Sunday, August 15, 2010

Santiago and Manolin's Friendship

The Old Man and the Sea presents trials of friendship between Santiago, the old man who goes out to catch the fish, and Manolin, a young boy who is part of a different fishing boat's crew but enjoys the presence of Santiago. Being apart from Santiago nearly every day on the other boat, Manolin does not get too many chances to have conversations with his old friend, so he practically adopts the old man as his father or grandfather because of the number of visits he gives him. Every morning, Manolin walks to the old man's house to help him get his fishing gear together and wish him fair catch for the day; as Santiago leaves the dock, Manolin walks back to his boat to board and start his own day. Then, in the evening, Santiago comes back to the dock, and Manolin is there to greet him and help take his things back to the house for the old man to get to bed. Being separated from each other for so many hours during the day, there would also be quite a few scepulations over how the pair could remain friends without hardly any social interaction. It seems Manolin would eventually grow tired of going to visit Santiago day after every long day. It is not possible to think of new things to talk about without having one of those things in common. Also, when Santiago does not came back in after he hooked the marlin, Manolin's patience would be tested. Should he wait for him the first night? Should he check if he has come in by the second morning? What about the third? After about two or three days, I would have given up on the old man. However, what would Santiago think when Manolin did not show up to help him one day? But, Manolin did not fail the old man; in fact, he helped the old man get through by giving him something to think about other than the huge fish. Manolin was a big help for Santiago because Santiago knew the whole time that Manolin would always be his true friend.

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