MANOLIN AND SANTIAGO RELATIONSHIP

Manolin's love for Santiago is spontaneous and natural. Manolin is sensitive enough to realise that old
man may be different but he is wiser and more humane than most of the other man. Santiago talks to
Manolin as he were an adult; he does not patronise the boy. And the boy also does not act like a boy,
he is nowhere boyish, carefree and irresponsible. Manolin's care for Santiago is that of one human being
for another human being. Ironically he is more of man-- in the humanistic sense-- than his father is. The
old man also readily teaches him all the 'tricks' he has learnt about fishing. Most of all Santiago offers
Manolin a philosophy about fishing and about life.

In spite of a solitary life that Santiago has been living for years, he finds his only comfort in the
company of the boy and surprisingly he is in him. To Santiago, Manolin is the imagenative construct to
console himself. Santiago feels his strength enhance with the presence of the boy who has always
supported him as he says again and again, "Iwish I had the boy to help me and to see this." Corbett says,
"He has developed a friendship a working relationship a love with the boy who begin fishing with him
when the boy was only five."