The Old Man and the Sea is an epic novel by the great American writer Ernest Hemingway. The novel describes an old man named Santiago and his companion and protégé Manolin, who are fishermen. Every day they go out into the briny depths, looking for fish in their nets. One day they carry... Nothing. They catch zero fish and are devastated. They know that no fish means no money, which means no food, but they keep returning to the sea even after every failure. Eventually, young Manolin sadly abandons his partnership with Santiago, to leave on a boat that actually brings fish. Manolin goes out on another boat, but stays with Santiago to talk baseball and dream about lions. Santiago's unlucky streak lasts 85 days, the 85th of which bears fruit. While fishing, Santiago's sunken bait is quickly caught by a huge fish, which the old man recognizes as a marlin. The fish's strong escape attempts make it impossible to tie the line to the boat, so the old man takes the burden on his back. The fish begins to pull the boat, for two days ...