Analysis: Day Three - The Old Man and The Sea

As day three comes into play in the story, the struggle between Santiago and the fish continue.  He is being towed by the fish further and further and now is beginning to feel pain in his hands.  "How did I let the fish cut me with that one quick pull he made?" (Hemingway, 56).  "What kind of a hand is that," he said.  "Cramp then if you want.  Make yourself into a claw.  It will do you no good." (Hemingway, 58).  In holding the line that the fish is hooked on, it cuts his hand very badly.  Not only does he have a cut now, but his hand is beginning to cramp up.  When I heard this, I began to wonder how was he going to use that hand.  Was he even going to be able to use it at all?  Fortunately later it does come undone but Santiago is now beginning to feel the pain of the struggle between the fish.
Right now in the book, Santiago knows that the fish he has hooked is big, but he has no idea how big it really is.  He has been wanting it to jump not only to see, but it is a fishing technique that puts the fish in a bad position later on.  "The line rose slowly and steadily and then the surface of the ocean bulged ahead of the boat and the fish came out.  he came out unendingly and water poured from his sides.  He was bright in the sun and his head and back were dark purple and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender." (Hemingway, 63).  "He is two feet longer than the skiff." (Hemingway, 64).  Santiago gets his wish of seeing the fish and when it was described it is bigger than what Santiago thought, and is a beautiful fish.  As day three comes and goes, the day is used to show the reader how much of a struggle bringing in the fish really is.

Bibliography

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.