something heavy tugging at one of his lines. A huge Marlin has found Santiago's bait and this sets off a very long struggle between the two. The Marlin is so huge that it drags Santiago beyond all other boats and people - he can no longer see land from where the fish drags him. The struggle takes its toll on Santiago. His hands become badly cramped and he is cut and bruised from the force of the fish. He respects and loves the Marlin and admires its beauty and greatness. He sees the fish as his brother. Despite this, Santiago has to kill it. He feels guilty killing a brother, but after an intense struggle in which the fish drags the skiff around in circles, Santiago harpoons the very large fish and hangs it on the side of his boat. He feels brave, like his hero Joe DiMaggio, who accomplished great feats despite obstacles, injuries or adversities. After enjoying a few moments of pride, a pack of sharks detects the blood in the water and follow the trail to Santiago's skiff. Each shark takes a huge bite out of the Marlin, but the old man fends them off, himself...