Santiago is still desperately waiting for the cramp in his hand to go away. He is starting to become very worried and fearful and even though he is not religious, he promises that if the cramp will go away quickly, he will say ten hail Marys and ten our fathers. As he continues to sail, he looks out to sea and thinks to himself that he is completely alone. He can see no land and no man in any direction that he looks. Just then, a flight of ducks flies by and makes the old man realized that a man can never be completely alone at sea. He says that it is impossible. As he is thinking about this, the slant of the marlin's line changes. This means that the fish is heading in a different direction. As the slant changes, the old man knows that the marlin is approaching the surface of the water. The old man is getting excited and hopes that the marlin will jump. Suddenly, the marlin jumps out of the water. The old man now sees for the first time how big the marlin really is. He is amazed at what he sees. The marlin is giant, bigger than even the old man had expected. It was at least two feet longer than the skiff itself. It is the biggest fish that the old man had ever witnessed and he declares it great. He fears that the fish will learn it's own strength and vows never to let that happen. One of his hands is still cramped up, but he is happy because now that the fish jumped out of the water, its air sacs are filled and it will make it easier for the old man later on in the battle. The fish swims quickly as it drops back into the water, but soon slows down to the same steady speed it was swimming earlier.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. Print.
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