On the old man's first morning at sea with the marlin, he has a lot of new concerns. The fish is still steadily swimming, not slowing a bit. One good thing that has happened is that the fish has begun swimming in shallower waters. Also, a small weed has become attached to the line, which has slowed the fish down a bit. The old man is concerned that if he increases the tension on the line too much, it will become too taut and it will snap, releasing the fish. He is not willing to take any chances on losing this fish, because he has not had a single catch in eighty five days now. He can not afford to lose this giant marlin. He also fears that if the hook pulls on the fish too much, it will cut the fish's mouth too much and the fish will get loose. He can not afford to make any mistakes or he could kill the fish. He still has not seen the whole fish yet or how big it is in size, so he is hoping that the fish will jump out of the water soon. He also hopes for this to happen so that the fish's air sacs might fill up with air, which will keep it from going too deep into the ocean. He does not want the fish to go deeper into the ocean because it is much easier for the old man to pull the fish out of shallow water than deep water. At this point, all Santiago can do is hold on to the fish and hope. Hope that everything will go his way and that he will be lucky and catch this fish to prove to everyone that he is not unlucky. Santiago begins to feel a great respect for the fish and he pledges his love and respect for the fish, but he also promises that he will kill him by the end of the day.
Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1995. Print.
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