"I wish I had the boy"

All throughout the novel, the Old Man keeps repeating the same phrase. It seems like it is always right after times that he could have used some help to make things easier or when he just wanted someone to talk to. The line is, “I wish I had the boy.” Santiago says this or some form of it so much throughout the story. Now I would say that Santiago is kind of a loner. I don’t think that he really needs anyone else and that he blocks most people out. Only the boy seems to have gotten past all of the walls Santiago has put up to keep himself separated on an emotional level from all of the people in his life. There are a lot of people in this world that try to block people out and only spending time with them allows one to have insight into their psyche. This is exactly the case with the boy for Santiago. Santiago practically raised him and was a very strong influence on him. He became a father figure for the boy even though the boy had a family, specifically a father that took care of him and loved him. I think that Santiago realized that he had become like a father to the boy and that is why he got so attached to him. When they were on the boat together they were able to talk to each other. Now I believe Santiago is a very simple man because all he really mentions besides fishing is baseball. The boy plays and both characters enjoy talking about the major league teams. This may not seem like a very deep topic but it is what the two of them would talk about and it is what allowed the boy to become one of the few people to get close to Santiago. I think that both characters care for each other very much and that they would remain important to each other for all of their lives.