As the old man's third day drags on, the old man becomes very weary. When noon comes around, the tuna finally kicks in and his hand becomes uncramped and is no longer a claw. The old man is so happy that he can finally use both of his hands again. Just like he promised, he says ten hail Marys and ten our fathers. He still claims not to be religious, but he promises that if he catches the great marlin, he will go on a pilgrimage, or a religious journey, to the virgin of cobre. Although he hopes it is unnecessary, the old man decides to be on the safe side and bait another line in hopes to catch a meal just in case the marlin forces him to stay out on the sea for another night. As the day continues the old man has thoughts of if it is right for him to kill such a great beast. He argues with himself on whether it is moral or not, trying to both justify and question it. His thoughts go from that to baseball and then to his hero, The great DiMaggio. He thinks about the problems the great DiMaggio faces while he plays his game. DiMaggio plays well even with the bone spur that he has, which is inspirational to the old man. Even though he does not know what a bone spur is, he believes that he himself probably could not bear the pain himself, let alone play baseball with it. He thinks of what the great DiMaggio would think of the old man staying all night with a fish and whether or not he himself would do it. The old mans thoughts then switch to the memory of the time the old man won the all night arm wrestling match. He won against the great negro from Cienfuegos, making him the champion. This memory makes the old man more confident in himself making him think that he has a chance at catching this fish.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. Print.
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