"Fish, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends." This quote from the critically acclaimed book, The Old Man and the Sea, coincides on what is portrayed in the bible of a loving father would say to his son before sacrificing him. Various other comparisons and analogies can be found within the novela and the majority of them have a Christian attribute to them. In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway creates a vivid picture of allusions towards the reader by fabricating situations that symbolize important topics in Santiago 's life. One example of symbolism starts in the near beginning of the story, the mast of the boat. “He started to climb again and at the top he fell and …show more content…
The marlin is portrayed to santiago seems to be a respectable opponent worth fighting. One he enjoys fighting but doesn 't want to kill. “He is wonderful and strange and who knows how old he is, he thought. Never have I had such a strong fish nor one who acted so strangely... He cannot know that it is only one man against him, nor that it is an old man.” Even though Santiago latches onto the marlin on his first day fishing, the determined fish absolutely refuses to be caught and come to the surface but instead pulls himself, still hooked to Santiago, straying the old man from land. Santiago expresses admiration for the marlin 's attraction and tolerance, and considers the marlin a "worthy" adversary, explaining to him multiple times that although he loves it, he must kill it in the end. Santiago 's struggle with the marlin is as internally as it is externally. “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.” Ultimately, the marlin is presented as Santiago 's worthy opponent. Struggling against such an opponent brings out the best in an individual—courage, endurance,