The Old Man and the Sea: Manolin

The boy in the novel Manolin is an extremely important character despite not being in the novel all to much. In the film for which Hemingway was a consultant, the boy was sixteen years old and he did not object to this portrayal so that is the age that I view Manolin as being. Manolin is a very sweet young man who cares deeply for Santiago. He helps to take care of him bringing him food and keeping him company in the evenings talking to him about baseball or discussing other things with him. During the novel Manolin works for another boat because his parents will not allow him to work with Santiago due to his long streak of bad luck. Santiago is also the one who taught the boy to fish so he has a very deep seeded respect for the old man. The old man also truly loves Manolin and during his journey thoughts of the boy keep him going and he often time wishes that the boy was with him to help him against the great fish. At the end of the novel Manolin is so distressed at the sight of the terrible condition Santiago is in that he makes Santiago promise him that he will not go out anymore without him. The relationship the two have in my opinion is that like that of a grandfather and a grandson. It is a mentor type of relationship between the two and they both love and respect one another. The boy is extremely important to Santiago and motivates him to battle the fish. Manolin also helps Santiago by bringing him food and drink and the newspaper so that he can read the stats for baseball. Like Santiago he has a great admiration for baseball but he does not seem to love Joe DiMaggio as much as Santiago. Due to all the help that he provides Santiago and his selflessness Manolin is an extremely important character in the novel.