Santiago is described as a “less young” man, in this case, an old man. With wrinkles very well marked due to the sun of several years fishing and his hands that on many occasions acquire cramps in the middle of the sea. A man very marked by wars, so he ends up paraphrasing them sometimes, as in his fight with sharks, in addition to the old man having great admiration for the Yankees baseball team.

  An old man with overly macho thoughts many times, very evident in phrases such as: "Pain does not matter to a man". In turn, due to the fact that Santiago has already been in Africa, he praises the lion too much, because he thinks that the animal symbolizes an abundant masculinity and consequently courage, which are the primordial qualities in a “real man”.

  It ends up exposing mistaken thoughts about how real men should not cry, or should not be afraid of anything, just as they always need to be with women, whether they are married or not.

  Santiago shows this side of objectification with women, when he says that he always prefers to fish females instead of males, just as he has "fished" women from his friends, giving no importance to friendship in fact, only "conquest".

“I go now for the sardines [...]”

 

 Present perfect:

“I have not wished to open the container until you were ready.”