Santiago was an old and experienced Cuban fisher man , but his luck had run out . He had gone 84 days without catching ng a single fish . In fact , he was so unlucky that his ou young apprentice , Manolin , had been forbidden by hispa rents to sail with the old man . However , the boy still ll v visited sited Santiago 's shack . The boy helped him carry back his fish ing gear,gave him food , and discussed American baseball 1 with with him him . . He Santiago continued to go out onto the Gulf to fish h . He threw his lines and , by noon , a big fish had taken his bait . Santi a was unable to pull in the large marlin , and instead the f sh pulled his boat out to sea . For two days and two nights Santiago fought with the marlin and held on to the line . ine , Santiago felt compassion and admiration for his great opponent .