By Garrett B.

After reading The Old Man and the Sea what really interested me was that why Manolin always hung around Santiago even after he stopped working for him. Manolin still asked the old man if he could do anything to help him catch some fish. Was it out of pity or did Manolin really enjoyed spending his day with an old fisherman, instead of playing with kids his age or just relaxing on the beach? I don’t believe a realistic boy would rather do chores for an old man than do something fun.

In the very beginning of the story Manolin could have rid his life of Santiago, but instead he starts to take care of Santiago and makes sure he is taken care of. “He sent two beers.” “I like beer best in cans.” “I know. But this is in bottles, Hatuey beer, and I take back the bottles.” “That’s very kind of you,” the old man said. “Should we eat?” “I’ve been asking you to,” the boy told him gently. “I have not wished to open the container until you were ready.” (20) In this conversation between Santiago and Manolin, the boy is acting like a mother. He is asking the old man what he wants, explains what they are going to do. The old man can barely take care of himself and Manolin is sort of filling in for the old man’s dead wife.

Eventually, while the old man is in with the Marlin, the boy was probably going hysterical. When the old man comes back the boy is happy that the old man is back, and he cries. “The boy saw that the old man was breathing and then saw the old man’s hands and he started to cry. He went out quietly to go bring some coffee and all the way down the road he was crying.”(122)This shows Manolin’s love for the old man. I believe that he was crying for mixed reasons; he was happy that the old man was alive and he was also crying because the old man was hurt and that he might never be able fish again. I think that the boy sees the old man as a father figure and if he lost the old man he would be devastated and would be hurt for a long time. Also the boy was hurt when he was not able to fish with the old man any more. So in the end when he was going to again the boy was very happy. “Now we fish together again.” “No. I am not lucky anymore.” “The hell with luck,” the boy said. “I’ll bring the luck with me.” (126) This shows that Manolin doesn’t care what happens as long as he can fish and be with the old man. The boy loves Manolin and Manolin loves the old man.

Throughout the story, Manolin stayed a static character. He never changed his opinions on baseball or the old man, he always loved the old man and baseball the same. Manolin, most importantly, never changed his ideas about getting to fish with the old man again, no matter what happens. I don’t believe that Manolin is a very realistic character because it really seems hard to believe that a little boy would want to hang out and take care of an old man and to fish with him and not make any money, but that is Manolin’s choice. The one thing that is very realistic is the love that Manolin and Santiago share for each other.