*Santiago (The Old Man): Santiago is the protagonist of this story. He is a Cuban fisherman who is down on his luck after going eighty four days without catching a single fish and has become the pity of his small village near Havana. The story follows Santiago's quest for the great catch that will save his career. He goes through a long and grueling struggle with a marlin only to see his new catch destroyed …showed first 75 words of 428 total…

…showed last 75 words of 428 total…even though Santiago kills the shark he takes forty pounds of meat, takes Santiago's harpoon and rope, and makes the marlin bleed which attracted the other sharks. *The Sea: As you may have guessed from the beginning, the sea is one of the most important parts of the story being that is where most of the story takes place. Santiago refers to the sea as a woman and probably thinks of it as his wife.