boy feel "inferior".  Santiago makes the boy feel capable, and Manolin thinks the old man is "the best fisherman", far better than the "many good fishermen and some great ones" of which he knows.

Manolin is obedient to his father, but it is Santiago whom he loves.  His father has forbidden the boy to fish with Santiago because he thinks the old man is no longer an effective fisherman; Manolin "must obey" because "(he) is a boy", but still, he has faith in Santiago.  Despite not being allowed to fish with him anymore, Manolin looks after Santiago, making sure he has bait and food, and lovingly anticipating his needs.  Realizing that the village water supply is a good distance from the old man's home, he brings him water and washing supplies, and plans to "get him another shirt and a jacket for the winter and some sort of shoes and another blanket".

Santiago and Manolin enjoy each others' company, and share a mutual respect.  Their relationship is based on love, and they look out for each other like a father and a son, Santiago having taught the boy his trade when he was young, and Manolin looking after Santiago now that he is old.

Hemingway creates a very powerful, poignant relationship between the old man, Santiago, and the young boy, Manolin. At the onset of the novel, even though the entire town has turned against Santiago, because he is salao, truly unlucky,Manolin still cares and believes in Santiago. The young boy can no longer fish with the old man;his parents forbid it. However, by the end of the novel, Manolin makes his own decision to fish with Santiago.Santiago undergoes the trial with the marlin, nearly losing himself, his soul, when the fish is torn apart by sharks for no reason at all. Manolin cares for Santiago upon his return to the village.Santiago sees youth in Manolin, a young boy who is not scarred by the world as he is;Manolin is the hope for a new day, necessary to the Hemingway code hero.

I think that you could probably go two different directions with this answer. A common answer is to describe the relationship between Santiago and the marlin as a respectful relationship between two equally strong opponents. The man and the fish are not necessarily enemies of each other, but the fish is definitely in a battle for its life, and it generally wins those fights as evidenced by the additional hooks found on it. Santiago is a fisherman, and he has great respect for the sea and the animals found within it. When the battle is over, Santiago is both relieved and saddened, and readers see just how respectful Santiago is when he can't protect his catch from the greedy sharks.

The other way to describe the relationship is to go toward the direction of saying that the fish is nothing more than something he needs to obtain to continue his existence. This is a cold relationship and quite an existential relationship. Santiago is a fisherman; therefore, his existence is defined by his relationship with and dependence on the sea. Catching fish allows him to live and gives him happiness. The fish then becomes a means to an end. He has gone for months without a catch, and bringing home this super fish will likely grant him renewed feelings of youth and vigor as well as money to feed himself with.

When the old man, Santiago, first encounters the fish, he is weary and cynical, having been unlucky in his fishing for so long that his apprentice's parents have forbidden the latter to sail with him. When he first hooks the enormous marlin, his feelings are that of excitement that his luck has finally turned. It is this excitement that keeps him pushing through for the next two days of struggle with the great fish.

While Santiago is fighting to bring the fish in, he begins to think of it with the utmost respect, admiring its tenacity and endurance. He even begins to think of the fish as kindred and as too mighty to ever be eaten by any man. It is perhaps this feeling more so than Santiago's dashed dreams of fortune that makes the ending of the story most tragic for him.

The relationship between the old man and the fish is one of respect and dignity. The old man reveres the fish constantly talking to him and asking what he's got next for him. He is awed by his size and by the fact that he keeps going and trying to escape. That's why he's so upset once the battle is finally over. He knows he's beaten this fish and he would like to bring him in with dignity and respect. When the sharks start to get after him, he knows that he's done a disservice to the fish by not being able to get him in and save his body from the sharks. You can also support this idea by talking about the point when the fish launches and the old man mentions that their eyes meet. The fish is impressed with the old man's ability to hang on, something others have not been able to do, as evidenced by the number of hooks hanging from the side of his mouth when the battle is finally over.

If you need detailed quotes, there is a link below to detailed passages.

The old man and the boy counteract to contribute to the overall theme of the story. Their relationship is based on friendship and they both rely on each other for warmth and love. The old man has no one to rely on or to take care of him and this is where the boy comes in. Although the relationship is solely based on friendship, the boy voluntarily looks after the old man and the old man does the same.

I have to agree with post #2 in that a brief response probably won't suffice here. We can say that the old man's relationship to the boy is one of friendship, but that doesn't get at the importance or the symnbolism of the relationship the two share. 

The old man and the boy are opposites in many ways, yet they believe in one another. In way we can also say that each has what the other does not, one possessing youth and a future and the other possessing only a past. 

Toward the beginning of the book, Hemingway writes that the old man "thought of the sea as la mar which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her." Later in the story, we learn that the old man loves the sea because it is wild, beautiful, and, at times, peaceful. The Spanish word la is feminine and, as such, denotes the sea as feminine. This also tells us something about how the old man perceives the sea. He perceives the sea as a man might traditionally perceive a woman: as a source of tenderness, beauty, and love.

Hemingway also writes that the old man thought of the sea as "something that gave or withheld great favours" and as something which, if responsible for "wild or wicked things ... could not help them." From this, we can infer that the old man thinks of the sea as temperamental, sometimes being generous and at other times not.

We can also infer that the sea, from the old man's perspective, has a dark side, capable of wickedness and cruelty. The fact that the old man does not blame the sea for this wickedness but recognizes that it cannot help but be wicked emphasizes his understanding of and love for the sea.

Above all else, the old man's love for the sea is rooted in his appreciation of its beauty, which the old man remarks upon throughout the story. He describes, for example, the "iridescent bubbles" produced by the sea as "beautiful," and often, he seems transfixed by the interplay of light and dark upon and beneath the surface of the water. About a third of the way through the book, for example, he describes the "prisms in the water" made by the light from above and also "the myriad flecks of the plankton" just beneath the surface.

Santiago loves the sea, but he also recognizes its unpredictability.

While other fishermen consider the sea masculine and perceive it as a contestant or a rival, Santiago has always thought of the sea as feminine because "she" withholds her favors, and if she does "strange and wild things," it is because she cannot control herself. Also, like a woman, the moon affects her, and she acts differently and sometimes very oddly.

She is kind and beautiful. But she can be so cruel, and it comes so suddenly, and such birds that fly, dipping and hunting, with their small sad voices that are made too delicately for the sea. (Day 1, p. 29)

It is, perhaps, because the sea is so unpredictable that Santiago perceives "her" as la mar. Each day that he goes out in his boat, he is uncertain how the sea will be, for even if she is calm, changes could come in a short time, and there could be huge waves to deal with. Each day is a challenge, and Santiago does not know what he will catch, but he comes to the sea, hoping she will favor him.

The old man is from the group of fishermen that refer to the sea as “la mar” in Spanish, which is a feminine label. The old man does not see the sea as a rival or an enemy but as a woman that provides what he needs in the right circumstances.

The old man thinks of the sea as a woman that provides his livelihood but also withholds it in different situations. He believes that the sea could not help the accidents that occur in the water because the sea is affected by the moon, which determines how it behaves.

But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought.

The old man is confident in his skills in the water and is not afraid to venture far out into the sea. He is alone when he catches the great fish and manages to fight off several sharks. The old man’s experience and skill allow him to be comfortable with the sea.