An old seasoned Cuban fisherman named Santiago has set out to sea in eighty-four successive days without any catch. So conspicuously unlucky, he is frequently shun by his fellow fisherman, and the parents of his young, loyal apprentice, Manolin, have forced their son to leave him and to fish in more prosperous boats; they even say that Santiago has a salao or the worst form of unluckiness. But, the boy continues to help and to care for the old man. He helps Santiago to carry his fishing tools to his shack upon his return each night. He also secures food for the old man. They always discuss about the latest happenings on American Baseball, especially the trials of Santiago’s hero, Joe DiMaggio. Through all the circumstances that Santiago faces, socially and financially, Santiago has faith that his unlucky providence in eighty-four days in the sea will soon come to an end. Hence, he promises to sail out farther than he or the other fishermen ever have ventured before.
The next day, the eighty-fifth day, he does what he promised. He sails out farther than the usual. Alone at the sea, he prepares the baits and prays for a big catch. By noontime a marlin takes one of his baits. Santiago pulls the fish as it is hooked but fails. Instead, the fish begins to pull the skiff.
Santiago bears the pain with his shoulders, back and hands as he is unable to tie the line fast to the mast of the skiff. Holding the taut line, Santiago endures the pain as the fish steadily swims and pulls the skiff northwest. He thinks that the fish will get tired while time passes. It even will even get hungry concludes him as the bait is hooked on part of its mouth; therefore it can hardly eat. Whenever the fish does an action to free itself, Santiago gets cut badly. With all the suffering he feels, he has still deep empathy and admiration for the marlin and so he really wants the fish to be caught.
The other baits caught some fishes and despite of the condition of Santiago holding the taut line, he manages to catch them. The caught fishes, raw and slice into pieces serve as his food throughout his struggle. He also has a bottle of water for his thirst. These are the only foods that secure his life alone far out in the sea.
On the third day, the fish exhausts and swims east with the current. Santiago, sleep-deprived, aching and nearly delirious, manages to pull the marlin close enough to kill it with the use of his harpoon. He succeeds to kill the big fish. It is the largest fish he has ever seen. He has been able to lash the fish beside the skiff then decides to sail back home.
As the old man sails, the marlin’s blood leaves a trace to the water that attracts sharks. Santiago manages to kill the first to attack, a great Mako shark, but he loses his harpoon and lengths of rope which leaves him vulnerable to the next vicious attackers. He continues to fight and slay the successive predators till night falls but it is useless. They devour the marlin’s meat leaving only the skeleton, head and tail to Santiago. He chastises himself for his pride, claiming that it has ruined both the marlin and himself.
He arrives and docks to the shore before day breaks leaving the skeleton carcass beside the skiff. He walks exhaustingly to his shack. He even stumbles on the way and sometimes he rests for about five minutes then continues to walk. He finally arrives to his shack and immediately sleeps deeply on his bed.
In the next morning, fishermen crowd and amaze at the skeletal carcass lashed besides Santiago’s skiff. Tourists at the nearby cafe observe the remains of the marlin and mistake it for a shark.
Manolin, who is worried sick of the absence of the old man, goes to his shack and is move to tears when he saw the old man sleeping deeply in his bed. He initiates to fetchini Santiago a hot cup of coffee and newspapers with recent baseball scores. When the old man wakes, he converses with Manolin about the happenings when he is not around. They even talk about fishing together and both agree to do it once more. Then Santiago decides to sleep again and dream.
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